Memorial Video

Norm Sanders

Norm Sanders

Script Wrangler
A close friend of our family just lost her husband in Afghanistan last Tuesday. His body was flown in and arrived to full military & police escort Wednesday night of this week ... pictures were given to me that night, and I spent nearly all of Thanksgiving cutting this video, finishing about 12:30am this morning (service to be held tomorrow).

One of the sadder parts of this is that his daughter is only 5 weeks old, which he never got a chance to meet. So this video was created not only for the service, but something for her to know her father by as she gets older.

I've watched it, and have the following edits I want to make before doing a final render tonight, and would love to get some additional feedback (web viewable in either .mov or .wmv located in the "web viewable files" folder).

www.eefilm.com/scholl/

-- FONTS: I used Ariel, thinking it would work, but it's too blocky. I don't want to use something too sissy looking, but also want it to have some more character/softness to it. Ideas?

-- The running picture blur/series .... think I'll run the motion blur a little longer so that we only see the FAST individual pictures for a second or two before we cut to the FATHER/baby picture/title ... otherwise I'm feeling that we hang on that FAST movement a little too long. Thoughts?

-- When it lands on the FATHER/baby picture/title should I hit it with a bit of a flash there, or have the solid hit that's ther now? Just feels like it could use a little more of a dramatic hit/entrance on that pic.

-- Second to the last pic (his formal military headshot) pops in ... I've already corrected the file to have a 1-2 second fade in as the "SON OF GOD" title fades out. Also thinking of changing "SON OF GOD" out to "CHILD OF GOD" so there's no confusion with folks thinking blasphemy, etc. :huh:

Thanks for anyone taking the time to watch this & giving feedback ... I greatly appreciate it as I've never done one of these before, and quite frankly don't look forward to doing another one ... it was a bit of an emotional journey yesterday, to say the least.

Again, thanks in advance!
-Norm
 
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Hey Norm,

First off, what a kind thing for you to do. I imagine that it was more than a bit difficult to be objective about considering the absolute tragedy that it is covering. The fact that he never got to see his daughter is so sad, I can't begin to express the magnitude of the loss.

As for your editing considerations, I do agree that the font is a bit too blocky for this. How about something like Bookman or Century Gothic?

The transition speeds seem about right to me.

I do agree about the "SON OF GOD" might be better as "CHILD OF GOD".

Best of luck on this it must be a difficult thing to create, its hard enough just watching.
 
I was just going to suggest Bookman myself for the font. i also definitely agree with changing "SON OF GOD" as you suggested. I would consider replacing one of the two shots at the "FRIEND" section. The first seems to move in on the kid in the "21" jersey while the second moved/zoomed into the image of your friend. The first image gets across the powerful image of childhood friends as it is and it just seemed a little "off" with the two similar images transitioning as you did. A minor point but one I thought I'd make anyway.

I found your rapidfire images to be unbelievably powerful toward the end and it made me feel that whole "life passing before your eyes" thing that I think all of us humans find resonating within us.

Bless you for honoring this wonderful man this way.

Mark
 
Thanks for the feedback to both of you, Kevin & Mark!

Whew, glad I'm changing that SON OF GOD part ... seemed good at the moment, but the more I thought about it, I felt I may be crossing a grey line there, which wasn't meant.

I don't have any other pictures to really replace, and had to guess on the chronilogical order of these shots ... what I WILL do however is do a right to left pan, so we can still see who the focus is GOING to be, without the ever consistant zoom in that I'm trying not to do with every shot. I'll also change the FRIEND title so it overlaps both pictures, as it should be a natural transition.

Bookman font ... since you both suggested it, I won't even question it. Done. :thumbsup: I feel font choice is sometimes my weakness ... especially after downloading so many and having over 800+ to choose from!

Glad you guys liked the rapid fire images ... that's exactly what I was going for ... the life flashing before your eyes feeling & recaping everything that had been important to him right up to the birth of his daughter.

Watching it again, however, I think I'll still extend that motion blur JUST a hair longer, so that it feels we're continuing to speed up more towards the daughter's pic vs. holding a super fast speed for as long as we are ... I'm only talking about maybe two seconds of adjustment ... just enough to hopefully feel vs. really visually noticing it.

Okay, now back to those quick changes & then hitting render. Hopefully it'll all be done by tonight so I can get it on CD for them to upload to the laptop in the AM.
 
