Five Things I Learned Transcribing

Ever since I was suggested for a job as a transcriber I have been doing it pretty consistently for the past two years for reality TV. Yes, reality TV. Knock it as much as you want but it pays well and employs hundreds of people and quite a few of my friends. When I first heard what it is I was surprised that it was, like, an actual thing that is done on pretty much every reality show. Sometimes it is called logging but for the sake of this I'll continue to call it transcribing. Now what the hell is it?

In TV there are writers and they need to know where to find stuff to build stories. Otherwise you’d see a jumbled show about folks just cooking or dwarves running around showing how much better they are than your normal sized ass. I’m sure there is more involved with it but since I am assisting editing right now that’s all that matters for me right now.

1. It Is Not For Everyone

You will be sitting on your ass for at least nine hours a day listening to people talk about stuff you probably have no interest in whatsoever. Your co-workers may or may not be insane. You will be in close quarters sometimes. You will sit there counting the amount of “Um…”’s someone has during a five minute interview and wondering what wrong decision you made in your life to be in this position. You may think that you are too good for this and that people are just not recognizing how amazing you truly are.

This type of job is/was perfect for me. I’m not an active person and when I was not writing at work I am writing at home. I was appreciative of the fact that I could make money doing this instead of moving corpses or selling poppers at six in the morning. But I understand that not everyone is built for this kinda thing.

2. You Will Get Annoyed

If you’re not busy screaming at your screen while typing, WHICH I SUGGEST YOU DO NOT DO, you’re probably looking to your left, right, or both, and wondering what planet your co-worker is from. I once had to work with someone who farted constantly. It. Never. Stopped. I resorted to wearing a scarf in hot ass weather to keep from smelling it. How do you tell someone they fart too much? I can do a lot of things but that isn’t one of them.

I’m sure I have annoyed the hell out of people. I invade rooms to talk to folks. I talk about wrestling and MMA too much. I listen to my iPod while typing because doing one thing at a time makes no sense to me as I sit here writing this listening to a podcast and TMZ at the same time. If I’ve ever annoyed you at work I‘m sorry…that you’re not as cool as me.

3. Distractions Happen

It can be hard to focus on typing interviews or logging footage all day and it is very easy to have your attention taken away. For most its their cellphone or like I mentioned people farting. For me it was things moving out the corner of my eye. If I saw someone make a sudden movement I went into fight mode. You never know what’s going down while you sit there with your hearing blocked off from the world!

4. You Will Get Angry With Co-Workers

I have worked with people who have covered their desks with shit, ate stank ass food, took up too much room, had no concept of personal space, screamed at tapes, talked on their phones, piggy backed off my work, or typed as if the keyboard was made of stone. But there is a plus side.

You will meet people from all over the place. I can think of at least six people I have met in the past two years that are awesome ass people and will continue talking to them even when I don’t work at the same place as them and hang out with them. When you are in an environment where you sit with someone 50 hours a week and you get along it is a beautiful thing.

5. There Is Room For Advancement

I have been accused of moving ahead based on who I talk to. Not the fact that I can knock out two hours of transcribing in a day or that I don’t cause drama. No, it couldn’t be that. Honestly, it all boils down to me having the need to be occupied at all times. If I am transcribing I want to know what happens after that. I learned how to use AVID (an editing program) which led to learning string outs (putting shots together) which led to knowing more people who saw that I could learn shit fast and I got a reputation.

Reputation is important because everyone knows everyone. Every show I have worked on has known other people I have worked with from transcribers to directors and if you’re known for being “that guy/girl” that starts shit it will be hard for you to get promoted. And then there’s luck. Some people are at the right place at the right time. You cant be too mad because you’d do the same thing if you were in their shoes. Just come to work, do better than you think you can, and hopefully you can do something other than transcribe. Unless that’s all you want to do which there is nothing wrong with. I still do it when I am not assisting editing and do poo poo it. “Here’s hundreds of dollars to write what people say.” Okay.

Click here for past Five Things I Learned.