It was June 28, a few minutes past 2 PM on a hot Tucson afternoon, when I received a call from a gentleman in Wisconsin. It seems his dad, an avid amateur pianist, was hosting a house concert in Green Valley (south of Tucson) on July 1. The caller had never seen his father present a concert and was anxious to have it preserved on video. “Can you videotape the concert?” he asked.

Long story short, I spent the evening of July 1 documenting a wonderful program of Chopin performed by my client’s father for about a dozen friends. I was not only treated to some uplifting music, but also learned a few things about the history of the piano and the life of Chopin during short talks interspersed between musical selections.

I think it’s terrific that my client cared enough about his dad to preserve a record of his passion for the piano. Not only will the concert video be enjoyed now, but it will also be a valuable keepsake for future generations. And the footage can also become part of a future video biography.

So if you get the opportunity (or can make the opportunity) to capture the special talents of a loved one on video, go for it! You’ll have both a unique recording for your family to enjoy – and valuable footage you can use in a future family legacy video.

Have you ever gone back to visit the home where you grew up? Your first school? Or any other buildings or places that figured prominently in your childhood? I bet your visits prompted a flood of memories. You can harness that power of place to help the subject of your next video biography recall memories and stories from his or her life.

A while ago I took a walk through my old New Jersey neighborhood, still filled with tree-lined streets and small, post World War II bungalows. My childhood home looked completely different, with a second story added and lacking all of the trees that used to shade our corner lot. Even so, just looking at the property brought back memories – of events and feelings. I remembered what it felt like to climb those old trees, clear the yard of leaves each autumn (and jump in the leaf piles, of course) and, for some reason, I vividly remembered what it felt like to run from my backyard onto the narrow stone path leading to our side door, and slam that door shut as I charged into the house. Quite frankly, I was surprised at how spontaneous and keenly felt that simple memory was.

A member of my Rotary club recently told me how he took his dad on a tour of the homes that figured prominently in his life. Video camera in hand, he’d stand his father in front of one of his boyhood homes and record the stories and remembrances the place stimulated.

If you think a road trip may be in order for your next video biography, here are some tips to consider:

Plan ahead. If you’d like to shoot on a property, contact the current property owners, explain what you’d like to do, and get their permission. Remember – no trespassing! At the very least, if you’re not on their property but are including the building in your shot, just knock on the owner’s door and let him/her know what you’re doing. Who knows, maybe you’ll get invited inside.

Locked down or hand held? You may opt to set your camera on a tripod, and videotape with your subject between the camera and the building, the way you always see TV reporters shot when they’re reporting from the White House. Another option is to follow your subject as he/she walks the property and relates their memories. You can do this by taking your tripod with you, setting up a shot to establish an area, and then having your subject walk into the shot and speak. Or, if you’re steady enough, you can ditch the tripod and shoot hand held.

Audio. You’re going to want to mic your subject as closely as possible. This means a lapel (also called a lavaliere) mic. If you’re going to simply have your subject stand and talk, you may be able to get away with an extension cable so you can attach the microphone directly to your camera. However, if you plan on doing any walking and talking, think about renting or purchasing a wireless microphone. A wireless mic has a small transmitter your subject wears on a belt or sticks in a pocket. The audio is sent to a receiver that connects to the audio input of your camera.

Places figure prominently in our lives. And, with a little planning and creativity, you can use them to generate some interesting visuals and some fascinating memories.

The process of creating your family history video begins with a vision. Your vision. Now, don’t be intimidated by the word “vision.” All it means is the way you imagine your video is going to look and sound. The clearer your vision, the easier it will be for you to pull together the resources you’ll need to make your video. For example, your vision may be for a simple, on-camera interview. Or you may want to create something a bit more involved, including stills, family videos and music.

If you’ve been watching TV most of your life, you’ve been exposed to a wide variety of video techniques. You probably just haven’t really paid much attention to them. Watch some of your favorite documentaries in the next few days or weeks and take note of what you see and hear. Is the show comprised of nothing but on-screen interviews? Or are the interviews combined with still photos, film and video clips? How do the shows proceed from one topic or scene to the next? What kinds of transitions are used?

Once you have an idea of how TV programs are structured, take the next step and imagine the video biography you’d like to create. Who is in it? What are they talking about? What kinds of things do you see and hear? Make some notes of your thoughts and ideas. Store your notes in a folder or three ring binder to keep them handy and organized.

