The Basic Types Of Documentary Film Script Formats Are:
- A Treatment This is a sometimes hypothetical pre-shoot narrative document describing what happens in the film from start to finish
- A Split Script A side-by-side two column format with one side telling what the audience will see and the other side detailing what the audience will hear at the same time
- A Paper Edit A detailed accounting of visuals along with the precise soundbites that will accompany them which match what was actually recorded in interviews
Lets jump in and examine each of these in detail, as well as learn how to write each one.
What Does An Interview Transcript Look Like
On the surface, the idea of an interview transcript is pretty straightforward. It may look similar to a film or TV script, with a list of interview questions and their responses:
Q: What are you looking for in a job?
A: I just want a legit position good company, my own office likeable coworkers.
But since conversations naturally have a lot of false starts and fillers, you might not want a word-for-word transcript. There are typically three ways to transcribe and interview:
- Verbatim transcripts are word-for-word transcripts that include every pause or hesitation including um, uh, like, and you know.
- Intelligent transcripts leave out stutters and filler words and may replace them with ellipses, as in the example above.
- Edited transcripts are most common when transcribing a speech or magazine interview, and require the transcriber to use their discretion to get the speakers point across. For example, the quote above might be edited like this: I want a legit position in a good company, with my own office and likeable coworkers.
The ultimate format of your transcript, though, depends on what youre using it for. If youre posting a promotional interview on social media, then maybe you want a video transcription so its easy for viewers to follow along.
If youre creating an oral history or an archive for your company, then you may want to publish it in APA style, complete with annotations and page numbers.
Ways To Transcribe And Factors To Decide Which Method To Choose
There are several methods you can use to transcribe an interview. The one you choose depends on factors such as the clarity of the audio and the specificity of the subject matter, as well as your budget, available time frame, and typing speed.
If you find yourself short on time, automated software may be your best choice, as it takes only minutes to transcribe an hour of audio. Some software, such as Otter, can recognize specific terminologies with the custom vocabulary feature. There, the user can upload a list of the terminologies, and Otter will recognize them in the future.
If you want to add a human touch to your transcription but donât have the time to transcribe the audio yourself, consider hiring a freelancer or going with a transcription agency service. If you find yourself with a large amount of audio that you want transcribed on a consistent basis, an automated tool is the logical choice, and this works if you have budget constraints as well: Otter.ai offers a default-free service, and the paid Premium service is still between 92% to 99% less expensive than competitors â who charge anywhere between 2 and 33 cents per minute. The accuracy is similar to other services, and Otter can be better in some scenarios.
You may want to make a list of all the factors that youâll need to consider before deciding how you want to transcribe: Budget, time, audio accuracy, audio specificity, and if you will need audio transcribed on a consistent basis.
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How Do You Create An Interview Transcript
The best way to create an accurate job interview transcript depends on the length and speed of the conversation, and how soon you need it completed. One option is to create an audio recording of the interview and send it to a professional transcriptionist or transcription service afterwards.
Transcribing an interview is time-consuming, and beginners may struggle to keep up with the conversation. Professional transcriptionists are trained to use shortcuts and abbreviations in order to maintain a fast typing speed.
If youre hosting a live interview on Zoom and want a transcription that shows up on the screen in real time so viewers can follow along, then youll need to use transcription software or a note-taking tool like Anchor AI.
With Anchor AI, youll get a fully transcribed interview complete with speaker notations and timestamps, so its easy to read and search through later.
Format The Transcript In The Required Format
At this stage, you must know whatâs the right format for your transcript. Formatting properly your transcript means making it easier for readers to decipher imperceptible details and meanings hidden in the recording. The kind of font to use, subheadings, paragraphs, etc. may enhance the utility of your transcript if you know how to use it.
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True Verbatim Interview Transcription
With a true verbatim transcription, the reader will not only get all of the interviews, but theyll also get all those extra additions that arent always necessary. These transcriptions can be much longer, as they dont cut out the pauses and filler words.
However, theyre still similar to the verbatim transcriptions in that they include a lot of the same details. Interview names, date, and location, as well as timestamps and acronyms.
While there is little editing involved in this type of transcription, its useful if you need a full understanding of the interview itself. Its typed as it was heard on the recording and can often include how someone phrased their words.
Interview Example Title
John Doe & Jessica Smith
JD: Welcome to our review of transcription um the various interview transcriptions.
JS: Today we will be reviewing transcriptions of each different type. That includes verbatim, true verbatim, and intelligent verbatim. And uh, if you have any questions throughout, please be sure to raise your hand. We will stop as needed.
JD: Before we begin Jessica is a professional transcriptionist and I conduct um interviews here at Company Title.