Hey Norm,
Incredible video, very moving and sad. It really made me want to cry since I'm expecting my first kid in a few weeks and I can't imagine not being able to see him. My one comment on the video is that towards the end, I found it very distracting during the part of the song where it became very obvious it was live and Michael W. Smith started yelling and the crowd was screaming, it took away from the slideshow. Maybe you could cross fade to something else before that to keep the emphasis on the Marine?
Great video
-Shawn
 
Overall good job- I'm sure they will greatly appreciate it. :) I liked how you had the different sections - Son, Friend, Husband ...

My comments are:
As others comments on the font- I think their suggestions will work better.

The flashes to white seema bit slow / off to me. Especially at 3:00. It seems to flash to white and then hold for just a beat before flashing back to the next picture, it just felt a little odd to me.

At 4:48 the effect is ok, as there is an image to focus on, as this part progresses there is no image to focus on (See about 4:54) and the emphasis becomes more on the effect rather then the message. I think the beginning of this sequence is stronger then what follows. As soon as all of the images start flashing I began to disconnect as a viewer, where at the begining of it I still got the idea but was connecting with the one picture you had of him. (Does that make sense at all? hopefully that is not confusing - if it is, just forget what I said. :) )

Maybe it is my player, but when the images flash by quickly at the end 5:00ish - there are a couple that it seems to pause for a longer time on - they should all flash by with out the pause, it will make the last pause stronger.

I like Shawn's suggestion about the music- can you find a non-live version of the song to use?

Good job- very touching / moving. If there are dry eyes in the house before the video, there will not be afterwards.
 
Norm

I like to look at what was said in a video and you said a lot. There were tears in my eyes. I suppose we can always do better, but sometimes one just needs to look at the message rather than the package it comes in. Your video brought back memories and thoughts of the love of the Lord and in that family.

The video as it is was great.

Thank you
Norm
Scottsdale
 
Norm, that was just amazing. I am so moved. My wife and I sat speechless and watched as the young man's life was displayed. I am so sad for his wife, daugher, family...

Just amazing work and tribute you did for him.

Good for you.

Ted
 
Norm, wow... nice job! I had a few of these... :cry:

Very cool thing for you to do. I'm sure the family will really appreciate that.

I've put my notes below each section...

Envision said:
-- FONTS: I used Ariel, thinking it would work, but it's too blocky. I don't want to use something too sissy looking, but also want it to have some more character/softness to it. Ideas?
Click to expand...
My favorite font is Trajan. I did the title and uploaded it... it looks like this:

1164421160.gif


-- The running picture blur/series .... think I'll run the motion blur a little longer so that we only see the FAST individual pictures for a second or two before we cut to the FATHER/baby picture/title ... otherwise I'm feeling that we hang on that FAST movement a little too long. Thoughts?

-- When it lands on the FATHER/baby picture/title should I hit it with a bit of a flash there, or have the solid hit that's ther now? Just feels like it could use a little more of a dramatic hit/entrance on that pic.
Click to expand...
I think the fast image sequence for that long sort of took away from the emotional impact. I would say make it more like a second long. Then I would medium length fade to white and then medium length fade to the baby.
 
I'm speechless. That was quite moving and emotional. I agree with the others about the font. I liked the one Tom suggested. I also agree with "Child of God."

You have done an incredible job with this and I think it will be treasured by his wife and daughter for years to come.
 
Norm, okay... I've gotten over that emotional Wallup you gave me! WOW!

I want to give you a bit of feedback, since you asked.

Yes... change to Child of God.

Your Font is okay and didn't bother me but there are other more pleasing fonts. I saw mentioned Bookman. I like Baskerville but Bookman certainly works. A huge favorite of mine is Copperplate and looks a lot like Tom's suggestion.

The one thing about your text.... I wanted them to take longer to dissolve. I was even thinking that they could have zoomed even more to fill the screen and take us "inside" of the words. I don't know how that would really look until playing with it but I do feel like they could at least remain for another second, at least.

As for the "rushed" sequence. That was just amazing but I like it best when the images were a blur. I think that they should become "less blurred" but not until the last few seconds. And even then, I would rather see them less then 100% opacity. I could envision this whole sequence going from the blurred to the unblurred but when it becomes less blurred, they could become less opaque and then have the photo of the daughter fade in from the void. Just a thought I had.

