If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a moving image must be worth ten thousand. And Barry Cammon, owner of Advanced Video Solutions, has shot enough footage to fill the books of the Library of Congress.
Cammon provides a variety of video services to lawyers in Chattanooga and beyond, from taping depositions, wills and settlements to creating mini-documentaries about the lives of their clients. He’s shot footage where accidents have taken place to help juries visualize and understand the misfortune that befell a plaintiff, analyzed surveillance video to determine if someone bringing a claim against a defendant truly slipped and fell or was simply trying to earn easy money, and recorded some of the last words victims of mesothelioma ever said.
Most of his jobs center on wrongful injury or death, but the work never becomes tedious, Cammon says, because each case offers something new.
“Every day is different. That’s what makes doing this fun.”
Cammon says he becomes engrossed in some of the depositions he tapes, to the point of wishing he could hear the other side of the story and then learn about the outcome of the litigation. But once his work is done, he rarely hears how things turn out, partly because he’s moved on to other things.
“We do 80 to 100 depositions a year. If the lawyers are busy, I’m busy,” he says.
An award-winning documentary filmmaker with an appreciation for human stories, Cammon especially enjoys making “day in the life” videos for his clients. These mini-documentaries offer skillfully stitched together testimonies and photos to give jurists or the participants in a settlement hearing a clear account of one side’s point of view and the emotions involved.
Cammon pulls up to his desk, which looks like mission control at the Super Bowl, and loads one of the videos. While the quality of the lighting, photography and other technical elements approach what would be seen on a prime time television news show such as “60 Minutes,” the most impressive aspect of the piece is how Cammon draws the viewer into the story.
In the video, the victim of a motorcycle accident describes the event that changed his life.
Cammon mixed his testimony with photos of the man in the hospital, hooked up to every conceivable device. He then inserted footage of his brother, who breaks down as he describes what his sibling’s life was like before the accident, and the ways in which things are different for him now. Cammon ended with the victim, who laments being unable to go fishing with his son, but thanks God for sparing him.
“Our day in the life videos aren’t dramatic. We don’t use voiceover work or turn them into theatrical productions. We simply use what the family has given us,” he says.
Cammon says it’s important for the mini-docs to feel genuine, so he asks his clients to not prepare the people he’ll be filming.
“If a witness is prepared, his testimony will end up looking staged. And people see that. I like to go in cold. I’ll let the attorney prepare a list of questions he’d like to ask, but not give them to the person in advance,” he says.
Cammon attended Auburn University, where he earned a degree in Mass Communication. Although he wanted to become the next Hitchcock, he took a job working in the control room of a television station in Montgomery, Ala., instead. The long hours in an enclosed space and repetitive button pushing bored Cammon, so when he was offered the opportunity to shoot news video, he took it. However, he didn’t like doing that, either. Cammon finally found work he enjoyed when he landed a job making television commercials. This eventually led to an 18-year stint in production management.
“The company that purchased Channel 12 brought me to Chattanooga in 1996. I was only going to stay here one year, but I fell in love,” he says.
In 2005, Cammon’s wife, Tonya, suggest he launch a digital video production business, and Advanced Video Solutions was born.
“She said the other video production businesses in Chatta-nooga hadn’t made the switch to digital. They were still shooting in analog, and in some cases using VHS. We purchased all-new, state of the art equipment and opened our doors,” he says.
Cammon says starting his own business was risky, but has proven to be rewarding.
“After working for other people for 30 years, it’s a joy to have my own company. I like waking up every day and having the opportunity to communicate with people through video, and possibly do something that will make their lives better.”
For more on Advanced Video Solutions, visit www.avsstudios.com. Details on the nature films and the award-winning Jimmy Hoffa documentary Cammon made for the Federal Bar Association are also available on the Web site.