Monday, November 19, 2007

Some local press for Family Legacy Video

Shortly after Labor Day, a reporter and photographer from the Explorer, Tucson's weekly newspaper, visited with we to talk about preserving personal history on video.

The announcement of my workshops at the annual conference of the Association of Personal Historians kindled the interest of reporter Ty Bowers, who explored the subject of video biographies with me for a couple of hours. The article appeared in the September 12 issue of the paper. You can read the online version here.

Note: The article contained a couple of factual errors. I grew up in Rahway, N.J., not Clifton (I did live in Clifton before moving to Tucson). Also, my grandmothers's bio was long ago viewed by my family.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Join Steve Pender & other personal historians this November!

If video biography and personal history is your cup of tea, you'll want to be in Tennessee this November.

Author and award-winning video biographer Steve Pender of Tucson's Family Legacy Video will present two workshops (Preparing & Conducting a Video Biography Interview & Transcripts With Time Code: The Video Biographer’s Friend) at the Association of Personal Historians (APH) annual conference in Franklin, Tennessee (right next door to Nashville), November 8-12, 2007. More than 300 personal historians - writers, oral historians, and videographers - in the business of “saving lives one story at a time” by creating biographies and memoirs in various formats - will gather from throughout the United States and Canada and as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Europe.

According to Steve, “More and more Americans recognize the value of preserving family and personal stories on video in order to create legacies for future generations.” Family Legacy Video caters to this trend by producing video biographies and by teaching folks how to do it themselves.

While virtually unknown a few short years ago, the idea of “saving lives” through professionally videotaped memoirs has exploded in popularity. Today, professionals in the emerging field have translated their backgrounds in journalism, film, oral history, psychology, storytelling, graphic design, publishing, history and education into the business of documenting the lives of clients as well as the histories of corporations and other organizations.

Thirty distinctive workshops, including Steve’s two sessions, are scheduled for the 2007 APH Conference. Each will focus on the skills, equipment and methods personal historians must hone in order to capture lives and memories effectively for future generations. Information about APH and its conference is available at www.personalhistorians.org.

Come join Steve in Tennessee!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Audio tips for two-camera video bio shoots

Let's say you've decided to videotape an interview with two family members. In order to give yourself some options when you edit, you want to shoot them using two cameras. So how do you capture audio? And how do you synch up the tapes from your two cameras during editing?

RECORDING AUDIO

Option 1: You can mount a lapel microphone on each subject, run the mics into a mixer, and feed the outputs of the mixer to the audio inputs of each camera. Of course, in order to do this you need a mixer and someone to mix the audio while you're recording. This is probably not something that's going to be possible for most family projects.

Option 2: Most consumer and many prosumer cameras have only one microphone input. When shooting with two cameras, you'll need to run one microphone to each camera. (Note: Unless you're using stereo microphones, the camera will place the audio on only one half of your camera's stereo channel. You'll need to copy the audio over to the other half of the channel during your edit.)

Option 3: You can buy an audio adaptor that contains two audio inputs. The inputs are of the professional XLR type (three-pin). The output of the adaptor is a mini-plug that plugs into the mic input of your camera. The adaptor will allow you to combine the audio from both mics and send the mixed feed to both left and right channels of your camera OR you can choose to keep each microphone isolated on its own channel. This option requires the purchase of an adaptor and some professional cables, though. If you do go with Option 3, remember that you're feeding the output of the microphones to just one camera. However, your second camera will still need to record audio (you'll be using this camera's audio as a reference only - I'll get to this in just a moment) so make sure the onboard microphone contained in the camera is working.

No matter how you record the audio, keep in mind that you're going to need to synch the tapes from the two cameras during your edit. One technique that will help is to record a very recognizable sound on each tape, a sound you can later use to match your tape positions. If you have a clapper, (you know, the small slate with a handle that slaps the top of the slate, used in motion pictures), that'll be just fine. If you don't have a clapper, use your (or your subject's) own two hands. Start both cameras recording, wait a few seconds, and then clap once, as loudly as you can. Do this each time you start recording. You now have audible reference points on each tape.

SYNCHING TAPES

First of all, you'll need editing software that provides a timeline with a number of video and audio layers. After you digitize your videotapes, you're ready to begin. The first step is to create a "rough edit" during which you synch up all your tapes. Let's say your two-shot is on camera 1. Import tape 1 from camera 1 into video/audio track one. Find your first clap (you'll hear it, of course, but you should also be able to see it clearly on the audio waveform displayed on the audio track) and mark the point with a clip marker. Next, import your close-ups from camera 2. Find the first clap on this tape and then mark it. Finally, line up the two markers.

