In the Courtroom, Empathy Wins

Imagine this. You are listening to the victim of a car accident testify about her challenges one year after the incident. Her testimony is stirring, but you have trouble visualizing how this event impacted her life.

But what if you could watch her struggle through a morning routine that was once simple for her? What feelings might it evoke to see firsthand the way her hand trembles as she tries and repeatedly fails to squeeze a bit of toothpaste onto the bristles of her brush? Or to compare footage of her before, when she was an accomplished marathon runner, and after, when she can no longer walk independently?

While her words certainly help us understand, seeing the actual experiences and bringing the full picture to life allows us to feel on a deeper level. And in a personal injury case, where the stakes are high, effectively tapping into this compassion is crucial.

One Annual Review of Psychology report found that in over three decades of research, it was shown time and time again that emotions are a powerful driver of decisions. “Put succinctly,” the study’s authors write, “emotion and decision making go hand in hand.”??

Conveying emotion in a personal injury case can be a challenge. How can you win a jury and judge’s empathy for your client beyond sharing facts, figures, and on-the-stand testimony?

Tell an emotionally compelling story through video. At Post Script, we bring sensitivity, patience, and compassion to our legal video projects to create authentic footage to use in court. After years of experience, we share some of our advice for making the most of this powerful tool.

Use Video to Tell a More Emotionally Compelling Story

A Day in the Life video is one of the best approaches to showing the impact of a catastrophic injury on a client and their family.?

Video can capture the physical and emotional challenges they face on a daily basis. If the jury can see evidence they otherwise would have to picture in their imagination alone, they’ll likely connect and feel for the victim at a deeper level.?

And that deeper, subconscious level is where decisions are made. According to Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, more than 90 percent of our choices are driven by our subconscious mind, where we lead with emotion rather than rational thought. The right video can access that part of a decision maker; done well, it’s one of the most powerful assets in a personal injury attorney’s toolkit.

Here are three tips for making Day in the Life videos work for you:

1. Show the realities of daily life

How is the victim getting through everyday tasks? Walk your audience through the difficulties. Show your client tackling the typical day an able-bodied person may take for granted—brushing teeth, walking, and interacting with family members.

These visuals should tap into the physical and emotional toll the injury has inflicted on the victim and their loved ones.?

2. Help interviewees be authentic

Helping an interviewee feel comfortable in front of the camera requires sensitivity. Make sure the production team, including the videographers, understand how to make people feel at ease being filmed and talking about difficult subjects.?

First, it’s important to prepare everyone involved by discussing with interviewees what clothing would be best and settling logistics in advance. Traveling to the client’s home or another place they feel safe to film is also essential. And most importantly, providing support and patience through the entire process ensures the video is a complete and honest representation of what the victim has endured.

3. Paint the whole picture

Identify the people who can speak to the state of things before and after the injury and record interviews with all of them. Spouses, children, extended family, friends, and acquaintances who understand the victim’s reality are great examples.

Find footage or photos of the victim before the accident, and contrast it with film of their current daily life, so that the video fully communicates the impact. The goal is to create an understanding of the weight of this incident and the realities of the victim’s new routine.

A Unique Approach

In our years creating legal videography, we’ve learned a lot about filming Day in the Life videos.

Efficiency and sensitivity go hand in hand. Getting a filming job done effectively and with as little disruption as possible to participants’ lives is an important aspect of our method. It’s a cornerstone of the professionalism required when documenting people’s difficult circumstances.?

Remaining real yet gentle is another. We’ve learned to focus our energy on creating an environment where the interview subjects feel comfortable enough to show their raw, authentic emotion. Empathetic listening and thoughtful interviewing are part of that.

Combining these skills—video expertise and emotional intelligence—positively impacts not only the filming process but the final product, too. And that ultimately helps achieve the final goal: justice for the victim.

The Next Steps

If you have a client whose story needs to be told in video, we might be the right organization to help you bring it to life.?

One of Post Script Productions’ specialties is legal videography. We handle every part of the process, from logistics to editing, so attorneys and their clients can focus on the case.

Visit our website to learn more. We can share samples, talk through your specific needs, and explore whether our video production is the right fit for you.