JS: I work closely with John to get transcriptions of our interviews out the door to higher-ups in the company. As youll see, the various transcription types can make all the difference in understanding whether interviews went well or right.
How To Transcribe An Interview Yourself: Get Topnotch Interview Transcripts
Writers, researchers, lawyers, and others know that conducting interviews is often essential to getting the full story. Yet a raw interview is of little use. Scanning through it takes a lot of time and effort. You cant quickly move back and forth between sections to analyze possible connections between them.
This makes it difficult to pull out the most important elements. You wont be able to tell whether you need to perform more interviews to collect further data. To make the most of an interview, you need to create a written version, known as transcription. Heres how to transcribe an audio interview.
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What Is The Best Way To Transcribe An Interview
While there are many reasons and scenarios for interview transcription, there are definitely best practices to keep in mind when transcribing. At the end of the day, it is key to use the method that gives you the highest rate of accuracy. Turning to a professional transcription software partner like Verbit can help. Verbit transcripts are 99.9% accurate, making them legally admissible and actionable.
Verbatim transcripts can be especially useful in HR and workplace situations where exact records may be needed in order to to reference or corroborate previous conversations. In these cases, relying on manual transcription by untrained professionals is a risk when compared to using professional software to transcribe video. Not only is manual transcription tedious, as it sometimes takes eight hours or more to transcribe a single file, but it also allows for a greater margin for error. Turning to interview transcription software like Verbits allows you to focus your employees efforts on more important matters while receiving accurate results and much faster transcript turnaround.
How To Record Aresearch Interview
If youre thinking abouttranscribing an interview for a dissertation or research project, youll needto make sure its recorded properly so that our team can create an accuratetranscript of the recordings.
No matter whether youre using a mobile phone, voice recorder or laptop, our team will be able to create the transcript that you need. However, the process is a lot quicker and the final transcript far more accurate if the recording is as clear as possible.
ChooseYour Recording Device Wisely
We recommend investingin a high-quality recording device to record a research interview as this willprovide the clearest recording. A high-quality recording is faster and,therefore, cheaper to transcribe, whereas a noisy recording with lots ofbackground noise is more time consuming to convert to text.
This can also help youto maintain accuracy in your research as it ensures that the whole interview isheard and noted. This means that you can comb through your transcript in detailand make the appropriate conclusions.
PutYour Recorder in the Right Place
Placement will play abig part in how clear and coherent your research interview recording is. Makesure that the recording device is placed equidistant between those involved inthe discussion and away from any sources of background noise such as windows, doorsand air conditioners.
TestYour Recorder Before the Interview
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Do I Have To Transcribe My Interviews
It is not always necessary to have a transcript of every interview or conversation. However, there are several instances when it can be a lifesaver.
1. Job interviews with prospective employees
Interviewing someone can take a lot of mental juggling. HR and hiring managers need to balance asking relevant questions, listening to answers and zeroing in on details, all while trying not to miss anything. Manually taking notes while interviewing a prospective employee can distract from the conversation. When you record and transcribe your interviews, it makes it much easier to balance many responsibilities at once. You can engage fully with the interviewee without missing anything important. By using a professional transcription service, interviewers can rest assured that there is an accurate record of everything that was said.
2. HR interviews with staff
Memory is imperfect, especially when it comes to important conversations. With so many sensitive and personal conversations happening between employees and HR, having an undeniable record of exactly how a conversation progressed is an invaluable resource. It can also help to provide a company with legal backing in the unfortunate event of a lawsuit.
Find The Best Gear To Make Your Documentary
Many people assume that since documentary films are supposed to be real life they dont have scripts. But in reality, almost every type of film has some kind of script, either for planning purposes before shooting, for organization purposes during editing, or to communicate with team members about what the film ought to show.
Unlike fictional films which have fairly rigid shooting script formats, documentary filmmakers may use a variety of script formats to get their point across either for their collaborators or to submit along with funding proposals as is sometimes requested by grant-makers.
There are three basic types of documentary script formats. In this article, well introduce each one, explain how theyre used, and give examples of what they look like. Some filmmakers might use all three types of documentary film scripts, and others might only use one or some type of modified combination .
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How To Transcribe An Interview For Dissertation Part 2
t is a truism to note that all transcription is in some sense interpretation
In the first post of this 2 part series on how to transcribe an interview for dissertation, I gave you on overview of the transcription process, equipment youll need, 3 ways to transcribe your interviews and made a few remarks on accuracy of the transcripts, and recording high quality interviews .
In this second and final post in this series on how to transcribe academic interviews for dissertation I get into the minutia of transcription. How do you transcribe? What are the different ways you can transcribe your thesis interviews ?
How To Decide What Format To Use For Your Research Interview Transcription
The exact formatting can vary depending on whos using your data and what theyre using it for. However, there are some general guidelines that are widely used by researchers in almost all fields.
