Why Not Try Videotaping Oral History

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ORAL HISTORY REVIEW 9 (1981), pp. 115-124

Why Not TryVideotaping Oral History?

W. RICHARD WHITAKER

Postwar scholars, as everyone is quite aware, have greatlybenefited by technological advancement. One pertinentexample for readers of this journal has been the way in whichthe tape-recorded interview has profoundly changed thechronicling of human experience. Put simply, oral history hasprovided researchers with yet another means of preservingcultural traditions and developing a social context for ex-perienced events. By employing electronic oral history tech-niq ues , scholars whether historians, anthropologists, socio-logists, political scientis ts, folklorists, et ceterahave impartedto the life experience of individuals and communities alike awider dimension than heretofore allowable through the exclusiveuse of traditional documentation.W. RICHARD WHITAKER is Visiting Associate Professor of Mass Com-mu nication at Am erican U niversity in Cairo, Eg yp t. A former televisionnewsman, he has also participated as an interviewer in an ongoing oralhistory project of journalism educators and worked with a film and videoproduction studio.Th is article is based on a pa pe r the author p rese nted as pa rt of a pane l on"Oral History in the 1980s" sponsored by the History Division of theAssociation for Education in Journalism convention held in Boston,Massachusetts, in August 1980.

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116 ORAL HISTORY RE VIEW /1981In the 1980s, humanistic scholars are offered an evengreater opportunity: the use of videotechnology. Why greater?

Because the visual element creates a more comprehensiveinterview package than the standard audio model. In additionto analyzing voice inflection and word choice, the researchernow has the chance to examine body language and reactions.These elements add both depth and breadth to recollectedexperience and can assist scholars in formulating explanatorystatements about human behavior.This does not mean that videotaping oral history is withoutdrawbacks. The need for equipment raises costs, and it alsomay freeze up the interview subject by thrusting the personinto an unnatural situation which inhibits responses to ques-tions. There is also the argument of information versus enter-tainment and whether videotaping is a help or a hindrance inthis regard. And because much of the technology is new andchanging, those who have considered beginning videotapingoral history projects still have some reservations about theidea of embarking upon this endeavor. These are all validconcerns and ones which this article will address. It is firstnecessary, however, to consider the current state of the tech-nological art in videotape systems.The Videotape Explosion

The videotape industry is presently in the midst of acassette revolution. Costs are coming down drastically; ahome-recorder system which now sells for $800 will probablybe down to around $600 by the end of the year. These are half-inch systemsSony's Betamax; Magnavox's Magnavision;and similar systems put out by Zenith, Panasonic, GeneralElectric, JVC, and othersadequate for low-budget pro-duction. The half-inch tape format will do the job for the oralhistorian; and if this is the only equipment available, then byall means use it.Preferred, however, is the three-quarter-inch cassette. Again,a variety of manufacturers are producing the equipmentPanasonic, Hitachi, JVC, and othersbut the industry leaderis Sony. Since Sony appears to be on the way to becoming theindustry standard, it will be used here as the example.

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WHITAKER/Why Not Try Videotaping Oral History? 117The Sony VO-4800 is a small, remote recording unit usedextensively for television-news work. This is the recorder to

have if much on-the-scene location shooting of oral historyinterviews is planned. The VO-4800 is made to be movedaround and will give ad eq ua te bro ad cas t quality. For in-studiowork, the Sony 2860-A or the BV series will give goodbr oa dc as t quality, with the BV series su perior to the 2860-A. Ifyou are purchasing a three-quarter-inch system, you will findthe 4800 priced under $4,000, while the 2860-A runs about$6,625.The Sony camera that goes with this is the DXC-1630,although if you can find the earlier models1600 and 1610they will do the job at about half the investment price. TheDXC-1630 camera package includes an AC power adapter, acam era-to-recorder cable, earph on es, a 6-to-l zoom lens withan f/2.4 to f/16 lens (the camera lens is interchangeable withany " C " m ount lens from a 16 mm came ra), a viewfinder, and abattery case (battery extra). The cost is about $3,200. Thisthree-quarter-inch camera, under normal conditions, gives anadequate picture without additional room lighting. If you wishlights, a kit runs about $500 for key, back, and fill lights withstands and barn doors.For audio, an EC M -50 lapel m icrophone should be ad eq ua teand relatively inconspicuous.

