Home Movies - Stories, Vignettes or Photoshows?

When families think of making home movies, they think of one style of movie chronichling an event from start to finish. I like to think there are 3 types of home movies:

• Video stories
• Video vignettes
• Photoshows

What’s a Video Story?

A video story is a 3 to 5-minute video that covers a significant event in your family life, the "major event" of the year. Examples are graduations, family trip to Hawaii, a retirement party and big holiday events. A video story is a well-choreographed sequence with a beginning, middle and end. I like to include more details, close-up interviews, more contemplative scenes, etc. Aim to do 1 video story a year.

What’s a Video Vignette?

A video vignette is about 1-3 minutes long. Vignettes are not stories with beginning, middle, and end. They capture small moments of our lives. It’s the little everyday things that usually just pass by and are remembered no more yet they are the little things that make your lives rich and precious. Examples are a child’s first attempt at riding a bike, house renovation, junior’s first haircut, a swim meet, Grandma teaching your daughter how to knit, etc. Aim to do 2 video vignettes a year.

And a photoshow, what’s that?

A photoshow is a lot of fun and easy, easy to make with the right software. A photoshow is a bunch of photos strung together into a movie-like video with music, captions, transitions and special effects. They take minutes to do and bring back the memory to life just as powerfully. If you have not created a photo show before, there is a link at the end of this article to a video tutorial on how to create photo shows in minutes. The software is even free if you are a Comcast Internet subscribier.

There are several reasons why you want your collection to have a variety of video stories, vignettes and photoshows: vignettes and photoshows are a lot quicker to do if you are time-pressed, a variety of short and longer videos keep the audience excited, and finally, the variety stimulates your creativity instead of getting stuck on one style.

Another piece of advice I also always give to families wanting to start video editing: Keep Finished Movies Short & Sweet

Useful related articles:

How to Share your Videos on the Web