I have found that combining still photos, video snippets and just the right music in order to produce a DVD is such a rewarding and fun experience. I’ve created many movies for my family which we all love to watch over and over. These have already become family heirlooms and it gives me so much joy to know that those precious, fleeting moments are captured and preserved in this way.
There are many ways to go about producing a quality home movie these days. The easiest, and therefore most cost effective, is by using footage that is already in digital format such as jpeg photo files and digital movie files (such as .avi, mpeg, .mvi, etc.). A more laborious task, but one that can be done, is to use photos that have to be scanned and corrected if necessary or video footage that needs to be converted into an acceptable format before it can be edited and burned onto DVD. It all can be done with excellent results. The pricing will depend on what is entailed in the project. Some video ideas:
Birthday/Anniversary Celebration: Whether you’re five or fifty, it’s fun to have your special day captured and memorialized on DVD to be enjoyed for years to come, and passed on to kids and grandchildren. See Party Packages for photo plus video rates.
Sports Highlights: Include photos and video of that first score, that winning goal, that look of excitement (or frustration) and the sounds involved in the action.
School Memories: Another keepsake video I produced was for my son’s teacher and classmates as an end-of-year gift. I included stills and video taken throughout the year, plus short interviews of each of the students in her class, as well as some of the staff. I included fun music and some very touching songs as well that had many of the parents and kids laughing (and weeping at parts) during our viewing on the last day of school.
Our Year in Review
Our Vacation
Legacy Video: A family was coming together to celebrate their parents’ 80th birthdays. I received old photos that were scanned by one of the daughters - many of which needed to be fixed for the best result - and original photos that I scanned and corrected. The daughter working with me on this wanted a basic slide show at first, but as the project developed and I listened to some of her comments, I suggested we go in the direction of the Legacy Video. I took photos of her parents well before the reunion and shots of the family when they arrived in town, and all were included in the video that was played at their celebration dinner.
Here is what the organizer of this event wrote to me soon after:
"I can’t tell you how much the pictures you took of my parents and family reunion have meant to me and my entire extended family. You have shown a unique ability to create a comfortable atmosphere in which my dad and twenty-something year old sons felt natural and relaxed. The pictures you took show each of our personalities, as well as reflect the relationships each of us have with each other. The looks of love, joy and even tolerant amusement are reflected in each image. Thanks to you we now have a tangible keepsake and legacy to pass on to future generations.
I also want to thank you for the DVD you made for our family reunion. Words will probably not express how the entire package affected our lives. Your patience throughout the project gave me the ability to find the right pictures in the right order without stress. Because of your impressive music library you were able to find music to match the era, mood and essence of a family you did not even know.
Your heart for family and relationships led us all to see the legacy lived out in the pictures and DVD, and the songs added yet another dimension of feeling. Thank you, too, for picking up on the fact that I was not completely sold on one of the songs and for changing it. Being so comfortable in your professional ability allowed you to listen to other opinions and guide me to the perfect photo locations and songs.
Your company name says it all. You have captured the “heartprint” of my family and it will now have a lasting impression on our lives." ~ With Sincere Thanks, Tricia K.
Friends and parents in South Orange County, if you're looking for an excellent choice for your child's education beginning in preschool, consider Grace Christian Schools in Lake Forest.
Here is a video I created for the school. I shot most of the footage shown. Contact information for the school appears at the end of the video. If this is your first introduction to Grace, please tell them you saw the video here. : )
