Family Tree Digital Memories; Planning & Preparation

Planning & Preparation

Planning Your Photo Montage
How To Prepare Your Film Project
Photos, Slides, Memorabilia, more

Planning Your Photo Montage

We suggest that you follow this process in planning your photomontage and arranging your photos for your music video.

Select your theme - Tom and Mary's Wedding, Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary, A Tribute to Grandma Helen, Tina's High School Graduation, Dad's 80th Birthday, etc.
Determine 'chapters' - these are subdivisions within the theme. For example, if the theme is Tom and Mary's Wedding, the corresponding chapters might be; a. Mary growing up, b. Tom growing up, c. Tom and Mary Meet and Fall in Love. Label separate envelopes with the title you want to have for each chapter.
Select a song to be background music for each chapter - This is normally the hardest part. There are so many songs to choose from! Just select an appropriate song with nice lyrics and tune. The mood of the song will affect that part of the montage. You may certainly 'mix' songs within a montage and this often results in a better overall emotional affect! Your music selections may be on CD or on tape.
Select photos for each chapter - Photos may be large or small, color or B&W, etc. The size of the photo doesn't matter … just make sure it isn't blurry. We can zoom in on the smallest of photos. We can also zoom in and crop out anything or anybody you want!

Images show for 5-6 seconds each. Select 10 photos for every minute's worth of music. So, a three-minute song should be accompanied by about 30 photos. If you deviate from this rate too much, your photos may be shown either too long or go by too quickly or, more typically, we will fade the song out early. Put the photographs for each section into the labeled chapter envelopes.

** When you choose photos, slides, or memorabilia, of any sort, for inclusion into your master tape, remember the following rule: "Choose the material that means the most to you and your family." Pick candid photos that show the character and personality of the people in your family.
Determine titles and captions - Your montage will always include an opening and closing title. You may also choose to include other titles or captions over photos as well. If you want titles for sections of the video write a title on a 3 x 5 card and insert it where you want it to be. If you want a caption on a particular photo write it on a sticky tab and attach it to the back of the photo. In general, titles should be used on older photos, for names, dates, places, etc.
Determine how/where to utilize other media - You need not limit the montage to only photos. You may include video clips, clips from old 8mm home movies, certificates, news clippings, etc. If these are inserted, they will use some of the time available in the accompanying song and thereby, may reduce the number of photos that are needed to be displayed in that chapter. Set your VHS machine's counter to 0:00 and forward the tape to the clip desired. Write down the location of the clip and write down a brief description of it..
Number your source materials in the order that they should be used – Use small multi-purpose labels like Avery #05412 found in any office supply section. Also, provide complete instructions as to titling, which songs are to accompany which photos, etc.

How To Prepare Your Film Project

8mm/16mm Home Movie Film

If you wish to have 8mm/16mm film included in your master tape, simply send me the reels or arrange for me to come and pick them up.

DO NOT DRAG OUT THE OLD PROJECTOR. YOU COULD EASILY RUIN YOUR FILM FOREVER!

Here’s how it works: First mark the reels into chronological order and we will transfer all of your 8mm film & 16mm film to a master on miniDV tape. We also make a copy of the films on VHS videotape with a time code in the bottom corner. We then send you copies of the VHS tapes in their entirety to view for editing purposes. While viewing the tapes you write down on a piece of paper in sequence starting at tape #1, the persons, places or things you do not want added to the final family history production. We then capture and edit highlights of your films and videos into your master tape along with the most important photos and other documents you have chosen for your Family Tree Video “master tape”. Your final production will contain all the meaningful highlights of your 8mm/16mm home movies, videotape clips, photos, slides, and memorabilia, all set to the music of your choice. The final highlight version should be put onto DVD for lifetime preservation.

Photos, Slides, Memorabilia, more

Photos, slides, and memorabilia are on the viewing screen at a rate of 10-12 pictures per minute. 100 pictures take about 10 -12 minutes of running time.

Photos In Albums, Frames, or Slides In Cartridges
Remove photos from albums when possible, but only when it will not damage the photos. If you have a lot of photos in albums or frames, don't take them out. Simply mark the photos you want with a sticky note.

Loose Photos/Slides
Make a "yes" stack and a "no" stack. Put the "no" stack away! Then make another "yes" and "no" stack out of the "yes" stack! This ensures that you are choosing the pictures that mean the most to you and your family.

Categorize the pictures either chronologically, or by some kind of natural grouping, such as Grandparents, Mom and Dad, Wedding Pictures, Children, Grandchildren, etc.

If you want to categorize chronologically, and you have home videos that will be included in the master tape, it is best to organize your photos into 3 major groups:

Photos from before the video time frame
Photos within the video time frame
Photos after the video time frame

When you have categorized all your pictures, put them into an envelope or locking plastic bag, and mark the outside with the name of the category, and the number of pictures in the category.

Videotape Highlights
When you choose scenes from material already on videotape, make separate notations for each tape. Make sure you mark down the "real time counter" parameters you want to include. (For example: 22:30 - 23:08.) You also need to identify the scene. (Grandma holding the baby) or (Pick the best scene within this time frame, but make sure you don't include the man in the red sweater.)

Make sure you rewind the tape to the start and reset the counter to 0 before marking the time! The tape footage counter does me no good … only the "real time counter". The more precise you are, the more money you save.

If you want the audio from your original tape to be "up", please indicate which segments you want audible. The general rule of thumb is to include audio "up" only when a person is speaking directly to the camera, saying something funny or memorable (with a minimum of background noise).

Choosing The Music
Because of copyright laws, you need to supply me with your own music on tape or CD. If you don't own a particular song you want, I'll get it for you, and charge you the cost of the CD. Remember, the music is a very important component of the whole production, so if you have specific songs that fit your video, and you don't have them in your possession, I'll go to every length possible to source them.

If you only want a segment of a song to play for a particular scene, or group of photos, that can be done as well. This technique, done to excess, will detract from the flow of the video. But it works well in limited doses.