Editing Family Memory Movies


Once you've organized and digitized all your photos, old movies, VHS videotapes, and any new material you've shot, you're ready to edit your family memory movie.

Even though you may have an overwhelming wealth of sources to edit, remember that as in editing other movies, you should create sequences. You'll find that once you structure your elements into sequences, you can get the editing process in gear. As you may have learned in other project chapters in this book, the easiest way to create a video is to edit visuals to music. You can also use audio alone or a combination of music sequences and audio sequences.

Family memory movies may be more challenging to make than other videos in this book, due to the number of different sources you may need to use for them. In addition, it often takes more time to edit photos than video because photos don't last very long onscreen compared to the duration of most video shots. It's important to take your time. You should edit some chunks and take plenty of breaks. You want to make the process fun. On the other hand, you may also find yourself swept away in a deep state of concentration, spending long hours at the computer, if you get into the flow; feel free to go with that, too!

Finding the Perfect Music for Your Family Memory Movie

Adding great music to your family memory movies will bring more personality and life to them. Finding the perfect music for your movies is easier than ever, using (legal, of course) free or low-cost music download sources on the Internet.

For family memory movies, some of the best places to find music are on CD, at FreePlay Music (www.freeplaymusic.com), and at the Apple iTunes Music Store (www.apple.com/itunes; which offers 99¢ downloads).

Here are some of the best songs to add a special touch to your family memory movie:

  • "In My Life" (Johnny Cash)

  • "Old Chunk of Coal" (Billy Joe Shaver or other artists)

  • "Je Ne Regrette Rien" (Edith Piaf)

  • "Circle Game" (Jim Harmon)

  • "You've Got a Friend in Me" (Randy Newman)

  • "It's a Wonderful Life" (various artists)

  • "Solilai" (Pierre Bensusan; instrumental)


Tip

Do you want to have a family memory movie made for you? A number of services will make them for you, including me (see www.strayer.com) and my Emmy Awardwinning friend Susan Davis (see www.paintboxfamily.com, which is shown in Figure 9.19).

Figure 9.19. Many services on the Web, including www.paintboxfamily.com, can create family memory movies for you.



Basic Editing Steps

When you've collected everything you need for your family memory movie, you should take time to look at your footage. You need to review your elements to see what you really want to import. It's important to select only the best material. As you work with your material, you should edit out anything doesn't workeither by trimming and tightening it up or by deleting it. Gradually, the strongest material will rise to the surface, and you can polish it to perfection.

Here's a quick review of the editing steps outlined in Chapter 3:

1.

Select the best portions of your footage and organize your coverage into sections that are roughly organized as a beginning, a middle, and an end.

2.

Import photos, audio, music, and video into your computer and insert them in a Movie Maker collection.

3.

Select the clips you like best and place them in the order in which you think they should appear in the Timeline view or Storyboard view. Edit your shots into sequences.

4.

Trim your clips.

5.

Edit your clips together, using dissolves.

6.

Add music.

7.

Add titles, effects, and closing credits. Titles are a powerful and creative tool, and they can be especially helpful in family memory movies. (To refresh your memory, you can reread the sidebar "Using Titles to Tell a Story" in Chapter 3.)

8.

Review your edited rough cut and evaluate it.

9.

Review your edited fine cut and make any final changes.

10.

Save, share, and enjoy your edited movie.




Create Your Own Digitial Movies
Create Your Own Digitial Movies
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 85

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