We have all heard that print media is dying. Whether or not this is necessarily the case (and in spite of whatever nostalgia for lovely printed materials we may cling to) it is hard to deny the current reign of the digital age. With this advent of digital media, video has become more and more prevalent in our culture. The legal world is not exempt from this trend. Court Reporting no longer relies solely on the transcription of verbal testimony into written documentation, as video depositions have become increasingly important in the profession.
Now, What is a Video Deposition?
A video deposition is one in which the testimony is both transcribed and videotaped. Court reporting firms will often partner with or employ video specialists to produce these videos, and even synchronize transcripts with video footage, which includes exhibits for side-by-side viewing. At Connor Reporting, the in-house legal video team handles these video depositions.
There are many benefits to using video in the legal world. Videotaping provides additional information for the jury that would otherwise be absent from a written transcript: the witness’s facial expressions, tone and inflection of voice, and hand gestures or body language. What might be a perfectly adequate testimony in written form could become much more compelling or illuminating with the use of video.
What Exactly Goes into the Process of Creating Video Depositions?
Video as digital media is, of course, a production. As such, the use of video generally suggests that some editing is involved. Whereas, it is the job of the court reporter to transcribe testimony with 100% accuracy (albeit while making some adjustments for grammatical clarity). So, can video depositions be edited? What exactly goes into the production of a video deposition?
Well, an unedited master copy of the video is made for every video deposition. That master copy and the transcript can be brought before the judge in order to request his or her approval of some edits, but only edits approved and ordered by the judge can be made. Often, the edits will simply be removing objections that have already been sustained by the court.
Once the court has approved edits to the deposition, the attorney can submit a list of those edits to a video specialist or team of specialists who will then incorporate those edits and create a final video product.
At Connor Reporting, our Video Production Manager uses Visionary software to sync the deposition transcript with the video. Once the video has been synced with Visionary, our specialist can then make the edits ordered by the court and remove any portions required.
Why Use a Professional?
By employing a professional you benefit from the resources of a team with years of experience in the fields. At Connor Reporting, a team of Certified Legal Video Specialists (CLVS) perform all of the video depositions and a post-production specialist provides a quality video product that fulfills legal requirements. They benefit from certification, professional experience, and the resources of a company who understands the full scope of the court reporting profession.
