An article in the September 2005 issue described how to transfer your old family films to video. Once that's accomplished, how can you incorporate them into your video biography? Here are some tips.

Your family films can be invaluable additions to your video biography. Why? Well for one reason - they move! And it's that movement, showing mannerisms and interactions between family members, that enriches your viewing experience.

Your first step, after transferring your films to video, is to watch the video transfers and decide which segments you'd like to include in your video biography. For reference, write down the time code numbers that occur at the beginning and end of each clip. This will make the clips easy to find when you're ready to import them into your editing system. Once you've imported the film clips, here are a few ways you can use them to good advantage:

• Motion Control. Most editing software lets you control the speed of your clips. This means you can play them at normal speed, pause them, play them at speeds that are slower or faster than normal and even reverse speed. This gives you a lot of creative leeway. For example, you might introduce what looks like a still photo of a particular relative. Your audience will be surprised and delighted when the "still photo" starts to move and the relative in question springs to life. You can also reverse the effect. End a particular story by programming a film clip to stop and hold on a particular frame. Slow motion can also be very effective. Creatively, slow motion can lend a dreamlike quality to a clip and help you evoke nostalgia for days gone by. Practically, slow motion can help viewers focus on a pivotal moment (an athlete crossing a finish line, for example) or help you extend the length of a clip to cover a particular interview or narration segment.

• Inserts. It's certainly great to fill the screen with your visuals, films included. But there may be times when you'd like to see both the interview subject and the visuals that support what's being described. We've all seen the effect where a box with video is superimposed over the shoulder of a news anchor. You can do this, too. Superimpose the film clip over an interview, shrink the size of the clip, add a border and position the clip wherever it looks best on screen. If you're feeling whimsical, you can indulge in some fun - like superimposing your film onto a shot of your vintage family television.

• Narration. Use your clips to generate a narrative. This is a great technique to supplement an on-camera interview - or to use with a relative who doesn't want to do an on-camera interview but is receptive to watching and describing the events he or she sees taking place on film. Set up your camcorder and place a microphone on your subject. Then, play the film clips on your subject's television and record his or her remembrances about what is taking place on screen. Helpful hint: While you record, point the camera at the TV. This way you'll have a visual record of what your subject was watching while he or she spoke. Import the video along with the narration, and it'll be very easy for you to replace the video you shot off the TV with the matching video imported from your film transfer.

One final note. Unlike stills, which you can shorten or extend at will, the action contained in your film clips may dictate how long they need to stay on screen. If a piece of narration or the audio from an interview segment ends before a film clip finishes, don't be afraid to let the clip continue, either in silence, with the natural sound that was recorded along with the film, or accompanied by music.

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