MovieChat Forums > Alex & Emma (2003) Discussion > Stenography

Stenography

posted 17 years ago by idontknowdoyou
11 replies | jump to latest

I know it was just a movie but it irritated me to see such inaccuracies about being a stenographer. It's like they don't even bother to find out about things. First of all, Emma said that she charges something like $10 an hour...please! Also, a stenographer would never put their machine on the table like that, they would use a tripod and also nobody uses those old 1970's models anymore...the whole thing was just silly.

[–] adgvelazquez 17 years ago

ok.. honest question... why wouldn't a stenographer put the machine in the table and use a tripod? just wondering....

if ur gonna complain.. why didnt she just use a laptop.. makes the whole process easier if u ask me...

[–] shrimpy50 17 years ago

Yes, exactly! Why? Why go through all the trouble of a stenographer/machine.....? If she is a stenographer...then she should be able to type 60+wpm or much more....??? Save all the hassle...and just use a laptop! You can't plug a stenograph mach. into the publishers printing press....and VOILA....outcomes that NOVEL!!! But with your laptop and a cd....you are almost there!!! Am I right....or am I wrong? (and there must be a name for the steno. machine?????)

[–] annieyo 17 years ago

She can write much faster on the stenography machine than she could on a regular keyboard, because the steno keyboard is much different than a laptop keyboard. The steno keyboard allows one to type at 200+ wpm. However, I too, was surprised she didn't have a more modern machine. The current machines allow you to write to a disk, which she could have read into her computer when she got home, then all she'd have to do is edit it. Or, she could have brought her laptop and fed the feed from her machine into the laptop (if she had a modern machine with realtime capability).

[–] prettymagic-44601 8 years ago

Wow. You don't know anything about stenographers. Stenographers are everywhere. They do all the caption on news channels. They provide services for the hearing impaired in classrooms and churches and events. They do your depositions, and they're always sitting by the judge in court.

[–] jedijaney 17 years ago

Jeez! Its a movie...there is no wizard's school in England, ewoks dont roam distant planets, aliens who like reeces pieces dont try to phone home, ex killers dont possess dolls named Chucky, and Sigourney Weaver doesn't really slay space creatures...so why cut down a feel good movie because of some slight inaccuracies? We dont watch movies to get 100% reality, we watch movies to ESCAPE from our current world, so just leave it alone! jeez.

[–] margaritarussa 16 years ago

She gets paid $50 an hour.

[–] poppycockevil-1 16 years ago

Do people even practice stenograpy any more?

[–] Warmfire 15 years ago

Do people even practice stenograpy any more?

Yes, court reporters do. They're the quiet men and women sitting close to the judge in a courtroom with a stenography machine sitting about waist high directly in front of them. It generally takes two to four years to become proficient enough to earn a license, and some states' licensing exams are tougher than others. Besides reaching the 225 wpm in literary, 4-voice, and jury, they must also score high in the academic areas - grammar and procedure.

I was surprised to hear Kate Hudson's character charge such a low rate. Only an incredibly low level court reporter would accept a job with such a low pay rate.

Also, yes, Emma's machine is a 1970's model. At the time of this film's release, court reporting schools were still using those 1970's models to train new students, so it wasn't unusual for her to use the machine. In fact, some court reporters are more comfortable with manual machines.

Today, when the stenographer strokes a word on the latest model stenography machines, the translation software installed on the laptop connected to the machine translates the stenography code into plain English and immediately reflects the plain English on the laptop screen. Simultaneously, the stenography machine saves each stroke to its own memory, hard drive, or a flash drive the stenographer has inserted into the machine. This is now the standard with court reporters. It's called Real-Time Translation.

[–] redbrioche 9 years ago

I assume the newest machines were not available yet when the film was made.

[–] prettymagic-44601 8 years ago

Haha. Funny. Those machines and technology was definitely around. Being a court reporter myself, it's very frustrating how outdated they make the stenographer in this movie. She also holds up the paper notes, which we don't even use paper anymore.

I read somewhere that they used the old machine so that people can identify it. If they had used an old machine even a step up from that, like a SmartWriter made in 1987, even that would have been less of an insult. That machine was the first one that encoded steno notes into a computer. Many more were made after that.

It could have been so easy to just get a court reporter's opinion to make this a more realistic film the time frame.

Also, all good court reports know backup, backup, backup!

[–] 8 years ago

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