Interview transcription is one of the most valuable and important tasks in documentary production. Such transcripts are popular in reality shows and expert opinion interviews by broadcasters. Interviews in documentaries and reality TV shows have filler words, inaudible moments, and stutters. A good interview transcript not only helps the production team but is also beneficial to the target audience.

Benefits of Transcribing a Documentary Interview

Recording a documentary is a demanding and challenging task for all involved. It generates a lot of footage, and interviews are a big part. Transcribing these interviews is beneficial if you want to:

  • Save time

No matter the size, a documentary always contains hours of interview footage. Without the transcriptions of those interviews, putting a final film together would be very difficult. Having a transcript helps you place the different scenes together seamlessly.

  • Add notes for the narrator

A narrator presenting the content enhances the quality of a documentary. With transcripts, nominated speakers will have a clearer idea of what the documentary is about. Therefore, they’ll have an easier time narrating the story.

  • Help viewers decipher muffled dialogue

Transcriptionists pay attention to the unclear parts of the documentary interview and transcribe them as best they can. The text can then scroll across the screen to help the viewer understand what is happening. These transcriptions also go hand in hand with translations to make the documentary more accessible geographically.

  • Improve documentary quality

A documentary interview that comes with captions gives a good impression. It’s a sign that the producer really wants to get the message across. With a transcription, viewers will be able to comprehend the documentary fully, thus making it a better production.

Transcription Options for a Documentary Interview

As mentioned, documentary interview transcription is a pretty important part of the production process. A producer or director is therefore responsible for picking whether they would go with an in-house transcriptionist or hire a third-party service.

Although an in-house transcriptionist sounds cheaper, transcribing might take longer, leading to delayed production times. An in-house transcriptionist might lack the required bandwidth to do the job, especially if there are hours of footage to transcribe. Here are a few benefits of outsourcing the transcription:

  • Get a more accurate transcript

A professional transcription service has the experience and necessary tools to produce accurate transcripts. Directors with no prior transcription experience imagine the task as straightforward, but it’s not. Most documentary interviews contain multiple speakers, countless filler words, false starts, and unintelligible words. Giving your in-house transcriptionist a few hard-to-work audio files will only result in inaccurate transcriptions.

  • Receive your transcript sooner

Transcription companies have experienced staff and tools to use for transcription. Therefore, the turnaround time is fast. Most transcription companies work on deadlines and meet them. Some service providers include penalty clauses in their contracts for missing deadlines. By imposing penalties, companies are basically pledging to do whatever it takes to get the work done on time. For large audio files such as documentary interviews, outsourcing is the best option to get clean transcripts fast.

  • Secure your confidential files

Working with an in-house transcriptionist might put your documentary at risk of leaking. However, professional transcription companies keep your sensitive data safe. Most transcription companies make their workers sign NDAs and have internal procedures that ensure the data collected is kept confidential.

  • Save money

One reason some companies choose to hire or train an in-house team is to keep costs down. However, choosing a transcription service can actually save you money. When you outsource your transcription project, you are only billed for the number of hours of files transcribed. In-house transcribers receive full-time salaries and benefits.

Additionally, hiring a professional transcription service company frees up your staff to focus on essential tasks that impact your bottom line. Finally, outsourcing means lightening the workload for IT and HR departments. That means you can save money that you would otherwise have spent on employee training and administration.

Final Words

The interview transcription process is tedious and requires keenness to hear the exact words in the documentary accurately. Precisely transcribing a video interview requires following strict guidelines. However, the resulting document will do wonders for the production process. After all, a documentary is incomplete without valuable interviews. Help your viewers grasp the message with accurate transcriptions today.