Whether you choose to hire a professional for photo shoots or video shoots in the first year of your child's life, there are many things that you can capture on your own that your child will appreciate being able to look back on years down the road. When people only did traditional baby books, the preformatted questions and spaces for specific photos made it easy to know what to include, but in non-traditional times and with such easy access to recording devices, creating your own video baby book will serve you and your child much better in the long run.
Start as soon as you can. If you can capture on video your own reaction or your partner's reaction to finding out that you're expecting, that would be ideal. Otherwise, any other family or friends reacting to the news would serve you as well. If you're sharing the good news over video conferencing, there are plenty of good screen capture programs or even setting up your own camera/cell phone to film you telling someone else will be a memory to cherish.
As I mentioned in my previous post to all the pregnant mommies, capture your ultrasounds on video. If you're seeing a midwife and not doing regular ultrasounds, even capturing elements of your appointments, measuring your belly, listening to the heart beat, etc. will be something special to look back on. There are some great 3D ultrasound services that create videos for you as well. But make sure you're capturing your reaction to the ultrasound, not just the ultrasound itself.
If you can, get some photos, video, or both of when you are in labor. I really did not enjoy having my picture taken at that time, but looking back, I am so happy I have images from then because it really does become such a blur, time goes by in very strange ways when you're in labor. I also did not feel particularly pleased that my husband wore a helmet cam during my son's birth. But the fact that he ultimately helped guide my son into the world with his own hands and we have that from his POV on film will be cherished forever.
Definitely capture as many firsts as you can once you arrive home with your baby. The first bath is something you'll want to remember. You probably will want someone else filming as it is a nerve wracking time washing such a tiny baby for the very first time. The first time members of your extended family visit and hold your little one, grab the camera and film their reactions. Prompt them to tell you their first thoughts holding your child for the first time. Along the same lines, if you have pets, document their first introduction to your family's newest addition. Having my dog smell my son's hospital blanket before we actually brought my son home seemed to help with a more peaceful introduction. Other first include baby's first tummy time, first walk in the stroller, first time exploring new toys, your baby trying solid foods for the first time, etc.
Of course you'll want to capture the early milestones, like your baby holding his head up for the first time, rolling over, smiling, laughing, cooing, discovering hands, discovering feet, pushing herself up, scooting, crawling, and ultimately walking. But every day interactions will be the things that you will tend to forget as time marches on. The days tend to go by very slowly, but the months fly by at the same time. Suddenly you'll have a one year old and you'll forget just how tiny your baby was only twelve short months prior.
Once you edit everything together you can include photos as well as audio clips documenting thoughts, emotions, and baby's sounds throughout the first year. It really is such a special time that deserves immortalizing.
Showing posts with label baby video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby video. Show all posts
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Monday, March 31, 2014
Photos vs. Video for Documenting & Tracking Baby's Progress
Despite the fact that we all carry pretty high quality video cameras with us at all times, parents still seem to rely on photos for the majority of their documentation of their little ones. Sure they'll capture a bunch of videos here and there, but when it comes to either hiring a professional or putting it all together to create a time capsule of sorts, they usually turn to photographers and or create scapbooks. Perhaps this is the case because it's easier to create a photo book than it is to edit a video together, especially with all of the online companies that have such cute templates, or maybe parents are just so used to newborn and maternity photo shoots that they don't think about professional video in the same way.
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of sponsoring the Biggest Baby Shower Los Angeles with Big City Moms. I set up a table like all of the other vendors, and even had a video looping some of the Video Baby Books I've shot. I also spread out some of the photobooks I have created for my little guy, including the guestbook we had for his first birthday party, a hybrid first year baby book and guestbook for our friends and relatives that attended the party. Despite the fact that people enjoyed watching the videos, many still seemed more interested in having me help them to create their photo scrap books. I proceeded to ask them if they are capturing their own videos, which they are, but they still didn't seem to get why creating a video montage ultimately will be so much more powerful of a memory for themselves, and eventually their little one.
My hairdresser reaffirmed my point of view the other day when she told me that her most prized possession is a video she has of herself with her parents at nine months old. Sure a photo from that same time period could be a great memory and could have captured some special moments, but it would lack the audio that can further communicate feelings and emotions. In addition, a lot of photos are posed, and therefore lack some reality behind the interactions. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love looking at professional newborn photos. I wish that we had done a shoot ourselves. However, I would love even more seeing a new mom watching her little one be posed in all of the cute positions and set up with props and wardrobe options. I would empathize with her doing her best to comfort and nurse her baby back to a sleepy state in between clicks of the camera in order to get the timeless shots she so desires.
