Memorial Videos Anybody?

MattinSTL

MattinSTL

Sound Modulator
Does anybody do these? I'm amazed that more people don't leave a video behind... I've been saying this for YEARS! I posted this on DVinfo YEARS AGO... and today I was with my girlfriend's family as they were all crushed about the passing of their aunt (and mother)... and as we all looked through pictures and slides (and I was trying not to fall asleep)... I came back to this same thought... Why don't more people leave a video behind?

I don't know what feeling would be worse... not having closure from a loved one that was away when they passed on... or BEING that loved one who passed on without getting to SAY anything to those that you love...

Wow... I sat in the church today just thinking about it the whole time. It seems like a mostly untapped business opportunity as well...

Given a simple choice... which do you think the family would have preferred? An ornate funeral in a beautiful church? Or 15 minutes to an hour+ of seeing and hearing their mother talk to them directly... telling them how much they were appreciated and loved... and perhaps sharing some stories?

I'm not saying you'd have to choose between the two options... but a funeral costs what? About $6K or so?

Either way... if you're on DVXuser the odds are that you own some nice production equipment... so to repeat my DVinfo post of years ago (before I knew what DVXuser even WAS...) get out your gear and get some high quality production going on your loved ones... or if you're an older member... (or any member for that matter, because you never know)... then you should consider making a nice little DVD to tell the loved ones around you that you loved them... God forbid they ever need to watch that DVD... but we all gotta' go sometime... and while life insurance and a will might take care of some financial needs... simply speaking your mind may do more for that person's quality of life then anything else ever could. That might be the crossroads where YOU were able to help them make the right choice.

Who knows... and for the record, I'm not the bereaved... so I'm not wanting any sympathy about the day... I'm just saying you guys should think about it... and if you actually DO videos like this... please chime in and tell me about it.
 
My wife and I sat down with her folks a few years back and asked them a bunch of questions about their lives. It wasn't exactly what you are descibing but close. I have about an hour and a half of each one of them. I just used my zr-20, because it was all I had. In fact, the money my wife got when they died a year or so later is what we used to get our DVX. Anyway, when they died we were really glad we had done that.

Next we flew to NYC to interview my aunt, who is the oldest relative on my Dad's side, to ask her about some family histroy and stuff. I almost ran out of tapes. :smile:

Again, not exactly what you are talking about, but I am really glad we got that stuff when we did. You just never know.
 
I think you might start to see this happening more and more. I mean, most people who die of natural causes these days didn't grow up with easy access to video recording equipment (and by "easy" I mean "any"), so the thought never crosses their minds. People like us, we'll do something in FCP 25.2 with HD Holography that plays Princess Leia-from-R2-style above the casket. Heck yeah.
 
I have done a couple of memorial slideshow videos. Not the cheesy ones you get with the "super cool" 1980's transitions like the funeral homes give you.

I did one for a friends in laws. His father in law had died a week before one Christmas, and a year later, his mother in law died on Christmas day, they said she died of a broken heart.

I never met the people, but by the time I completed the project, I felt like I did.

It was a Christmas present for my friends wife, and put it on a few dvds. He put one wrapped in a box, and one loaded and ready to play in the dvd player. When she opened the present and asked what it was, he hit play on the dvd and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

I take lots of pictures, and when I'm on a job for a website and I'm shooting pics of people, they all say the same thing, I don't like taking pics. I tell them that I'm kind of the same way, but you know the first and most important things that your loved ones want after you pass on, are pictures of you.
 
Yeah I think the thing that keeps people from doing these before they die is that nobody likes to think about dying. I'm trying to put a fresh spin on it for my grandparents 60th anniversary and doing a full blown documentary on them and visiting all of their old (some really old) friends and making it a happy anniversary type of thing. Their still young enough to appreciate it I think, but my little nephew is just 1 yr old and I doubt he'll ever really get to know them.
 
jdajda said:
Yeah I think the thing that keeps people from doing these before they die is that nobody likes to think about dying. I'm trying to put a fresh spin on it for my grandparents 60th anniversary and doing a full blown documentary on them and visiting all of their old (some really old) friends and making it a happy anniversary type of thing. Their still young enough to appreciate it I think, but my little nephew is just 1 yr old and I doubt he'll ever really get to know them.
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I concur.

