Your production date is arranged in advance. This guarantees that you’ll have it for your special event. It also allows plenty of time to prepare your material and to consult with us. See Specials page.
Our goal is to have all projects returned completed to the client as quickly as possible. We are customer-relations oriented so, if you have a special need or urgency, let us know and we will make every effort to accomodate you. Rush orders: Overnight is often, but not always, possible.
How long are the productions?
We generally have each image show on your production for 5 to 8 seconds. However, as each image is unique, so will the be the ‘special effect,’ or transition between images. For example, a group photo might be panned or be held longer so the completed video is not calculated firmly. An 100 photo/image production might be anywhere from 10-14 minutes. If you have music in which you want your images to fit into (i.e. a 3 minute song), we can work with your photos to accomplish this. Please expect an image to be at least 4 seconds long.
Take all of your photos and put them on a large table. Divide them into two stacks, a “NO” stack and a “YES” stack. Note: If photos are stuck in an album, tan large ‘posit notes’ and put them next to the photos you wish to include in your video.
The “NO” stack will include: All duplicated photos and photos that don’t say much.
All out of focus photos, unless there is no other choice.
Most plain photos with not much personality (i.e. school pictures, etc.).
Most tiny photos (i.e. 1 inch by 1 inch), unless there is no other choice.
In the YES pile put:
All candid photos that show the character and personality of the people in your family. Include shots where people are doing something positive and fun.
Photos that cover most of the important moments that took place in your family’s history – Christmas, Easter, weddings are good.
Try to include a couple of photos from most every year of each family member’s life. If possible, remember not to overkill – use only the highlights. Take all the “NO” photos and put them completely out of sight.
Now decide how many categories you wish to have and get out an equal number of 3/4 enclosed file folders to put them in. On each folder, write
what section it is,
what the person’s full name is,
the number of photos there are,
type of music or song preferred and any special notes of importance.
Sections may include:
Great grandparents,
grandparents,
mom and dad,
first-born,
second-born,
third-born, etc.
And, a section on all of your closest friends and family members.
It’s not mandatory that you put each section in chronological order.
Lay the folders out and begin putting your “YES” photos on top of their preferred sections. You may find yourself removing a few more photos. In the end, you’ll have a total (i.e. 8 sections of 40 photos each = 320 photos).
You can also arrange your video without sections, by putting all your memories together, “close to chronologically”. We want to help you! Call us if you experience difficulties. We only have to do this once in your lifetime, let’s do it right! Also, we will review these instructions at your consultation meeting.