Registration is now open for the next Certified Legal Videographer Production Exam being held Nov. 9-10, at NCRA’s headquarters in Reston, Va. Space is limited so candidates are encouraged to sign up early before registration closes on Oct. 31.
Candidates who attend the November dates will also have the opportunity to participate in the new hands-on training session held prior to the production exam.
“We did not have a hands-on class when I took my practical test,” said Mindy Sindiong, CLVS, owner of De Bene Esse Media in Cincinnati, Ohio, and co-chair of NCRA’s CLVS Council. The Council leads the CLVS Seminar and administers the Production Exam.
“Having the hands-on session would have saved a lot of worry and anxiety had I been able to take it,” added Sindiong, who has been a CLVS for 15 years.
During the hands-on session, CLVS candidates have the opportunity to go over the practical test, participate in a mock deposition, and gain valuable experience with the camera they will be using in the test. According to Sindiong, all of the students who participated in the first hands-on session before the June production exam passed it. The only student who failed the production exam did not participate in the hands-on session.
“Having the ability to experience different live scenarios and ask questions for clarification helped to ease the nervousness,” said Fred Lester, owner of Big Herc Productions based in Miami, Fla.
“The instructors were very helpful and eager to aid us through this task and to help us better understand the methods in which to perform this task. Prior to this hands-on class, I was very unsure of the process and some camera settings from just reading the material and practicing mock setups on my own,” Lester noted.
“This allowed me to better familiarize myself with the equipment and its settings, and it made clear to me the correct process in which the video deposition should flow. Going through a mock video deposition and being critiqued definitely helped me to be confident and better prepared to perform this process at a high level,” he added.
During the Production Exam, candidates will run the show at a staged deposition and be graded on their ability to follow video deposition guidelines and to produce a usable, high-quality video of the deposition. Candidates must have taken the mandatory CLVS Certification Workshop first, available online through InReach. Candidates must complete the educational components prior to taking the CLVS Production Exam. Candidates are strongly encouraged to complete the educational components first, as questions on the CLVS Written Knowledge Test (WKT) are developed from the materials provided. Candidates can take the CLVS WKT in January, April, July, and October each year.
Chris Galvin, from Guilford, Conn., who earned his CLVS after he passed the June production exam, said he found the hands-on session of the training to be very important preparation for the production exam because it gave him the opportunity to become familiar with the kind of equipment used in the test.
“Although I have experience with other kinds of videography, I am a total newbie in the legal video world. I wanted to get certification, which I did, before I started exploring entry into the field. I am wrapping up other projects and am looking to start that transition very soon,” he said.
“My own equipment is different in enough ways that it may have cost precious seconds or minutes in adjusting to the testing equipment if not familiar with it. The pressure of a timed test can throw your normal thinking process off too, so the more familiar you are with the steps you need to take, the more automatic your performance will be,” Galvin noted.
The CLVS Production Exam is administered two times a year: spring and fall (depending on interest). The cost of the exam is $325 for NCRA members and $425 for nonmembers.
To learn more about the CLVS program, visit NCRA.org/CLVS or to register for the November Production Exam and/or Hands-on Session.
NCRA members who hold another credential, such as the RPR, can earn 0.25 PDC each after passing the CLVS Written Knowledge Test and the CLVS Production Exam.
Please contact NCRA by calling 800-272-6272 or email testing@ncra.org for more information.
