If you’re reading this, there’s a high likelihood you have some memory of the VHS camcorder or VHS home videos. They were THE memory making machine of the 80’s & 90’s until the digital camera came into play in the 2000’s.
Back then it was likely one tape per event and mom, dad, or your grandparents walked around filming candidly in chunks of moments that together on this one tape told such a fun story.
Today our kids childhood videos are a bunch of cell phone clips that go where? Most just stay living on the device, maybe they bounce up into the cloud, but we have so much digital clutter that the thought of digging back through all of the photos, videos and screenshots to find some semblance of meaning in that little clip is pretty overwhelming.
Enter my newest service: Custom Home Videos
After creating more than 20 of these videos for my own family and half a dozen for other families, I feel more sure than ever that this is THE new home video. With a little forethought and minimal effort, we can once again have beautifully curated stories to watch and re-live some of our favorite adventures. From daily life to epic vacations, the magic of video is bringing our senses to a new height and once again being taken back to the beauty of all the little moments.
If 2024 is your year to make more effort with your video curation, I’ve got a handful of tips that will help me create magical keepsakes for you!
FILMING TIPS
- FIRST, wipe your camera lens when you start filming!
- Film horizontally, rather than vertically (side to side instead of upright/how we traditionally hold our phones)
- Clips do not need to be lengthy: 5-15 seconds is ideal
- Try to eliminate camera shake as much as possible by holding your phone with one hand on either side if necessary
- Use slow mo on occasion – close ups of smiling faces, feet running, details
- Worried about missing out on photos while taking videos? You can take a photo while you’re video-ing! Just hit the white circle in the corner of your video frame while recording
IDEAS FOR YOUR SHOT LIST
- Stretch your creative muscles when capturing video! Think cinematically.
Some popular camera moves…
– Overhead/birds eye view
– Pan in and out of the subject (left to right, from bottom to top, from top to bottom)
– Close up details (ie. boots splashing, hands playing with toy cars)
– Reveal the subject beyond the foreground, for example if your kids are playing in the other room, reveal by panning from the wall to the door frame to the open doorway to the activity
– Follow shot – ie. following behind your running child
– Don’t forget time lapse can be really fun for certain activities or sunrise/sunset
– Keep the camera in one place and let the action run in and out of the frame (ie. kid pushing a dump truck across the driveway) - Remember to get in the video yourself! Ask your spouse to take some video, prop your phone up on a sturdy item and get in the shot, or use the selfie camera
- B-roll: your scene setting shots that help give a sense of place and time, offer added context, and help tie the story together.
– Great B-roll shots are wide shots of a location or building, trees blowing in the wind, signage or street signs, moving water. Think “what would help me remember all of the senses?” – What I see, hear, smell, taste, or touch
Ready to create your own Custom Home Video? Purchase here!
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