frequently asked questions

Videotaping depositions captures the nonverbal expressions that are so much a part of true communication. A witness’ voice, appearance and demeanor are all caught on camera and can totally change the interpretation of what is being said. Television, YouTube®, and the DVD have made us a visual society. Merely reading testimony doesn’t impact a jury or opposing counsel like video does. Certainly, video depositions are valuable when a witness’ testimony would otherwise be unavailable for trial and can reduce the high cost of expert testimony by eliminating travel costs and time.

 Yes! Studies repeatedly demonstrate jurors retain information up to 6 times better when seeing witnesses along with hearing them speak. Video proves to be more compelling than just listening to testimony being read aloud or being played from an audiotape recorder. Videotaped testimony is a persuasive communication tool. 

Absolutely. All videographers at AVS are experienced professionals who will ensure that the deposition is properly and professionally recorded. The type and placement of the camera, the proper use of supplemental lighting, and the clarity of the audio signal are among the many details that can serve to either enhance or detract from the usefulness of a video. Using our expert, independent and impartial videographers, provides safe guards against bias which can arise from improper production. 

We are an independent, professional production company with over 30 years of legal videography expertise. Our videographers are experienced, dedicated professionals, each with backgrounds in all aspects of video production. We maintain Certified Legal Video Specialist designation through the National Court Reporters Association and carefully abide by the rules of civil procedure. We are not financially interested in the action of a case, and we are neither relatives, nor employees of any of the parties. We are committed to providing the best possible video and audio available utilizing our broadcast-quality equipment and our team of highly-skilled videographers. 

We can provide every format available, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MP4, and DepoView® Video/Transcript Synchronization compatible with Sanction®, Trial Director®, Summation®, LiveNote® and Power Point® for trial presentation software. 

Large cases benefit from synchronizing all of the depositions to cohesively manage the testimony for all of the witnesses. Words and phrases can be searched and cataloged with clips created to focus on those specific areas of testimony. Synchronization is also useful at trial for playing back the created clips or to impeach a witness by searching his or her deposition transcript and playing the video back within seconds. 

Any video deposition can be edited, with agreement of counsel or by a ruling of the court, to extract objections and colloquy or to condense a deposition into specific areas of testimony. If AVS videotaped the deposition, we hold all backups for a minimum of four years allowing for any editing to be done almost immediately without the masters being delivered to our offices.