ebarker,
Those are very good tips. Here is what I have as a summary of your points, let me know if you think it captures the essence, also do you have one more tip for us to round it off :
1) Videographer as a mentor.
2) Master the skill of pan and zoom.
3) Always use a tripod.
4) Use a mic (either overhead boom, under scene boom or handheld, or lapel)
5) Rule of thirds : 1/3 inside frame left or right, and about 1/3 from the top.
6) Subject is 1/3 frame from left side: look straight at interviewer off to the right side of the camera.
7) Brief the subject to talk to the interviewer, not the camera.
8) Go watch channels like the discovery channel and science channel and other networks with the sound off. count off the seconds that a particular frame is on screen.
9) When doing extended interviews drop visuals of other things on top of the audio track to maintain interest and give the viewer different perspectives.
I look forward to see video responses to video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6zK426wcpY using these techniques mentioned I think would be really neat.
I think the only tip that might be dificult for us to do is (4) since we are using a low-cost HD video camera, UltraHD. Not sure if it has connection for a mic, and I think having a separate recorder make the process to complicated. I would like for teams to be able to shoot,edit and upload the video with no more than 1-2 hours of work.