Memorial Videos

The memorial video is one of the most powerful productions you can create. The memorial is a tribute to a person who has passed away. The memorial is often displayed at the funeral home during the viewing, service or wake. Even a very simple production can evoke deep emotions in family and friends. I just finished such a project for a client, I had never met the deceased or his family before but by the end of the production I felt I knew them. Their life captured in photographs mirrored my own. The connection felt between the father and daughter was evident in the photos. Their life was celebrated in my own backyard, pictures of restaurants I eat in, fairs I take my kids to, and neighborhoods I routinely drive through. The hand written letters from his grandchildren wishing him peace in heaven reminded me of my own Daughter's letter left in my Father's casket.

From the technical standpoint, the memorial video should not be flashy. In my productions I tend to use only slow dissolves and fades for the transition between pictures. Avoid transitions that use diamonds, waves, puzzles, explosions, flips, rotations or similar cheesy effects. A well placed heart transition might work once in the entire production. Too many of these effects in any production steal the focus off the pictures and diminish the flow of the visual story. There are exceptions to this. One of my good friends "Bubba" passed away in the prime of his life. Bubba was a fun guy, youthful and passionate about his work at the radio station. I created a memorial for him while I was at the radio station using crude software and limited resources. Using some of those unorthodox transitions helped convey the youthfulness and fun loving attitude Bubba was famous for. His memorial can be seen on my website http://www.documenting-life.com/main/page_demos.html

The powerful effects you can use are video clips of clouds, sunsets, flowers or other peaceful elements of nature. Some memorials can have an underlying theme, example for a veteran you can incorporate the use of flags, eagles, or shadow boxes. Poems, quotes and bible verses can also be powerful additions to the memorial. I tend to use white writing on a black background for these. Keep the phrases short and make sure you leave the caption on the screen long enough for the audience to read it, 6 to 10 seconds should be long enough. Check out my YouTube sight for a sample memorial using these techniques. http://www.youtube.com/DocumentingLife

Letting the moment slip by

In my first post I described how I procrastinated making a video biography of my Father. I promised myself I would help others not make the same mistake I did. My Mom is always asking me if I have any video with my Dad talking. She longs to hear his voice since he passed away 6 years ago. Unfortunately, I have found very little footage of him speaking.

A few months ago I was cleaning out my storage shed and stumbled across an old radio shack micro cassette recorder. I was ready to toss the thing in the trash but for some reason I pressed the play button first. To my surprise this piece of antiquated equipment worked. The batteries must have been energizer batteries because this thing was stored for years in my garden shed in the hot and humid environment of South Florida. What surprised me even more was my Dad's voice was coming from this ancient device. I instantly got chills, it had been over six years since I heard him talking. Evidently he carried this little recorder and would make notes to himself about his business competitors. After he retired, he bought a coin laundry and would drive around to other laundries in the area and comment on their price, cleanliness, amount of customers etc.. It was not the most earth shaking commentary, but it was my Dad.

The point I want to make is this: Do not let the moment slip by!!! If you do not have a video camera, dig out an old cassette recorder or hook up a cheap computer microphone to your computer and get the interview with your loved ones. Afterwards you can save the audio as an mp3 and mix it into a slide show. In future posts, I will show you how. Suddenly, a little piece of crap recorder becomes a priceless treasure.

Episode 2: Creating Title Slides

This is episode 2: Creating Title Slides. We will show you how to create interesting title slides for your slide show or video biography. Use a little imagination and the free Picasa 3 to take your shows to the next level.

Episode 1: Creating Cool Visual Effects

This is episode 1 of our free video tutorials. We will use a photo editing and slide show software called Picasa 3 that is a FREE download from Google. With a little imagination, this free software can take your slide shows and biographies to the next level.

Welcome

Video Biographies are a collection of video interviews mixed with multimedia to tell the story of an individuals life. The art of digital story telling uses strategically placed photographs, film, video, graphics, documents, sound and music to bring the viewer into the subjects world.

I fell in love with the idea of using these mediums years ago after watching A&E's Biography television show. I did not think you had to be a famous person to have an interesting life story. I thought the average person had just as much to share. I thought of the stories I saw by Charles Kuralt's "On the Road" and CBS newsman Steve Hartman's "Everybody has a story". They interviewed normal everyday folk and found a wonderful story hidden inside all of them. Borrowing a similar technique from Kuralt, Steve Hartman would throw a dart over his shoulder at a map of the United States. He would travel to the town where the dart landed and find a telephone booth, open the phone book and randomly pick a name. Steve would interview that random person from the phone book and find their special story. That story from an average everyday person in the middle of nowhere, would be broadcast during primetime on CBS.

The reason I make biographies is simple. I missed the chance to shoot a biography of my father. He passed away from lung cancer in 2003. My dad was a very interesting guy, he had worked his way up the ladder at Shell's City from bag boy to company president. He had owned businesses and he was born and raised in Miami, Florida long before it had become a major metropoliton area. I had talked to him about doing a biography, I even shot some footage of where he grew up and went to school. But I never got the interview. I do not have his voice, his face, his opinions, his philosophy or his stories. I will never be able to ask him how he felt when his first child was born, what my mother looked like on their wedding day, or what lessons he would leave for his grandchildren. My son never even got the chance to meet his grandfather, yet I had adequate technology and the skill neccessary to capture his essence. I procrastinated. I kept thinking I would have more time. I thought I needed a higher end camera and a more sophisticated editing system. I made sure to not make the same mistake with my mother. I filmed a beautiful life story of her that captured who she is and what she believes in. Check out my demo page to see a sample of my Mom's biography http://www.documenting-life.com/main/page_demos.html

I fell in love with the process of creating and editing such meaningful material. I want to ensure others do not make the same mistake I made. I have made it my mission to educate others about the importance of filming their loved ones. That is what this blog is for, I will share my techniques and experience to help you preserve your families legacy.