Well, so far in our "quest for more business" we've learned about Video Settlement Brochures and High School Video Yearbooks.
This time lets go back to the legal department and learn a little about doing video deposition work, which can be very rewarding
under the right circumstances.
Although it is still a fledgling cottage industry in the video business, the video deposition is coming into play more and more in cases
involving medical malpractice or personal injury. In fact, in almost any situation where a doctor is being deposed as an expert witness,
the video deposition has proven to be both more dependable and probably less expensive to provide for a court date. It is becoming
more and more difficult for consul to count on a doctor to actually show up in court on the appointed date. Firstly, doctors are
notorious for not wanting to give testimony in public and in front of a courtroom full of townsfolk and hostile attorneys (who would?).
And second, most doctors are on call so much of the time that their schedules are continuously subject to change. It's almost
considered Standard Operating Procedure for a doctor to have his secretary call up the attorney hours before the court case begins
and simply state that the doctor has been called into surgery or some similar "excuse". Attorneys are discovering that it is far easier to
take Mohammed to the mountain and conduct a deposition at the doctor's convenience and in his office or conference room after
hours.
My first video deposition was way back in the 70's and I can still remember what a chore it was. The doctor giving expert testimony
lived hundreds of miles away and could not (or would not) make the trip on the appointed date, so the local attorney decided to fly
from Arkansas to Kansas. With all that expense, not to mention the outcome of the case at stake, he wisely decided to hire me to go
with him. In those days, my gear consisted of a single-tube JVC camera (at least it was color) and accompanying 4400 U-Matic �"
portable recorder. My monitor was a 13" color television playing off the RF converter supplied with the recorder. For audio I used
two Sony lavaliere microphones and some extension cables. The VCR had the luxury of two separate audio channels so I wired the
doctor with one and traded off the other Mic between the two attorneys as needed. It was crude by modern standards, but did the
job quite nicely. We've come a long way, baby!
Before I give you some of the basics of how to do a video deposition, let me begin by stating that there are certain Rules of
Courtroom Procedure that must be adhered to, depending on the location and district of court influence. There are courses of study
considering such criteria and if you are completely new to this type of video production and recording I would suggest you contact
your state Bar Association for more information. In some instances and in some states like California, the videographer can even be
held legally accountable for misconduct or improper procedure and could even be sued for breach of court procedure. Some states
even require a Certificate of Study in certain legal procedure. In other words, just like anything else surrounding a court of law, they
take their video VERY seriously. A case in point would be the use of the zoom lens. NEVER zoom in or out during any part of a
video deposition, as it could conceivably be argued by an attorney that the jury might place more emphasis on a piece of testimony if
the camera were to for instance zoom in to a close up of the witness. I usually start with an establishing wide shot of the witness
during the swearing in process, and very slowly zoom in to a bust shot by the time he says "I do". I always include his arms and
hands in the shot as professional witnesses tend to use hand gestures a lot during testimony.
All that aside, let me now give you a basic rundown of what happens in a video deposition. I always allow myself an hour before any
deposition time for set up. Some locations are spacious and offer many amenities facilitating an "easy" shoot. Others are very
cramped and can make doing a proper video very difficult to accomplish, so it's good to check out the territory before the attorneys
arrive. There will always be at least two attorneys present, plus an official court stenographer, so at the least you will usually have 5
people present during the deposition. I say "usually", because it isn't cast in stone. I have done depositions where one attorney (and
sometimes BOTH attorneys) conducts the deposition by phone. In those cases, I simply tape a lapel Mic to the speaker phone during
the deposition. On the other hand, I have done multiple depositions in one sitting with over 6 attorneys present, so you never know
what you're up against sometimes until the very last minute. Take note here that I also always carry at least eight hours worth of tape
for each job. Some jobs might take as little as 30 minutes. Others might and have taken 8 to 10 hours of testimony, depending on the
number of witnesses, the type of case, and the disposition of each attorney.
