VIDEOGRAPHERS

[Renee Pacheco]

Hi, Everyone.

Just want some thoughts on Videographers. Just recently, I've worked with several that do not provide headphones or at least an extension to plug in my own headphones. This is just the biggest pet peeve of mine!! Is it too much to ask for this?? And what make it worse is some look at me like I'm crazy for asking for an extension and that no other court reporter has ever done this!!

Please give me some feedback and tell me if I'm just nuts or shouldn't this be the least we can expect from them???

Renee

[Janet]

Hi Renee,

I always use my own headphones. I have an extension for the headphones that I use if the room is large, but I've never run into a videographer that doesn't provide the extension. I use headphones for every video deposition. It seems there's always one person I'd have trouble hearing otherwise.

Janet

[Renee Pacheco]

ya, i have my own headphones too but several times over the last month i've had videographers that don't even have an extension!! i think it's ridiculous. i guess i need to go buy one??? i just can't believe that

[Marla Sharp]

Same here. I usually have my own set of headphones, but the videographer doesn't always have an extension. So I end up having to sit really close to his equipment. I've tried going without headphones at smaller depos but end up putting them on because it just makes it so much easier to hear.

My pet peeve is when there are more than two attorneys, and the videographer doesn't set out a table mic. Then those whispering objections at the end of the table become really difficult to hear. Impossible, actually. Then I have to interrupt, which I have to add to the transcript later, making more work for me.

I once had a videotaped depo with about 15 attorneys, all at smaller tables (2 attys each table) with the witness at the front of the room. He placed me off to the side of the witness, away from all the attorneys. The videographer put one table mic at the head table, and that was it. I had headphones on, so I couldn't hear anyone's objections. Miserable depo. Then the videographer handed me a DVD at the end. I thought it was just the audio, but it was the whole videotaped depo which I had to watch in order to hear instead of playing it back in my Dictaphone with the footpedal. I usually just use my audio sync, but it messed up in this particular depo. It was a bad day.

[NATHAN DOUGET]

There are programs out there to rip off the audio off of a DVD or CD mpeg 1 video.
DVDpean is one program for ripping off audio off of a DVD.
--Also, I turn the mic lower on opposing counsel in the event he/she talks over the witness.
Nat Douget - Court and Video Reporters - 800.259.9900

[Paula A. Pyburn, CSR, RPR, CLR]

Hi Renee!

It was great seeing you this week at Jones Day, by the way.

I bring ALL my own stuff now: headphones, extension for the headphones, the adpater that goes on the end of some of the extensions, and I even bring another extension that has the volume control on it. Also, I wear a one-sided headset so that one ear is available to hear what may not be able to be heard with both ears covered with headphones. It's a reversible piece so that I can wear it on my left or right ear.

One of my biggest pet peeves right now is the videographers that are not able to give direct audio feed to my computer from their equipment. The audio is AMAZING when they do that - sounds just like the audiotapes.

Once in a great while I come across a videographer who says that their input for the headphones isn't working so I can't use headphones that day - what! That's crazy!

[Marla Sharp]

I love it when the videographer can give you a direct feed. The audio is crystal clear usually. I've met a few who have the connector or whatever it is they need to hook into your laptop, but most don't have it. Any idea what that is so I can go buy it and add it to my list of 5,000 things to carry?

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Hi, Renee. How are you? I've always, always, always wanted to be the master of my own domain. I always strive for that -- to be in control. I can see your frustration here with videographers, and it's not something you can control. You probably can't choose the videographer, so you have to go with what you get.

First, I'd suggest you stop by Radio Shack and get a couple things. They'll all fit very nicely in your case, and they don't take up much room. Make sure you have a nice set of headphones with an in-line volume control. Get a Radio Shack amplified listening device. Pick up an extension, along with a tip that will ensure stereo sound, not just mono, when you do hook into the videographer's feed. That way, YOU are in charge of everything except the output. With that little amplified listening device (it's smaller than a pack of cigarettes), you'll NEVER be straining to hear. Never. And you'll be in complete control.

One other thing. You, as the reporter, are not only representing the reporting firm when you go on a job ... you can serve to be their eyes and ears as well. If you are working with a videographer or, sadly,videographers (plural) who are not accommodating your simple requests ... and it is a very simple request ... perhaps they're not the best videographers to have on a job. There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking to be hooked into their sound. It's done every day, and I personally ask that of every videographer I work with. Every single one. And 99% of my work is video, and realtime, I might add, so it's critical that I can hear very well. I also carry the Radio Shack listening device on that off chance that there's no videographer, or they won't hook me in.

And when they won't hook me in, or claim that they can't, or don't know how, I let the reporting agency I'm working with know about it. The videographer is there because of the reporting agency. They are the ones making the call in most cases. And if the videographers are hampering your ability to do your best job, the reporting agency should know about it and perhaps be encouraged to choose someone else.

Renee, take the bull by the horns and get all that stuff. Then, don't expect and demand, but just simply be prepared to fall back on your own equipment if need be. And let the powers that be who make the videographer choices know what's happening and encourage them to either change videographers, or contact the ones they currently use and inform them that if they don't permit you to hook in, they'll lose the business. That should get their attention.

M.A.

[Veronica Kubat]

I personally always turn down the offer of headphones in video depos. I find that it puts me way too far into the background in the attorneys' minds. I am in control of the record, not the videographer and, to an extent, not the attorneys. So if I wear headphones, I become an extension of the videographer, and that isn't the hierarchy of the depo that works to preserve the record.

Psychologically, if I have receded into the background of the minds of the attorneys and I need to interject to either facilitate the record for exhibits or clarity or to maintain some sort of control over a situation where the attorneys are getting out of hand, then it becomes harder to reestablish my status in the proceedings and maintain control.

While headphones may facilitate hearing someone that may on occasion not be clear, it is still the responsibility of the officer of the court to take the proceedings and create a record of the reality of the testimony. We are much more than recorders, and I believe if the attorneys see me listening with headphones and believe I am concentrating on the videographer's feed rather than the proceedings, in their minds, I become a recorder.

V.

[Kyung]

I sometimes find that with the headphones, you lose the sense of depth. So if it's multi-attorney, I don't know who is speaking.

[Mary Ann Payonk]

You're right, Kyung. I thought it was just me! Sometimes I'll move the earpiece off of one ear so I can kind of half-way hear room sounds.

M.A.

[Judy]

I have a great pair of Bose earbuds and use only one for that very reason.

Plus, my husband came back from taking a depo once and complained that the reporter was wearing a big headphone set the entire time and thought she must have a hearing issue. Earbuds are much less noticeable.

[Mary Ann Payonk]

I hate earbuds, if for the only reason they won't stay in my ear. I do wear Sennheiser headphones, and I wear them every single day!

M.A.