Deposition Video 101
A bridge course between the Legal Video Career Path and the CDVS depth course. By the time you finish, you'll know what stands between you and your first paid deposition — and exactly what you'd need to learn to close that gap.
What this course is
DV101 is a breadth survey, not a how-to. It zooms in on the first of the three legal video careers introduced in LVCP — deposition video — and surveys every silo the job touches: rules, audio, video, post, and the business of getting hired. It does not teach you how to do the job. That's the Certified Deposition Video Specialist (CDVS) course, the paid depth course on the hub. DV101 exists to show you, lesson by lesson, what CDVS contains and why it's the next thing to take.
How it's written
Short lessons. Low-adjective. Practitioner-to-practitioner. Each lesson describes how some part of the deposition video job actually works, with the why attached, and ends with a pointer to where CDVS (or a sister 101 — AP101, VP101, or the Deposition Officer rules course) goes deeper. Binge them in an evening or pace one a day for two weeks.
Who it's for
Working videographers crossing into legal video, court reporters thinking about adding video to their day rate, paralegals or legal assistants who watch depositions happen and want to operate them, and career changers looking for a real profession with a real credential at the end. If you've finished LVCP, you're ready.
The thirteen lessons
Three parts. Each lesson stands alone. Each closes with a pointer to where the topic goes deeper.
Part 1 — The Profession
- Why deposition video is the usual starting point
- Why lawyers are paying for video
- What's riding on the recording
- The size of the market
- The room is the sales channel
Part 2 — The Work
- How a recording gets excluded
- Four rule systems touch every recording
- A deposition recording is several records at once
- The gear is finite. The configurations aren't.
- Post-production is where reputations are quietly made
- Remote is a different problem, not an easier one
Part 3 — The Path
- Certification is not required. Here's why it matters anyway.
- Ingredients vs. recipes
The destination: CDVS
The Certified Deposition Video Specialist course is what DV101 was built to bring you to. Seven chapters, twenty-nine lessons, and three exams — one written, two practical. The credential is awarded on the basis of demonstrated capability, which is why it carries weight in the rooms it carries weight in.
CDVS course structure
- Chapter 0 — Course Resources. Deposition Video Equipment + CDVS Quick Reference Card.
- Chapter 1 — Introduction. Course intro, the litigation process, intro to depositions.
- Chapter 2 — Rules & Industry Standards. State Rules, Court-Specific Rules, Industry Standards, Federal Rules, and the Duties of the Deposition Videographer lesson few other curricula address directly.
- Chapter 3 — Pre-Production. Scheduling, deciphering notices, confirming, Deposition Equipment Overview.
- Chapter 4 — Production. The Deposition Kit, room assessment and layout, signal chain, equipment function check, starting the deposition, breaks, concluding the deposition.
- Chapter 5 — Post-Production. Deliverables, archiving, the tapeless workflow.
- Chapter 6 — Final Examination. Written Exam + two Practical Exams (Equipment Function Check + Mock Deposition).
The certification gate
Pass the Written Exam and both Practical Exams to earn the CDVS designation. The credential is not a completion certificate — it's demonstrated capability the rest of the litigation industry recognizes.
Course tagline: procedure following, record protecting, problem solving, video expert.
If your fundamentals are shaky
Three sister 101s backfill the technical and procedural baseline CDVS assumes. Take any of them as prereqs if you arrive at CDVS feeling behind on the underlying skills.
- Audio Production 101 (AP101) — audio fundamentals as they apply to legal video.
- Video Production 101 (VP101) — video and post-production fundamentals.
- Serving as the Deposition Officer — the rules-deep course for those who want the legal framework in full.
Where DV101 sits
Most practitioners follow this path through the AGCV curriculum:
GROW — Business of Legal Video runs alongside whenever you're ready to build a real business out of the work. DV101 + CDVS is how the path begins.
Who takes this course?
People entering the deposition side of legal video from a few directions:
Not sure where you fit? The free Legal Video Career Path course gives you the full map across all three pillars.
Start with the bridge. Earn the credential.
DV101 is free and takes about two hours. CDVS is the depth course on the other side — the credential firms actively look for. The recipes are on that side of the link.