Television monitor-receivers come in sizes of from five-inchto twenty-one-inch screens. There is no need to have one ofbroadcast quality, for you will be paying more for somethingyou do not really need. The CVM-13, with a thirteen-inchscreen, runs about $710 and should do for monitoring andplayback purposes. When editing, you will need two of these:one for the player and the other for the recorder.There are several editing consoles. The Sony RM-430 is abasic videotape editor at $1,200. But while it is more precisethan attempting to edit by using the VO-4800 and 2860-Areco rde rs toge ther, it still gives some unstab le e dits. A control-track editor, at $4,000, is relatively precise and would be therecommended machine to use.In considering videotape cassettes, you will find that theyrun from sixty seconds to sixty minutes in length. Do not

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118 ORAL HISTORY RE VI EW /1981purchase a cassette tape of over sixty minutes in length; whenthey are made over that length, the tape has to be very thin tofit in the cassette and, thus, jamming and tearing occurs moreeasily. The best is a thirty-minute cassette; however, thebiggest made for the VO-4800 is a twenty-minute mini-cassette. Every tape is coded with two or three letters and anumber: the letters indicate the manufacturer; the number theminutes of tape on the cassette (a KCA-60 runs sixty minutes,et cetera). The three-letter tapes , which usually cost no more,permit stop action (the tape may be stopped with the imageremaining on the monitor), while the two-letter tapes result insnow or a series of scrambled lines. Be careful in bargain tapes .Discount houses offer thirty-minute tapes for as low as tendollars, but they are of poor quality and never airable. Youshould expect to pay twenty-five dollars for a thirty-minutebroadcast-quality tape. Manufacturers' claims to the contrary,the best tapes seem to be Sony, Memorex, or Ampex. If you arenear a television station, you might be able to take older tapesoff their hands, especially if you are not concerned with broad-cast quality. The cost of secondhand tapes would be lower or, ifyou are affiliated with a college or university, the station mighteven agree to donate them as a tax write-off.Reel-to-reel tape is being used, but cassette is far superior.Half-inch reel-to-reel tape is of low quality, is easily damaged,and is usually monochrome. Half-inch tape is on its way out, asis the big and expensive two-inch "quad" tape in use since1956. Television networks are now using a one-inch "C"format, so named because of the way the tape is run around therecording heads. ABC used twenty-five of these to cover the1980 Olympics, but the recorders alone run $50,000.Whatever you buy, whether it is a dozen tapes or a completerecording-editing outfit, the rule of good shopping prevails.Deal with reputable firms; be alert to take advantage of anydiscounts, and have a firm understanding of all the warrantiesand guarantees. The unique thing about videotape is thatalthough the initial outlay may be high, costs are relativelyinsignificant once the investment has been made. Unlike film,you can erase and start over (and over and over) if need be.

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WHITAKER/Why Not Try Videotaping Oral History? 119The Interviewer as Producer-Director

Na turally, an individual who un de rtak es a videographic oralhistory project shares many of the concerns and confrontsmany of the same problems as standard oral history practi-tioners. But when embarking upon a videotaping project, youmust, quite apart from the customary operating procedure oftape-recorded projects (developing an overall research design,selecting interviewees, determining topical foci for the inter-views, et cetera), be alert to a number of other, peculiar,considerat ions.Let me, right at the outset, make one major suggestion: Donot try to do the engineering and the interv iew as well. Both willsuffer in the process. Work with at least one other personnam ely, if you are the interview er, a technician who knows andunderstands the equipment; for when the video element isad ded, an extra person is essen tial. While you are concentratingon the qu estio ns and working to crea te a con versa tiona l flow ofinformation, the technician can be concerned with running thecamera, maintaining proper audio and recording levels, andtaking care of the myriad technical details which crop upduring the recording session.Implicit in this, of course, is that the technician has a fullunderstanding of what you, as producer-director, want. Howtight should the head shots be? How should zoom and angleshots be handled? What mood are you trying to create? Howcan the cam era take adv anta ge of any striking visual cha racter -istics or mannerisms of the subject? It means that the inter-viewer must sit down with the technician and discuss theobjectives. Once this is done, the technician is responsible forquality contro l: color levels mus t be bala nce d; aud io mu st be ina pr op er rang e; recordin g levels mu st be tracking p roperly; thesubject should be framed well in the camera (the technicianbeing alert to sud den m ovem ents which can throw the sub jectout of frame); and zooms and pans must be done smoothly.These are details the interviewer cannot be concerned withduring the taping session, but they are vital details. R em em berthat unless the production is done in a polished manner mostpeople are not going to want to watch it. A sloppily produced

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120 ORAL HISTORY RE VIE W /1981videotape, no matter how good the interview, defeats theentire effort.

