Making Baby Movies

There's probably no single event that inspires people to pick up a video camera than a new baby. Every baby's life is filled with unforgettable momentsfrom pregnancy to birth and beyond. From every goo to every gah, babies enchant and entertain us. Capture these precious moments in your baby movies!

Shooting a Baby Movie

Shooting movies of babies is fun; you can get completely entranced watching them for hours. But to make your movies interesting, you need to shoot a variety of scenes. You should also shoot sequences with wide, medium, and closeup shots, and you should interact with the people in your movies.

Lighting is also a consideration. You should try to avoid backlit shots. You should position yourself to get the best lighting situation, but of course, if the lighting isn't great, capturing the moment while it's happening is more important than having perfect lighting. Do your best.

The following sections describe some of the things you might want to shoot.

Shooting the Pregnancy

You can start a baby movie by shooting during pregnancy. Interview Mom (or yourself, if you're the mother, by setting up the tripod and putting yourself on camera) the day she discovers she's pregnant and at regular intervals during pregnancy. Trips to the doctor, profiles of Mom's changing belly (see Figure 5.2), Mom's cravings, Mom and Dad in birthing class, shopping for baby gear, getting the baby's room ready, the new mothers' groupall these add lots of human interest and activity to your movie.

Figure 5.2. Pregnancy can be part of your baby movie.

Interview Mom's girlfriends and other friends and family members to see how they think Mom and Dad will change as parents and what kind of family they will create. If this is not a first child, you can also interview other children in the family about what they think it will be like to have a baby sister or brother and what they're looking forward to.

Shooting the Baby Shower

Making a movie of a baby shower is a fun prelude to a baby's entrance into the world. Interview the guests about any wishes they have for the baby and family or any tips or advice. A baby shower movie is also a very nice gift to give. Review the section "Shooting a Birthday Party Movie," earlier in this chapter, for tips on how to shoot party events.

Shooting the Birth (Optional)

Some people want the birth to be part of their movie, and others do not. Consider what makes everyone comfortable. For some people, this is the most important moment in their lives and they want it recorded for posterity. Others do not want to add to the drama of the moment. Be sensitive to people's preferences and work with them to create what everyone wants.

Shooting Life with Baby

Firstsbaby's homecoming, baby's first feeding, baby's first diaper change, Mom and Dad learning how to change diapers, baptisms, grandparents' first visitare all great scenes to have. Get close-ups of the baby's face as well as medium and wide shots of the baby and everyone else (see Figures 5.3 and 5.4).

Figure 5.3. Every baby is a star.

Figure 5.4. Welcoming the new baby is a big moment.

Tip

Consider making an online video birth announcement. After the baby arrives, it's lovely to shoot, save, and share scenes of the family and infant from the hospital room or other birth place. If you only have photos (and no video), you can make a movie out of those still photos by using Movie Maker's import photos feature and adding music and titles. As with online baby photos, you can share this movie on the Web and send it to family members and friends.

Getting a Baby's-Eye View

After you've shot baby movie scenes (over and over and over), you might be ready to try something a but more adventurous: Try shooting a baby's-eye view of the world. What does the baby see from the crib? from the floor? from a lap? You can re-create some of these experiences.

You can put the camera in the crib and point it up at a mobile, if there is one. You can have someone bring a spoon with baby food toward the camera. Use your creativity to think of other scenes that give a first-person point of view to your movie. From these scenes alone, you can edit a hilarious movie.

Shooting Everything Baby

When a baby begins to crawl, walk, and talk, you have more exciting moments to capture. Try shooting to get a baby's-eye view of the world by putting the camera down at baby's height.

Tip

A good soundtrack for this kind of movie is "I Want to Be a Baby" by David Hall. I will post emails from people with their favorite best baby video music selections.

Email me if you have one to share [e-mail] I will post the entries at www.createyourowndigitalmovies.com.

Sleeping babies can even be interesting. You can edit together a variety of shots (different angles and baby movements) to lullaby music.

You can also give a baby a prop, like a blanket or toys, to play with so you get some fun action shots to edit into your baby movie.

Tip

"Fuller Sings" is an amusing baby video movie about a very precocious musician, and it is sure to make you smile. See it at www.crumley.org/videos/fuller_videos_2005.htm (see Figure 5.5).

Figure 5.5. "Fuller Sings" is a great example of creatively using titles in a baby movie.

For more online movies, enter birthday video or baby movie at your favorite search site and explore the links you find to get your creative juices flowing.

Shooting from Babyhood to Toddlerhood and Beyond

Keep shooting. While the first month of a baby's life is very exciting and new, shooting even just once a month over time throughout the first year and after (see Figures 5.6 and 5.7) captures the exciting growth and changes every newborn goes through. So pick up your camera from time to time and keep recording life unfolding before your very eyes.

Figure 5.6. A first birthday: It's time for a partyand a video!

Figure 5.7. Who can resist shooting such adorable stars? With talent like this, you will have lots of great material to work with.

Editing Your Baby Movie

You can review the steps in the section "Editing Your Birthday Party Movie," earlier in this chapter; everything in that section applies to editing baby movies, too.

When you edit your baby movie, keep your clips short! Babies are fascinating, but not forever!