Life Story Video: Best Time of the Year

November really is the best time of the year. Most of the work has been done and the holidays are upon us. I still have a few major family video memory projects to finish up, but I am now getting into that "end of year" zone.

The weekend before Thanksgiving is always my weekend for getting my holiday cards in shape for all my life story video clients, their families, my business partners and all the other good people who are all part of Your Story Here's extended family. It's always a challenge to come up with something fresh and original - yet something that reflects the historical and nostalgic nature of much of the work we do.

Our family video DVDs are always a blend of personal stories, personal photographs, home movies, archive films, historical images, voice-over, as well as text and music. In production, I ask questions about events in the person's life and in their family's life. I also ask questions to connect the person to the historical times they lived through.

In addition, I like to capture occupational footage of the life story video subject. I film them going about some favorite hobby or pass-time - or just pursuing a routine activity. For folks still working, I may video them at work. For others, it may be at karaoke or visiting some favorite childhood location. Getting the camera outside helps the life story video "breathe".

I also use this time of year to get my birthday cards ready for next year. I have the privilege of working almost daily with archive and historical photographs that I use in my biography videos and nothing is more fun than pulling out some favorite images and dreaming up kooky captions. Not always easy, mind you. (And, looking at some of the samples on this page, you may have a more apposite epithet for my feeble efforts!)

The Library of Congress, I've learned, has endless files of historical images that can be used in biography projects - from the Civil War and earlier right through the Civil Rights period. In many cases the images are either so old, or were created by a federal government agency, that there are no copyright restrictions on using them in family video memories. So I do.

Also around this time of year I reflect that helping preserve family memories on video is an intensely personal business. The relationship with the subject only really works when a bond of trust is formed. I often counsel people thinking of starting in this business: You hold a very precious thing in your hands when you come to preserve a life story on video. It is a deep privilege to be let into the special circle of confidence that is created around a life story biography project. "Feel the weight of that responsibility." I tell them. "It is not to be taken lightly."

The relationship with the biography client often grows over time - even after the project is finished. Except for a spouse, the life story biographer may come to know the person and their story better than almost anyone else. So I can't help but keep in touch, even long after the project is finished. And my little cards, and my November routine, are all part of that.

I keep in touch with clients and my "extended family" in other ways besides my holiday and birthday cards. I send out a bi-monthly newsletter and I sometimes send links to articles that I have written that I think could be of interest, like Digitizing Family History. When you have seen and felt the tragic consequences of not preserving a person's history, you become a bit of a zealot. My mission is to save lives, one video at a time!

Not everyone I meet who has the interest also has the energy - or the present impetus - to create a life story video. But what if you don't? It was just this quandary that got me thinking and then got me scribbling: Life Story Video: Never Take No For an Answer.

The afternoon here is wearing out, the end of the year approaches, and time is not slowing down. I still have a lot of work to do on my cards. So many zany captions and so little time!

Jokes aside, this is a family time of year. Most of us will be reuniting with at least some of our families. This time together will be a chance to gather some more of the old stories, even some of the new stories. It will be a chance to understand each other just a little better, and where we came from, and where home really is. And if you need help with coming up with some questions to get things rolling, or if you need help putting a family video memory project together, please get in touch with me.

Happy holidays!

Postscript:
Some people were asking me about the fonts I used in these cards and in my video work and I promised to write something about that. For those who are interested, here something I wrote called "Writers: The Only 9 Fonts You'll Ever Need".

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Biography, a documentary production company that specializes in family video memories, video biography, and life story videos. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949-742-2755 or through her website.