I hesitate suggesting anything because it is not necessary. The work that you did was outstanding and will be so appreciated.

God, that was just so moving.

Well done.

Ted
 
Hey thanks everyone for the feedback, and Ted to you for the PM as well.

Really apppreciate all of it!

Tommy, I don't have that Trajan font you mentioned, so of the others thave have been suggested, Bookman really seems to work well, so I'm sticking with it.

As for the live music part at the end, I can see what those of you who have mentioned mean by it, but I've not heard it from the majority, so it may not be too bad? For me to try & transition to another piece of music I'm afraid may be even more jarring, especially as it's RIGHT near the end of the video. On a flip note, it could also be looked like a bit of a celebration, as it IS happy sounds that are heard in the background, and many would prefer to celebrate the life someone lived vs. simply mourn the death.

Lastly, the wife, her mother, and a friend of hers who husband also served with her husband saw it today after I posted this thread ... they came out of my office bawling & loved it, which matters most ... though the perfectionist/technical side of me still wanted to make those adjustments anyway.

All the things I THOUGHT about adjusting/changing have been done, and I'll look to slightly tweak the rushed sequence even more, along with the beat into the daughter's picture.

Thanks again everyone for helping me make this as powerful as I can for them. Rendering out the final tonight into a high data rate WMV file to play from the laptop tomorrow into a projector. From there I'll render to DVD files along with some other video clips they want to get to me ... I'll try to fit as much as I can into one DVD for them.
 
Envision said:
Lastly, the wife, her mother, and a friend of hers who husband also served with her husband saw it today after I posted this thread ... they came out of my office bawling & loved it, which matters most ... though the perfectionist/technical side of me still wanted to make those adjustments anyway.
Click to expand...

When all is said and done, yes - that is what matters the most... :beer:
 
Yeah Norm, what Tom said.

When you asked for suggestions for tweaking, I was a little surprised. Not that it couldn't use a bit of tweaking.... EVEYTHING does especially when put to the masses for suggestions!!!

But the work you did was so moving and so powerful AND SO MUCH WORK ALREADY! I wouldn't touch it unless it was a very simple tweak... like the font.

You really did something special here.

Ted
 
BTW, good luck at the service today. I imagine that you will be there in attendance.

You did an amazing job honoring that man's young life. Good for you.

I must say that I was particularly struck being a former Marine, myself. I remembered myself at that young age... with all that unlived life ahead of me. It is all very sad. And I feel so bad for his wife and daughter... how tragic.

-Ted
 
Thanks again for the kind words, guys. The video was played today in the incorrect aspect ratio, so it was kind of squished on screen, and then I couldn't get the freaking WMV player stuff to totally disappear, and then the casket was higher than they had expected, so cut off nearly the bottom 1/3 of the screen ... so then it was GOOD that the video was squished, etc.

Needless to say, I wasn't too pleased with how it was starting to turn out, but then I just kept my mouth shut & watched the video .... and listened around me.

The family started to sob, obviously starting with the wife. Then when the fast blur of images started to build, I could hear it a little more, and then when they came to a sudden halt on the FATHER title over the picture of his daughter, I swear about the first 3 rows (all his close/immediate family) just lost it in loud, uncontrolled tears (well, you know what I mean, since tears aren't loud). As much as I wanted to lose it there too, the artist side of me knew I hit a chord, and felt good in really sending it home for them, so to speak.

Then continued to film the entire service, as well as the processional & grave site afterwards. I'll try to have it all on DVD by tomorrow night, as his Colonel is heading out on Monday to Iraq, and would like to have a copy to take & show his unit apparently. I'm also placing the video online (the revised versions with high resolution files, iPod, etc.) for family & friends to download if they wish.

Thanks again to all for the suggestions, much of which are reflected in the revised version. I appreciate it, and the family appreciates it as well!

All files can be viewed at www.eefilm.com/scholl
 
Glad ot hear that is was a success! Nice job- it sounds like dispite the technical prob it all went as well as it could, and that it was well received- could ask for more. Congrats!
 
Thanks Ryan ... it's usually only us technical geeks that really notice or get bothered by that stuff anyway. That's why I asked you guys for feedback on the video vs. my wife or other folks, as they'd just like it as is.
 
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