Now, play the two tapes together on the timeline. If you don't hear any echo, you're right on the money. If you do hear an echo, you may need to shift one of the tapes back or forward by a frame or two. Once the tapes are synched, group them together using your editing software. Grouping guards against accidentally shifting the position of one of the tapes and losing audio synch as a result.

Once the tapes are synched, create another timeline, sequence or project. Use your rough edit as a source and cut and paste segments from your rough cut into the new timeline as you create your final program.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Drop a pebble in the water...

Drop a pebble in the water; just a splash and it is gone;
But there's a half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on,
Spreading, spreading, from the center, flowing on out to the sea
And there's no way of telling where the end is going to be...
- Anonymous

On October 5, 2006, during the opening session of the annual conference for the Association of Personal Historians, I experienced a keynote address that was the most inspiring I've ever heard. The speaker was Bob Welch. He's a columnist for The Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene, Oregon, and an author. His talk chronicled his experiences researching and writing his book, American Nightingale - The Story of Frances Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy.

Frances Slanger was the first American nurse to die after the D-Day landings. She was killed the night after writing a letter to Stars and Stripes, a letter that praised American GIs and, in turn, inspired many of those soldiers to write letters in response. It's a fascinating, inspiring and heartwarming story. And what I'd like to do is focus on a small part of that story: the poem you see above.

A copy of the poem was found in Slanger's "chapbook," a scrapbook-like volume filled with writings and poems she held dear. As Welch pointed out in his address, it's a poem that speaks volumes to those of us dedicated to preserving personal and family stories and histories.

That's because we're the pebbles. When you start out to create a family or personal history, you create an initial splash. And the ripples from that splash, your efforts, can produce unexpected and delightful results.

In my own case, I never would have dreamt back in 1998 that the video biography I produced about my grandmother's life would impact my family as greatly as it did. The video continues to provide comfort to the children who miss her dearly. At least one grandchild included the video in a history project at his school. And, years later, it helped spawn Family Legacy Video, Inc., helping others preserve their precious histories. So the ripples continue to this day.

And, as the ripples of your efforts continue to spread, you'll find you inspire others to tell their stories. There's just no end to this personal history "ripple effect." It will continue for years, and generations, to come.

So go ahead. Drop a pebble in the water. Do it today.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Get double the coverage on your next family interview.

"Two cameras! Why would I want to shoot an interview using two cameras? I can barely manage one."

Okay, I hear you. And, for the most part, one camera is all you're ever going to really need to videotape your family interviews. BUT, if you're feeling adventurous, there are times when two cameras can really come in handy.

Situation 1: Let's say you're doing an interview with a subject who has very few visuals (photos, films, memorabilia, etc.) available to lend visual interest to the finished program. Setting up two cameras (one a wide shot and one a close-up), gives you the option of cutting from one camera to the other during your edit. This lends some visual interest. It also helps when you want to rearrange answers or cut out some material. Let's say you're on the close up. You reach a point where you need to cut out some material. Simply end the close-up and pick up the new segment on the wide shot. This'll help hide the fact that you eliminated some of the interview.

Situation 2: Maybe you're interviewing two or three relatives at a sitting. What you can do is set up your first camera on a wide shot, so that you always see the entire group. Use your second camera to zoom in on whomever is speaking. You can hide any sloppiness that occurs as you move your close-up camera from subject to subject by covering those moves with your wide shot. And again, always having two different angles can hide cuts you make within the interview.

Of course, there are some challenges that result from using multiple cameras. You'll have double the amount of tape, for one. Plus, you need to have a plan for recording audio on both cameras. And then you'll have to line up the footage from both cameras in your editing timeline so that the audio and video from both cameras are in sync.

First of all, you'll need editing software that provides a timeline with a number of video and audio layers. After you digitize your videotapes, you're ready to begin. The first step is to create a "rough edit" during which you synch up all your tapes. Let's say your two-shot is on camera 1. Import tape 1 from camera 1 into video/audio track one. Find your first clap (you'll hear it, of course, but you should also be able to see it clearly on the audio waveform displayed on the audio track) and mark the point with a clip marker. Next, import your close-ups from camera 2. Find the first clap on this tape and then mark it. Finally, line up the two markers.

Now, play the two tapes together on the timeline. If you don't hear any echo, you're right on the money. If you do hear an echo, you may need to shift one of the tapes back or forward by a frame or two. Once the tapes are synched, group them together using your editing software. Grouping guards against accidentally shifting the position of one of the tapes and losing audio synch as a result.

Once the tapes are synched, create another timeline, sequence or project. Use your rough edit as a source and cut and paste segments from your rough cut into the new timeline as you create your final program.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Capture that performance on video!

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.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Looking to jog some memories? Try a road trip.

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.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Begin your video biography now. Here's how you start.

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!