Congratulations – you now have a vision for your video. You’re on your way!

November’s “Create Your Own Video Biography” workshop was fun and informative for all! And now that the 2006 workshop season is a wrap, we’d like to hear how to make our 2007 workshops even more beneficial for you. Please take a moment to fill out our online workshop survey. It’s an easy way to get your name on our waiting list – AND your answers will help Family Legacy Video design a workshop experience that will help you.

Note: This survey is no longer online.

An interview with my mom – it’s been something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. And this year I finally did it. Mom came out from New Jersey to celebrate two November milestone birthdays (I turned 50 and she reached 70) as well as Thanksgiving, which was sandwiched in between. We had a great visit, and on the day after we celebrated her birthday, we sat down for an interview that celebrated her life.

I’m so glad I took advantage of her holiday visit to preserve my mother’s stories on video. And this holiday season I urge you to do the same. A holiday visit can afford you the time you need to interview family members you may not see during the rest of the year. If you have a relative whose memories you’d like to record, give them a call and arrange an interview while he or she is in your neck of the woods.

Here’s another idea: We all have lots of memories centered around the holidays. Think about grabbing short interviews with as many family members as possible – interviews that focus solely on their remembrances of past Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa and/or New Year’s celebrations. Then use these interviews to create a “family holiday memories” DVD that you and your family will treasure.
Whatever holiday you’re celebrating this month, have a wonderful time – and don’t forget to capture some of your family storytellers on video!

They’re white satin bags, fringed with lace and dotted with pearl-like beads. They’re bridal bags, designed to hold the cards given to a bride on her wedding day. Even though they’ve been emptied of the cards, cash and checks that once filled them, the bags are still filled with the love of their maker and are cherished by the brides who own them.

My wife and I hopped a flight from Arizona to the New Jersey in April to attend the wedding of my youngest female cousin. The service was beautiful and the reception was a blast. Throughout the day’s celebration, I couldn’t help thinking of my grandmother. Gram died suddenly in 1998. Before her death she was a fixture at every family event and was always the life of every party. It’s a shame she wasn’t around to attend the wedding of her youngest granddaughter. But, when I saw the bride’s aunt holding the satin bag, brimming with cards, I knew that Gram was certainly there in spirit.

You see, Gram made it a point to sew a satin bridal bag for each and every new bride in our family. It didn’t matter whether the young lady was related by blood, or was soon to be related by marriage. Gram didn’t discriminate. Gram also planned ahead. Realizing she might not live long enough to attend the weddings of her two youngest granddaughters, she made their bags far in advance and gave them to her daughter (her granddaughters’ mom) for safe keeping. And now, years after Grams death, each granddaughter in turn has spent her wedding reception with one of her grandmother’s custom made bags dangling from her wrist.

So what’s this got to do with video biographies? Quite simply, your video biography, like one of those satin bags, is sure to become a treasured family keepsake. Think of it as physical expression of your love, filled with your memories, stories and values; a wonderful legacy that will valued for generations.

“Create Your Own Video Biography” workshops from Family Legacy Video offer three jam-packed days filled with inspiration, learning and fun – and leave you with the tools you need to preserve your own precious family stories on video. Our next workshop takes place in Tucson, Arizona this November.

The Tucson workshop runs from November 10 to 12 (Friday to Sunday). The venue is the meeting room at the Arizona Small Business Association, in the Crossroads Festival Shopping Center, 4811 East Grant Road (the corner of Grant and Swan), in Tucson.
The early bird deadline for the Tucson workshop: October 3.

“Create Your Own Video Biography” workshops from Family Legacy Video offer three jam-packed days filled with inspiration, learning and fun – and leave you with the tools you need to preserve your own precious family stories on video.

SO if you’re itching to tackle your own do-it-yourself video biography project –

BUT you lack the skills and experience you need to move forward –

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE to learn professional video production tips and techniques.

Complete details (along with testimonials from past workshop participants) are on the workshop page of the Family Legacy Video Web site.

Stock historical footage. We’ve all seen it used in the movies and on TV. Thanks to early documentary film makers and newsreel cameramen, long ago events, from the major to the mundane, still live on in grainy, black and white moving images. Most of those clips are owned by stock footage libraries. These companies license the rights to various clips to video and film producers – and the rights can be very expensive. We’re talking hundreds and thousands of dollars for a few seconds to a few minutes of video, way more than most family video biographers can afford. But what if you really want to include some historical clips in your family video, both to bring a particular era to life and to give your video that History Channel look? Do you have any low cost options? Actually, you do.