With the assistance of a good technician, the interviewer canthen devote full attention to the person being interviewed.Often, the first task is to make the subject feel at ease. As iscommonly known by oral historians, some persons experienceanxiety when confronted by a microphone. Add to that atelevision camera, videotape recorder, playback monitor, andpossibly lights, and the problem may be compounded. Toreduce the initial apprehension, it is often wise to explain theequipment to the subject and demonstrate how it operates.But sometimes this sort of explanation is insufficient.Therefore, before the tape begins rolling, you may want to sitdown with the subject in the interview setting and talk aboutwhat is to be covered during the interview. This not only servesas good preparation for the interview, but also allows thesubject to become further acclimated to the setting and equip-ment.Making It Visually Interesting

The videotaped oral history interview carries the sameelements of production style as does a television program. Itmust be made visually interesting. This is not as important foran interview that only a few scholars will watch. But what if, forinstance, you find you have a series of good interviews that youwish to have replayed over a local cable or television channel orthe university PBS station? Unless you have a well-produced,visually interesting package, you will be denying a potentiallylarger audience the possibility of sharing what you haveuncovered.

It does not require much in the way of time or trouble tomake the product visually interesting. Here again, the role ofthe technician becomes important. The camera operator shouldstrive for a variety of visual angles and be alert for good facialexpressions or effective hand gestures. The interviewer-producer-director should be thinking visually when the interviewis being planned. Is there a demonstration which can be taped,with the subject doing something while talking? Are there

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WHITAKER/Why Not Try Video taping Oral History? 121location shots that may be taped before or after the interviewto provide " B " roll when the tap e is edited (the subject talksabout an old building, and in the finished tape the picture dis-solves from the narrator to the location shot while the voicetrack continues)? Old-time pictures can also be used as aneffective visual break from the monotony of the "talk ing h ea d "interview.Th e cam era op erato r should avoid excessive zooming. H ereis where there is an advantage to replacing the televisioncamera zoom lens with a film lensthe camera operator, inorder to frame the subject tighter in the viewfinder, mustphysically move the camera. This effectively cuts down onneedless motion. Usually, it is best to start out on an opening"two-shot" as the interviewer asks the first question; thenst ar t to move the cam era in as the su bjec t gets into the an swer.T he camera m ay be moved in tighte r after the second que stionhas been asked. Any time the camera is stopped and thenrestarted (allow at least five seconds for the tape to stabilizeand get up to sp eed ), it is be st for editing pur po ses to back ou tto the two-shot or, at least, into a wide solo shot.During the interview, the camera will be positioned facingthe subject, shooting over the interviewer's left shoulder.After the interview is over, it is most important for editing toshoot reverse qu estion s and cu taways. A reverse question isexactly that: the camera should be physically moved to apo sition facing the interviewer, beh ind and slightly to the rightof the subject. This frames a two-shot over the subject's rightshoulder. With the respondent looking at the interviewer, theinterviewer again asks m ost of the qu estions which were pose dduring the course of the interview. The subject should beinstructed in advance not to respond; the interviewer shouldtake care to pause at least five seconds between questions, asis done anytime the record er is re sta rte d. Once comp leted, thereverse que stions may the n be inse rted into the finished inter-view tape to provide that additional visual interest.Cutaways are extremely imp ortan t. Sho t in the same m anneras reverse questions, they allow the subject 's responses to becut when they become too long or when the respondentwa nders off into an un desired tang ent. Th ey provide a pleasing

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122 ORAL HISTORY RE VIE W /1981visual transition to permit the interview to resume without avisually jarring jum p for the viewer. A cutaway may merely bethe interviewer listening or nodding in a reverse two-shot.Again, the subject says nothing.Editing the Oral History Interview

