Biography, Memorial and Tribute Videos
Personal biography and tribute (dedication, recognition, or memorial) videos are a fun, exciting, and very unique way to honor and recognize someone close to you. Most video companies limit these to just combining photos with music to create a slide show. For maximum impact, Sunray adds creative motion to the images, similar to what you might see on the History channel or A&E’s Biography series. The length of time each photo is on the screen is varied by the content of the photo and the pace of the music being used. Carefully selected transitions allow each photo to flow into the next.
In addition to photos and music, we have also used old home movies, video clips, newspaper articles, scrapbook items, interviews, and narration to tell the story of the life of someone special. The completed masterpiece can then be given to the honoree as a gift they’ll never forget. Our videos are so compelling that many of our clients wanted us to project the video on a large screen for everyone at the celebration to enjoy. Biography and tribute videos make great gifts for Anniversaries, Banquets, Birthday, Father/Mother’s Day, Graduations, Retirement parties, Memorials, Weddings, and even Valentine’s Day.
Family history / biography videos
Family history videos can contain much of the same elements as the tribute video (mentioned above) but, with the addition of a narrative detailing events of a family’s heritage. Often, these videos involve stories told by the eldest member/s of the family, (including grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.).Our tribute videos have been the highlight of many celebrations. Let us make your event memorable!
We can put the completed video on DVD, blu ray or usb flash drive.
It’s a great way to preserve your family’s history for future generations to cherish!
Suggestions for preparing your material for making the video
Put photos (slides) in some type of order to tell a story Organize the pictures you want to use in the order you want them to appear. You may want to use some sort of order to tell a story (Chronological order is the most common). Then, number them on the back either with a pencil, quick drying pen or a post-it type note you can write the number on. Don’t use a regular ink pen because the ink can transfer to the other photos. Try to choose pictures that are horizontal (wider than they are tall) because they more closely fit your television screen. It’s good idea to include several “action” photos, that show the subject doing something, to make the video more interesting.
Personal items may be included (i.e.: baby booties, favorite toys, invitations, etc.) or you can also use announcements, newspaper clippings, old home movie clips, video clips, biographical information, and other memorabilia.
Choose what music you want played with your video. Then, on a sheet of paper, list which song (or portion of a song) you want played with what group of pictures. Figure about 13 pictures per minute of music. One average song will cover about 40 to 48 pictures. Choose music to complement the photos. You may consider using favorite songs of the person (or people) for whom the video is intended.
Consider dividing the video into segments or “chapters”, (i.e.: childhood, courtship, marriage, raising their own family, their children’s families, etc.) Each segment can have its own song, or portion of a song, if there are enough photos.
Come up with a simple beginning and ending title for your video. Short, simple, headline style titles are best for video.
Think of what titles you want to use as an introduction to the video and each segment (if desired), as well as, a special message to end the video with (i.e.: Congratulations, Happy Anniversary, We Love You, Best Wishes, etc.).