Picture-perfect settlement videos: with thoughtful questioning and careful editing, you can use videos to convey emotion and character as you seek a fair settlement for your client.

Videos that succinctly lay out a case can strongly influence settlement negotiations. Properly done, they nail down liability and demonstrate the real impact of your client's injuries--not just with photos, but also with compelling words spoken by family members, teachers, friends, and even experts.

The steps to producing successful settlement videos are simple but essential. They fall into three categories: preparation, videotaping, and putting together the finished product.

Preparation

Select the videographer. Your first move should be to hire a videographer, preferably one who has editing experience and who comes recommended by other plaintiff attorneys. Ask prospective candidates to show you samples of their work to ensure the video they produce for you will meet your needs. Sample videos should be professional and clear, but not slick.

Prepare interview questions. Compose open-ended questions that avoid a simple "yes" or "no" answer. For instance, rather than ask, "Did Scott love the outdoors?," say, "Tell us about Scott's love for nature and the outdoors, his hiking experiences with you, the times you spent around the campfire talking about life ..." Ask for examples that show the point being made, and make sure the interviewees use your client's name, rather than simply "he" or "she."

Tell the people you're interviewing that they should avoid giving answers that sound as if they are responses to questions. For example, they shouldn't start a response with "well," "yeah," or "OK." The speaker's statements must be independent sentences or paragraphs that tell the story by themselves--the edit can never include a prompting question.

Select interviewees. Choose people whose lives were affected by your client or who have insight into his or her character, and have them tell stories about particular events that exemplify what makes this person special. Don't worry if a prospective interview subject seems quiet or shy. Just because a relevant witness is not an extrovert doesn't mean that his or her thoughts aren't important: Shyness and understatement can be powerful visually.

Request material that can be used to supplement the video. Obtain home video and photos from the interviewees that depict the client engaged in a variety of activities before the accident; compare and contrast this with day-in-the-life footage or other documentation of post-accident disabilities. Photos can be scanned into the videographer's computer for use in the video, providing evidence of the truth of your client's claims.

Also ask your client, or your client's family, for other photos and videotapes of him or her, regardless of what activities they show. These visual elements, which can be incorporated into the final video, will help the viewer get to know and identify with your client. Such photos and videos can be shown on screen while the interviewee is speaking, adding visual interest to the overall presentation and providing a break from "talking heads."

Review general areas, not specific questions, with interviewees. Meet with interviewees before the videotaping session and identify topics for the interview. Ask them to dress in solid colors (not red) for better visual impact (prints and plaids tend to appear fuzzy on video). Also, discreetly check for offensive tattoos (make sure they are covered), excessive amounts of makeup or jewelry or other signs of poor grooming.

Just before videotaping, again review the areas to be addressed, but don't ask questions; spontaneity is a major factor in presenting realism.

Consider hiring a producer. If you do not have the time or inclination to conduct the video interviews, prepare the transcripts, select the clips, write the script (if any), and sit through all or most of the editing, hire a producer who can handle those tasks for you.

Scripting is the process by which the appropriate interview segments are chosen and the selected clips are placed in the order that best tells the story. The script producer will suggest what visual materials to use. If a professional voice-over will be part of the production, then the scriptwriter must also write the voice-over segments, which will be read and dropped into the timeline of the video.

Preferably, the producer will have worked before with your videographer--hey will have to work together closely during the editing process--and should have extensive experience working with lawyers and insurance adjusters. The producer should also have a solid knowledge of the rules of legal admissibility.

Videotaping

It is imperative to begin this process early in the case. When applicable, have your videographer shoot some day-in-the-life footage (even in a hospital, if appropriate) and follow the plaintiff's progress through therapy.

Watch what the picture looks like. Most video footage is too busy. Distractions in the background get in the way of the speaker's message. The distractions shown in picture A can be eliminated with a black backdrop and proper lighting on the interviewee (see picture B). The viewer will focus only on the person speaking and will be more keenly aware of his or her facial expressions.

The videographer should position the person being interviewed either to the left or the right of the video frame, as in picture C. This leaves a black area on which to superimpose reinforcing photos or video footage (see picture D).

Eliminate background noise. Don't rely on the video camera's microphone. Use a lapel mike or a high-quality microphone suspended just outside the visual frame from a boom and stand.

Also, be aware of ambient noise. Sounds we are accustomed to--humming refrigerators, air conditioning, outdoor noises (cars, lawnmowers, sirens), and people talking in the next room-distract from the interview and can ruin an important segment. If there is background noise--say, if the phone rings-stop the taping, correct the noise problem, and start over with that segment.

Imagine the final product while interviewing. Many attorneys find it difficult to conduct interviews without using deposition-style questioning. This can lead to an uncomfortable and stilted interview that contains mainly short, incomplete answers. If you have trouble adapting to a more informal style, you may want to have the producer conduct the interviews, while you pay close attention to ensure that all topics are covered.

While you'll want to listen to the substance of what's being said, mentally put yourself in the editing studio as the interviewee speaks--just as you might visualize the transcript as words are being spoken during a deposition. If an answer seems too abrupt, you may want the interviewee to answer the question again to get a more complete response.

A bad video segment doesn't get any better in the editing studio. And it is often difficult to try to schedule and execute another interview session to fix the problem (making sure clothes and hairstyles are the same, for instance). Fix it on the first take.

Putting together the finished product

Select essential segments and put them in a logical order. The videographer can supply you with time-coded tapes and even a time-coded transcript to help you identify important segments that you're likely to want in the final product. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive to review and outline all the footage, but outlining key interview comments will allow you to weave these segments into a meaningful fabric. (Alternatively, you can provide the videographer or editing team with your concepts and main points and let them put everything together.) Review all rough drafts of the outline or script to make sure that the focus of the presentation remains intact.

The next challenge is to arrange key comments in a meaningful sequence. This is typical:

* the client's life before the injury

* the interviewee's reaction to news of the injury

* what the interviewee saw while at the hospital

* the client's struggle to get well

* the client's current condition

* the client's hope for the future

There is no firm formula. Be sure to include several people's comments on each point in the sequence.

Talk strategy. Before the video is actually edited, meet with the videographer or your editing team to lay out the potential segments to be used and to talk about the editing strategy. Discuss how best to build a dramatic, but understated, climax. Be sure you maintain control of the process: This is your product, and you know best the points you want to make, so good communication between you and those working on the production is crucial.

Video editing can take days, so plan on working intensively during this period. The total running time of the video should be about 20 to 95 minutes, which may require ruthless cutting of scenes. Digital editing allows flexibility in storyline flow, additions, deletions, and final output. It also maintains picture quality throughout the process, meaning that there is no loss of quality from generation to generation of copying.

For the finished video, DVD is higher quality than videotape: DVD images are sharper, cleaner, and have better sound. Although most people have DVD players, supply the final product in both VHS and DVD formats in the event that the recipient is unable to use a DVD.

Deliver the product sooner rather than later. Finally, don't wait for the day of mediation to supply the defense with the finished video. Give the defense at least two weeks to view the video; this is sufficient time for the adjuster or defense attorney to find and bring appropriate settlement authority to the mediation.

A great settlement video leaves those who watch it with a solid emotional attachment to the injured plaintiff. The right creative team--whether an attorney working with a videographer or editing team directly or allowing the technicians to work independently--can generate a high-quality, persuasive, and emotional video, creating the best expression of how an injury changed your client's life.

KEITH L. KESSLER is an attorney in the Hoquiam, Washington, law firm of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio. JAY SYVERSON is the president of OnPoint Productions in Seattle.