I made a video for my great-grandmother's 100th birthday expecting she may not be around much longer. She'll be 108 this August.
 
Holy Smokes Terry! That is amazing! 108?!

Yeah I did a video for a friend last Christmas... for his grandmother's 90th birthday... He didn't ASK me to do this... he asked me to take some pictures... but I had my gear in the truck and suggested that each family member sit down with grandma and tell her that they loved her and some anecdote from their childhood. They did that and the grandma responded... while I had the shot set up the normal way... cam, boom.

I gave him the pictures right away... but it took me a while to get the video back to him (like maybe 6 weeks)... because I wanted to do a little tweaking to it and I just didn't have time (this is a favor we're talking about here)... so anyway... the day I gave him the DVDs... the grandmother died! Nobody knew I'd given him the DVDs... but they all asked if he had that video and there it was... needless to say that instantly became the most prized memory of grandma!

I tried to get my girlfriend to do this with her own mom... and she didn't want to bother with it... needless to say she regrets that a lot now... and on Friday her aunt passed away and that family was completely crushed. I've tried to do this with my own parents and they won't do it either... I'm just amazed that this isn't the norm, rather then a rare event. We are ALL going... 100% of us. If anybody has the sense to make a Will or buy Life Insurance... then they should be mature enough to realize that one day you won't be able to SAY what you want or HEAR what you want from your loved ones.

My friend with the grandmother... he was actually smiling and thrilled that I had done this. He's a religious guy, so he doesn't see death as being such a terrible thing... and all he could do is thank me happily for encouraging them to do this.

Jim... that's EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm talking about! I'm saying why not bring your professional level of production to a video that one day WILL be priceless... because it's a fact... it WILL BE. This is an investment with zero risk of anything less then a 100% return.

Hmm... it does sound like a good business doesn't it?
 
There was a special on NPR a few years ago about a couple who make documentaries about people for and/or from their families. Wanna say they were charging like $10-12k a piece for them. I tried getting into this kind of thing briefly, but quickly realized that the it doesn't work financially, as people don't really see the value in such a product until someone is dead and it's too late. That's why everyone is doing photo slideshows instead of full-blown video.

I did a doc for my grandmothers 80th birthday a few years ago and played it at a big surprise party. That was a hit, and definitely a keepsake. But it was for MY grandmother, and thus something I could do for free. But the time investment on my part was huge. Wouldn't do something like that for a stranger for less than $5k, and the market that sees value in that kind of investment is extremely small and extremely difficult to access.
 
Several years ago, I was hired by a lady who had terminal cancer. She provided me with all the content to make slide shows with her music. She got to see them before she died, they were shown at her funeral.
 
bewillia said:
T I tried getting into this kind of thing briefly, but quickly realized that the it doesn't work financially, as people don't really see the value in such a product until someone is dead and it's too late.
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Sad but true. That's why so many people die without wills.

It's a tough thing to face I guess. The irony is that the people who are more likely to appreciate something like this (the more expressive, gregarious type) are precisely the ones who would put it off and not want to face the reality of their own mortality. Whereas the analytical planners who have all their arrangements made ahead of time, would see less value in doing something like this.

I'm generalizing, but you get the idea.
 
Yeah, this seems (for the moment) like something everybody would love, but few would want to pay for. After I did our pregnancy announcement, tons of people said I should do that as a business. But when I asked how much they'd be will to pay, no one ever got above a grand. Which is not so good for the amount of time needed.

But hey, there are plenty of folks in Clayton and Ladue for you to go after, Matt. :thumbsup:
 
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There are 3 varieties of these types of videos I can think of off the top of my head:

1. Tribute/Memorial - photos and archive film of the subject with commentary/rememberances (or rememory if the subject had the chip :Drogar-Happy(DBG):)

2. Ethical will - subject records a message to be seen after leaving for the hereafter.

3. Personal history - subject interviewed, cut with historical photos and film.

There is a professional organization, most of the members are writers - http://personalhistorians.org
 
Recently came across this site http://www.sagas.com/home.html. It was established by a documentry filmmaker for people who want a one-hour interview session with local videographers. It is nation wide so everyone on DVXuser should be able to do this. I signed up but have yet to hear any word on jobs yet. I guess they are in the midst of a big advertising campaign and will be notifying everyone shortly. Good luck!:beer:
 
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