The newborn cry that seemed to be so ingrained in my head during the early days with my little guy really does fade away. It's only through watching the videos I took during that early time that I can truly remember not only his sound, but how that sound made me feel as a new mom doing everything I could every time I heard it. I definitely "ooo" and "aww" over photos from those early days, but hearing my voice in the videos really brings me back to that sleep deprived time when I was just getting to know my son.
There is no contest when it comes to video over photos of most milestones. I do tell parents that they shouldn't be so concerned with capturing every first, as the second, third, and even fourth time baby does something it will look pretty similar. We have very early footage of my son sleeping and making some very funny faces. I am so glad we thought to film it. Early video footage of my son learning to roll over not only captures his progress, but the pride and joy in my voice as I watch him get closer and closer to accomplishing it. Hearing my son belly laugh for the first time has to be one of my most favorite sounds in the whole world. Sure I could have taken a picture when this event happened, but my reaction to him will be something he will treasure as well. His wobble legs slowly taking one step and then another without holding on to anything could never be duplicated in a single still frame. A slide show of photos tracking development is fun to watch, but the one year montage I created for my son of his first year of life really shows all of the little developments as they occur and how we, his parents, grew more proud with each one he accomplished.
Perhaps I'm just a biased filmmaker that I tend to prefer video over photography. But I truly do believe that when my son grows up, he will treasure the time capsules I have made for him in his Video Baby Book.
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of sponsoring the Biggest Baby Shower Los Angeles with Big City Moms. I set up a table like all of the other vendors, and even had a video looping some of the Video Baby Books I've shot. I also spread out some of the photobooks I have created for my little guy, including the guestbook we had for his first birthday party, a hybrid first year baby book and guestbook for our friends and relatives that attended the party. Despite the fact that people enjoyed watching the videos, many still seemed more interested in having me help them to create their photo scrap books. I proceeded to ask them if they are capturing their own videos, which they are, but they still didn't seem to get why creating a video montage ultimately will be so much more powerful of a memory for themselves, and eventually their little one.
My hairdresser reaffirmed my point of view the other day when she told me that her most prized possession is a video she has of herself with her parents at nine months old. Sure a photo from that same time period could be a great memory and could have captured some special moments, but it would lack the audio that can further communicate feelings and emotions. In addition, a lot of photos are posed, and therefore lack some reality behind the interactions. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love looking at professional newborn photos. I wish that we had done a shoot ourselves. However, I would love even more seeing a new mom watching her little one be posed in all of the cute positions and set up with props and wardrobe options. I would empathize with her doing her best to comfort and nurse her baby back to a sleepy state in between clicks of the camera in order to get the timeless shots she so desires.
The newborn cry that seemed to be so ingrained in my head during the early days with my little guy really does fade away. It's only through watching the videos I took during that early time that I can truly remember not only his sound, but how that sound made me feel as a new mom doing everything I could every time I heard it. I definitely "ooo" and "aww" over photos from those early days, but hearing my voice in the videos really brings me back to that sleep deprived time when I was just getting to know my son.
There is no contest when it comes to video over photos of most milestones. I do tell parents that they shouldn't be so concerned with capturing every first, as the second, third, and even fourth time baby does something it will look pretty similar. We have very early footage of my son sleeping and making some very funny faces. I am so glad we thought to film it. Early video footage of my son learning to roll over not only captures his progress, but the pride and joy in my voice as I watch him get closer and closer to accomplishing it. Hearing my son belly laugh for the first time has to be one of my most favorite sounds in the whole world. Sure I could have taken a picture when this event happened, but my reaction to him will be something he will treasure as well. His wobble legs slowly taking one step and then another without holding on to anything could never be duplicated in a single still frame. A slide show of photos tracking development is fun to watch, but the one year montage I created for my son of his first year of life really shows all of the little developments as they occur and how we, his parents, grew more proud with each one he accomplished.
Perhaps I'm just a biased filmmaker that I tend to prefer video over photography. But I truly do believe that when my son grows up, he will treasure the time capsules I have made for him in his Video Baby Book.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Editing tips...Part II
As promised, here are some more technical tips for editing. First off, if you're gotten as far as pulling all your clips and putting them into a cohesive story, congratulations! It's a big deal to even make it this far. If you want to make your videos look even more professional, read on...
So your clips are either in chronological order or grouped together by types of milestones, now it's time to tweak the video it and make it look even better. In my last post about editing, I recommended not using clips more than 20 seconds long, so you may have some clips of the same event right next to each other and it feels kind of jumpy going from one shot to the next. Putting in a transition, like a cross dissolve, may help. But if you're cutting from one perspective to just a bit of time later from the same perspective, then your clips will still look a bit jumpy, even with a cross dissolve. If you can cut away from the same perspective, even if the true passage of time is altered, it will look better to a viewer. For example, you can cut away from the front perspective to the side perspective, and then back to the front perspective again. In my filming tips I recommended shooting events from different distances and from different angles and the camera movement could be edited out.