Some of our taxes do go to support worthy government institutions, and one of them is the Library of Congress. In addition to print materials, the Library of Congress houses some great early film collections in its American Memory Collection. Some of the films are in the public domain, which means you don’t have to pay to use them (however you may be required to credit the Library of Congress on screen). You have the option of downloading clips or of having them copied to tape and shipped to you. If the clips you want are public domain, all you have to pay for is shipping and duplication. I recently purchased a copy of some early Ellis Island footage (stills from the footage are at left and at the top of the newsletter). I was very happy with the service and the quality of the copy. Several video formats are offered, but most home video biographers will need to opt for VHS.

Another option is an online resource called the Internet Archive. The site contains a variety of films and videos available for download. Some of the material is free to use in your video and some of it isn’t. Downloads can take a while and, once you have the clip, you’ll most probably need to convert it to a file your editing software will accept. I used Blaze Media Pro to convert some clips to avi files. The software worked just fine.

So, take heart. With a little online detective work, you may be able to find some free and low cost stock footage to add some pizzazz to your next video biography.

You’ve decided to create a video biography chronicling your life, or the life of one of your family members. That’s great! You’re sure to capture lots of great personal stories. But as you go about planning your interview, don’t forget to include some questions that put your subject’s personal history in the context of national and/or world history.

We all know how quickly times change. Asking your subject to reminisce about what things were like on the home front during World War II, for example, or during other times of nationwide joy or catastrophe can provide details that evoke a sense of time and place and add depth and texture to the story.

Here’s an example. I recently received a wonderful e-mail from a new Family Legacy Video customer in England. She lives in Eastbourne, on England’s south coast. She has a love for personal and oral history and is a budding video biographer. I thought you’d enjoy some of what she had to say:

“Being right on the south coast, you can imagine how many Battle of Britain stories people have. All the hotels along the seafront were billeted to Canadian and American soldiers. Eastbourne was a major target for German planes during WW II, and was the second most bombed town on the south coast. I’ll finish with a ‘little history’ from the last interview I transcribed:

Anyhow, we heard these aircraft and then one or two came over the woods, so low that you could actually see the Germans in their cock pits, only a matter of a few hundred feet. I suppose they were flying low to escape the RAF, and they’d obviously been on an attack, probably on London, and they came back and they still had their bombs onboard. And having seen them pass so low over the farm, we then ran round the back. We watched them heading off toward the English Channel and then they dropped their bombs-trying to hit the railway just between Stone Cross and Westham. We saw the plumes of earth going up from these bombs. The other thing about aircraft noise was; the house or the farm opposite the Hall was called Montague, and they had some evacuated horses, dray horses from London, grazing on the field there. And the extraordinary thing about these horses that had experienced the Blitz in London was; if they heard the German aircraft they would rush round the field in great panic but an RAF aircraft didn’t stir them, they didn’t react the same way and they were quite content to graze. They obviously associated the German aircraft noises with the noise and threat of bombs.

I love the ‘little’ history about the dray horses, how many people would know that unless the lived on the farm next door?”

What a great picture that story paints – and who would’ve thought horses could tell the difference between German and British airplane engines! These are the kinds of details that really help evoke a sense of time and place and that you should strive to bring out during your next video biography interview.

“Create Your Own Video Biography” workshops from Family Legacy Video offer three jam-packed days filled with inspiration, learning and fun – and leave you with the tools you need to preserve your own precious family stories on video. Our next workshop takes place this September – and you’re invited!

The workshop will run from September 8 to 10 (Friday to Sunday). And this time we’re holding the event in an actual television production facility – Skyline Productions, 65 S. Sycamore in Mesa, Arizona. For those of you outside of the area, there are nearby hotels and motels. And September in Arizona is a good time to get off-season hotel rates.

SO if you’re itching to tackle your own do-it-yourself video biography project –
BUT you lack the skills and experience you need to move forward –
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE to learn professional video production tips and techniques.

Reserve your spot for the September workshop now. Early bird rates apply until August 4. Complete details (along with testimonials from past workshop participants) are on the workshop page of the Family Legacy Video Web site.