I carry A LOT of redundant gear for any such situation, including a Mic mixer and extra lav Mic's. In most cases I use a wireless
Mic on the witness and run the audio output to one audio channel and then use a hard-wired lav Mic on the first attorney to question
the witness and run that audio source to the second audio channel of my camcorder. When that attorney passes the witness I will
usually pause the tape (stating so verbally) and switch the Mic to the next attorney. It also gives everyone a moment to "take a
breather", get a quick drink, or even run to the bathroom. An alternative to the two-Mic approach is to always use a Mic mixer and
wire everybody in the room. I almost never place a microphone on a desk stand on the table and attempt to pick up everything.
There's just too much shuffling of papers, coughing, and room ambience to guarantee a clear audio signal for playback to the jury. I
make a judgement call on this issue before each deposition. After a while you tend to get a feel for when you will need the mixer.
I also carry lights but try not to use them unless I absolutely have to. When I do need them, I will take a 1KW quartz light and
bounce it off the ceiling for ambient light. I do not direct a light source at the witness. It makes them uncomfortable (so they don't
"perform" as well) and it looks like "news footage" to the jury on playback. You want your surroundings to look as normal and
natural as you can. NEVER position your witness chair directly in front of a window or a framed picture or you are asking for
trouble. I usually position one attorney on one side of the table (if there is one) and the other attorney on the opposite side,
equidistant from the witness. The stenographer will most certainly want to get in as close as possible to the action so I position them
just out of camera range. Only the witness should be seen on the screen. It is not important for the attorneys to ever be seen, unless
of course they request it.
I set the camera directly facing the witness position if possible and zoom in to set focus. Once that is done I disable auto focus, as it
will invariably shift in and out of focus as the witness moves around. If you can see the focus shift on your monitor it will look 20 times
worse on playback. I always use a color monitor, like a 3" Citizen CCD color monitor, and I always wear an earpiece. The mini-bud
types work quite well and don't make you look like a techno-geek with a headband over your head. My last step before conducting
the deposition is to thoroughly check out the entire signal flow. You do NOT want to have the deposition well underway and
discover the Mic mixer has been turned off for the past 20 minutes! I turn the recorder on and go sit in the witness chair and plainly
and clearly state the case number; my name; the witness name; the location of the deposition; and any other pertinent information I
might want to archive. Then I go back to my camera position and actually play back the tape and monitor the audio to make sure that
everything is working. I cue the tape up to the end of my slate.
When all the preliminary "pre-flight" has been done there is nothing to do now but sit back in my chair and pray that Murphy's Law
doesn't prevail on this mission. Also, I usually ask the attorney who hired me if there will be any x-rays or photos that will be entered
into evidence. The attorney will usually make arrangements beforehand to have a medical X-ray viewer set up, but don't count on it.
I have upon occasion "saved the day" for the attorney by asking that question ahead of time. I always carry a pointer pen in my
camera bag so the doctor can precisely refer to his plates without getting in the way of the camera. Be prepared to change your gain
settings when you move the POV to the x-ray viewer screen. And one last thought, NEVER EVER turn the camera off until "your"
attorney tells you to. You never know when they will continue until you hear "I have no further questions", and even then you don't
really know. You must keep a watchful eye on all things going on outside of the camera's view.
When the deposition is over I inform my client that I can provide a VHS copy of the deposition with a time window "burned in" for
he or the judge to mark rulings based on objections raised during the deposition. Many times I get orders from the court to edit out
passages, or even allow the video to proceed but mute the audio. Since this is post production, I always have a rate for such
additional services. I am also hired on occasion to do a courtroom playback where I will go into the courtroom during a recess and
set up a 21" professional monitor for the jury, and an additional smaller monitor for the judge to view, even though he has likely seen
the video long before the case gets to trial. Always remember to save all your original master tapes (and for at least a year) because
you might have to make an edit for courtroom playback. I keep all my paperwork sent to me by the attorney with all my master
video tapes and once a year I go through the archives and inquire my clients about each case to see if it has been settled and I can
then take the master out of the "active" file.
There is very little room for margin of error in the video deposition business. It is "event videography" taken to the extreme. Many
factors come into play to guarantee the attorney will use your services a second time, including manners, appearance, quick thinking
under pressure, and tending to the little details that just may make or break the case for your client.
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