Any oral history interview is necessarily an artificial situation.The subject and interviewer did not jus t happen to meet in theplace where the interview took place; the time was worked outwell in advance, as were the questions or, at least, the topicareas. Therefore, it does not seem improper, at least to me, tosay that all videotaped oral history interviews should be editeddown from the total length of material (just as, customarily, atranscriber eliminates some portions of an audiotape interview).The videotape editor must consolidate, for there will, at times,be questions or responses deemed to have marginal value.Nonetheless, for those who view the editing of videotapes asviolative to the purity of the experiential record, then it is asmall matter to set another camera on a two-shot of the subjectand interviewer and leave it untouched for the duration of theinterview. Record two tapes (two recorders must be usedrather than one), and file the complete, unedited two-shotinterview away where it can be reached if needed by a scholar.Then, for the purposes of wider public consum ption, go aheadand get to work on editing down the other videotape.Unless the oral historian is also a proficient tape editor, toedit cleanly, it is better to let a technician operate the tape-editing machine: inserting reverse questions and cutaways;trimming excess length from responses; cutting audio withoutoverlap; and remembering not to cut in the middle of a zoom orduring camera motion.It is assumed tha t more tape will have been shot than can beused. Enough time should be budgeted to complete theshooting session, bearing in mind that there is at least a three-to-one ratio between shooting time and edited tape time(figure that it will take an hour to shoot what will be a twenty-minute interview).Oral history, whether or not it is videotaped, involves editingand publishing a t the same time; and the interviewer has only a

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WHITAKER/Why Not Try Videotaping Oral History? 123brief time und er intens e pre ssu re to create a meaningful bodyof information. It is a un ique an d difficult expe rienc e. A goodoral history interview should have some of the characteristicsof good conversationinteraction between subject and inter-viewer, wa rmth, real intere st in the su bject being pursu ed, andsufficient flexibility to follow un ex pe cte d tu rn s in the course ofthe interview. Videotapingone is really talking about tele-visioncan illuminate this conversational quality of oralhistory if it is effectively executed and edited.Conclusion

The question will m ost likely arise as to whether the add itionof a visual element to the oral history interview is worth theexpense, time, and work required. A case can be made foreither side of the debate. There were many people in broad-casting who, during the 1940s, argued th at the new medium oftelevision would never replace radio because the visual elementwould detract from the story line of a dramatic or comedyproduction. Experience has shown to the contrary. So, itseems, is the case with videotaping an oral history interview.The camera can add so much more. The scholar viewing thepro du ction beco m es a m em ber of the audience looking on andnot only hears the voice and its inflection, but also sees thesubject the raised eyebrows, the hand motions, the unsp okenbody language; everything, in short, from clothing to reactiongestures and mannerisms.A good, well-planned videotaped oral history interview,the n, can add much more to the pro cess of prese rving the storyof anyone whose observations should be retained. It maysound d ifficult, bu t the effort will prove to be worthwhile oncethe projec t is com ple ted . Th is is the television genera tion, andit seems that oral historians should take advantage of thismedium which is still a relatively misused educational tool.Why not try it?

SourcesBaum , Willa K. Transcribing and E diting Oral History. Nashv ille: American Associationfor State and Local History, 1977.

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124 ORAL HISTORY RE VIE W /1981Davis, Cullom; Back, Kathryn; MacLean, Kay. Oral History from Tape to Type.Chicago: American Library Association, 1977.HarwQod, Don. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Video Tape Recording.

2nd ed. Syosset, N.Y.: VTR, 1975.Grayson, Mattingly. Introducing the Single-Camera VTR System: A Layman's Guide toVideotape Recording. New York: Scribner's, 1973.Neuenschwander, John. Oral History as a Teaching Approach. Washington, D.C.:National Education Association, 1976.Robinson, J. F ., and Bea rds, P. H. Using Videotape. New York: Ha stings H ouse, 1 976.Shafer, R. J. A Guide to Historical Method. Rev. ed. Homewood, 111.: Dorsey Press,1974.Starr, Louis. "Oral History: Problems and Prospects." In Advances in Librarianship.Vol. 1. Edited by Melvin J. Voight. New York: Seminar Press, 1971.Thompson, Paul. The Voice of the Past:Oral History. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1978.Weiner, Peter. Making the Media Revolution: A Handbook for Video-Tape Production.New York: Macmillan, 1973.

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Why Not Try Videotaping Oral History

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