What Kinds of Things Should be Included in Your First Year Video Baby Book?

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.

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.

Editing Tips for Home Movies

Happy New Year! I hope you captured some wonderful footage of your little one(s) over the holidays with family and friends.  If you've been keeping up with my posts thus far, you should have an abundance of videos of photos of your little one.  Unless your little one has yet to arrive, then you probably have a very long list of photos and videos you will want to create.  Nevertheless, at a certain point you're going to have to do something with those videos, because you're phone can only hold so much data. As much as it kills me to delete photos and videos of my little guy off of my phone, I know that I have to from time to time in order to make room for MORE photos and videos of my little guy.  Make sure you back everything up before deleting anything. I would recommend on-site and off-site back-up.  Considering our house caught on fire when I was in the hospital giving birth (thankfully there was mainly just smoke damage), you would think I would take my own advice on that, but I digress.

Editing is actually when the storytelling happens in unscripted material.  Just watch the credits at the end of your favorite reality show, there are actually "writers."  They don't necessarily tell the "actors" what to say, but they go through all of the footage and create a story out of the hours and hours of chatter.  This may seem like a daunting task for your home videos, and that's when you can hire someone else to step in and create the story for you and your family, but it actually can be pretty fun once you get started.

The first thing you will probably need to do will be to find a program to edit your footage in.  There are a number of online editing programs that are rather user-friendly as well as simple editing software options for Macs and PCs.  There are tons of online tutorials that can make you a sufficient editor without too much time and hassle.  Make sure that you know at least how to pick in and out points of the clips you want to use, how to add in simple transitions and titles, and how to export a final file that you can either display online or use to create a DVD.

Once you have chosen the program, you may have to convert your footage into a recognizable file format for your editing software.  If you don't know what format your footage is already in, do a quick Google search of the camera (or phone) you're filming with and the word "codec" and you'll be able to find out. Then you can put that codec into Google and the name of the software you'll be editing with to see if they are compatible.  If not, again you can search for online tutorials on how to convert the footage into a useable format.  In my case, I had to run all of my iPhone videos and my husband's Galaxy videos through Compressor before I could bring them into Final Cut Pro.

Okay, so now you've got footage ready to edit and a program to edit it in, congratulations, now the real fun begins. Watch all of the footage...a few times. You'll start to see that some clips are more useful than others when it comes to telling the story.  Really ask yourself if that clip shows a new milestone, is just too cute not to include, or shows the same thing in a different outfit.  Or perhaps the video may include your little one interacting someone else that isn't around very often or may not be around for very long, then you'll want to include it to show to your child in the future.

Now that you've figured out which clips are the most important to include to tell your story, now it's time to really pick out those important moments in each clip. Each clip should be at least ten seconds, but really not longer than twenty when creating a montage for others to enjoy.  If you find a clip that you definitely want to use more than twenty seconds of, see if you can divide it into two or more different clips and cut out some footage in between and then connect them with transitions.  This way you'll really keep the story moving and your viewers interested.

Depending upon the software you're using to edit, you may be able to add in titles and drop in photos to fill in the gaps in the story when you weren't able to capture video footage, as well as add in a music track.  Definitely put in dates and age in months when the footage or photo depict a milestone, especially if you are not keeping a traditional baby book as well. Transitions, such as cross dissolves and fade out/fade in are a nice touch to move from clip to clip.  Try to stay away from some of the "cheesier" transitions that will cheapen your story. Remember, the video you are making is about the subjects in the video, not your editing.  A rule of thumb to remember, if the editing calls attention to itself, then you're doing something wrong. Cuts should feel motivated and have a nice flow to them.

If you want more specific tips on cutting clips, I will include those in a future blog post. In the meantime, feel free to see some of my storytelling in the video baby book samples on my website.