Hopefully you have the option of cutting to shots from different perspectives. Now it's important to make the cut on an action. If you look at some of my sample videos, you'll gain a better understanding of what I mean. In my Video Baby Books Sampler at 1:22 you'll see I cut when his hand was hitting the table from the front perspective to the side perspective, so it almost looks like I shot this with two different cameras at the same time. It was two different shots, but when cut it together on the action, it looks seamless. Another example is in the First Haircut Video, at 1:23 I cut with the "cut" of her scissors from a wide shot to a tight shot. Because I edited from a wide shot to a tight shot, it's hard to tell that they were shot at a different time, continuity isn't an issue.
Another thing you want to take into account is the use of music and cutting on the beats of the music. Sometimes you'll have a great edit that cuts on the action, but once you put a soundtrack to the video, it just doesn't feel as nice. The music should enhance your story, not detract from it. When you're doing a montage with all different clips, it's easier to edit your clips to the music. Just make sure that you have the best part of the clip still in the edit after you've tweaked your cuts to the music. You may have to start the clips a bit earlier or a bit later.
In terms of putting clips together, you want to feel like your story is moving forwards. You don't want to have too many similar clips one after another. I have the benefit of being able to shoot in true slow motion HD on my Sony FS100. If you're using a high quality editing software, you should be able to manipulate the passage of time in your clips. However, when you make a clip slow motion, it will look a bit jumpy because the frames "between" the frames do not exist. More specifically, if you shoot something at 30fps (typical digital frame rate in North America) and then play it back at 15fps, then every other frame will be missing. If you're camera has the ability to shoot slow motion, it is actually filming twice as fast so that when you play back at normal speed, it looks slow motion.
I hope this information is helpful. Remember, you can always take a stab at it yourself and then bring in an expert if it becomes too overwhelming. I am available to help with editing remotely as well. Be sure to check out my other blog posts for other tips on creating your own video baby books or take a look at some video baby books I've created on my site.
So your clips are either in chronological order or grouped together by types of milestones, now it's time to tweak the video it and make it look even better. In my last post about editing, I recommended not using clips more than 20 seconds long, so you may have some clips of the same event right next to each other and it feels kind of jumpy going from one shot to the next. Putting in a transition, like a cross dissolve, may help. But if you're cutting from one perspective to just a bit of time later from the same perspective, then your clips will still look a bit jumpy, even with a cross dissolve. If you can cut away from the same perspective, even if the true passage of time is altered, it will look better to a viewer. For example, you can cut away from the front perspective to the side perspective, and then back to the front perspective again. In my filming tips I recommended shooting events from different distances and from different angles and the camera movement could be edited out.
Hopefully you have the option of cutting to shots from different perspectives. Now it's important to make the cut on an action. If you look at some of my sample videos, you'll gain a better understanding of what I mean. In my Video Baby Books Sampler at 1:22 you'll see I cut when his hand was hitting the table from the front perspective to the side perspective, so it almost looks like I shot this with two different cameras at the same time. It was two different shots, but when cut it together on the action, it looks seamless. Another example is in the First Haircut Video, at 1:23 I cut with the "cut" of her scissors from a wide shot to a tight shot. Because I edited from a wide shot to a tight shot, it's hard to tell that they were shot at a different time, continuity isn't an issue.
Another thing you want to take into account is the use of music and cutting on the beats of the music. Sometimes you'll have a great edit that cuts on the action, but once you put a soundtrack to the video, it just doesn't feel as nice. The music should enhance your story, not detract from it. When you're doing a montage with all different clips, it's easier to edit your clips to the music. Just make sure that you have the best part of the clip still in the edit after you've tweaked your cuts to the music. You may have to start the clips a bit earlier or a bit later.
In terms of putting clips together, you want to feel like your story is moving forwards. You don't want to have too many similar clips one after another. I have the benefit of being able to shoot in true slow motion HD on my Sony FS100. If you're using a high quality editing software, you should be able to manipulate the passage of time in your clips. However, when you make a clip slow motion, it will look a bit jumpy because the frames "between" the frames do not exist. More specifically, if you shoot something at 30fps (typical digital frame rate in North America) and then play it back at 15fps, then every other frame will be missing. If you're camera has the ability to shoot slow motion, it is actually filming twice as fast so that when you play back at normal speed, it looks slow motion.
I hope this information is helpful. Remember, you can always take a stab at it yourself and then bring in an expert if it becomes too overwhelming. I am available to help with editing remotely as well. Be sure to check out my other blog posts for other tips on creating your own video baby books or take a look at some video baby books I've created on my site.
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