First, you need to decide what format to use. There are three main formats: verbatim, semi-verbatim, and intelligent verbatim. Unsure which to choose? Heres a quick rundown:
Verbatim: Verbatim transcription records everything on the audio file, including non-verbal noises, chairs creaking, throats clearingyou get the picture. Its the most detailed and precise format for transcription.
Semi-Verbatim: In some cases, the non-verbal information included in a verbatim transcription can be distracting, rather than enlightening. In these cases, a semi-verbatim transcription will remove extraneous noises and interjections from the interview.
Intelligent Verbatim: As the name suggests, intelligent verbatim is the most polished way to format a research interview transcription. Even the most eloquent speakers dont always talk in complete sentences. In an intelligent verbatim transcription, the transcript is polished to remove grammatical errors and tie sentences together. It takes a skilled transcriber to ensure that the resulting transcription remains an accurate reflection of the interview.
For more on the different types of transcription, see Transcription of Qualitative Data.
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Transcribe A Rough Draft
Transcribe a first rough draft. If you take a loose approach to writing your first draft, it will allow you to type a lot faster. This is important, particularly if you arent a great typist. You can get most of it down without worrying about being accurate and then go back to clean things up. If a lot of detail isnt required, you might be able to just use your rough draft as the bulk of your transcript.
Try not to transcribe the whole recording in one shot give yourself breaks to make sure you stay focused. If youre typing the transcript up into a word processor, start the recording and transcribe as much as you can. You can pause it if you need to, but try not to rewind the recording. Going back will upset your flow of typing and slow you down. Remember, this is only a rough draft it doesnt need to be perfect.
Using shortcuts
One way to make the process easier is to use shortcuts. For example, many word processors, such as Microsoft Word, come with auto-correct built in. This makes typing roughly much easier any typos will be automatically changed into the correct word.
For phrases that appear regularly, you can add set them to auto-correct and they will automatically change, saving you time. For instance, setting bc to convert to because, so whenever you type bc, it will automatically change, saving you time.
This is a rough draft, but doing all of these things can help make the editing process much easier.
Inductive Methods Of Analyzing Interview Transcripts
- A thematic content analysis begins with weeding out biases and establishing your overarching impressions of the data. Rather than approaching your data with a predetermined framework, identify common themes as you search the materials organically. Your goal is to find common patterns across the data set.
The goal of thematic content analysis is to find common patterns across the data set.
- A narrative analysis involves making sense of your interview respondents individual stories. Use this type of qualitative data analysis to highlight important aspects of their stories that will best resonate with your readers. And, highlight critical points you have found in other areas of your research.
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Get The Dissertation Interview Transcription You Need
When writing your dissertation, its absolutely vital to get easy access to the information you need that will enrich and inform your work. Gleaning that from an audio interview, however, can be very challenging. Choosing the right transcription service for you gets you the data you need when you need it. It can help you to find the meaning in the most subtle nuances of speech or distil a conversation lasting hours into a handful of bullet points.
Its all about finding a service that suits your needs!
Final Thoughts On How To Transcribe An Interview
Students find it a lot easier to refer to a transcript instead of having to replay and listen to the audio file.
If there is no interview transcript, you will have to replay the file of the audio to text converting countless times. Why? Just to get the relevant info that you need to quote!
All in all, an interview transcript makes the task of analyzing your data much simpler, helping you to draw the right logical conclusions. Plus, it is much easier to keep a transcript if you need to retrieve it at a later stage again.
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How To Mask Identifiable Details In Interview Transcripts
If you are transcribing an interview and you have promised anonymity to the participant, then you need to create a transcript that masks or removes individually-identifiable details.
First, some general transcribing guidelines. At the top of your transcript, provide this info:
Interview participant:
Interviewed by: at on
Transcribed by: on
If the interviewer followed an interview guide, copy and paste relevant sections. Type the participants responses verbatim. Use an ellipses to reflect a pause in the speakers words. Use brackets to add any notes for readers, such as for unintelligible words, or your best guess if unsure about the exact word or spelling, such as , or descriptions to add context to spoken words, such as . Heres a sample transcript excerpt:
P: I remember everything that happened that day. . . it began with .
If the participant was promised confidentiality, then the transcript must MASK personal details that MIGHT reveal the persons identity to others. In addition to using a pseudonym, replace names of specific people, groups, or places that could disclose confidentiality to other readers, while avoiding loss of context in the interview. For example, if a participant ORIGINALLY said the following:
P: My roommate, Jean, who is the only black student on the lacrosse team, took me to a party at The Hall.
P: My roommate , who is , took me to a party at .
However, if a participant spoke a more general sentence, like this:
