Last week we received a phone call for a family preparing for a funeral. It’s already stressful ironing out all the logistics but it’s an additional strain trying to put a video together when you never have done one before.
I shared that we create Celebration of Life Movies (see example at the bottom,) that includes music and narration. We do not provide ‘funeral’ videos since most Funeral Homes now provide this service. This client wanted her ‘funeral’ video to be more customized than the Funeral Home was willing to provide so I walked her through some ideas to consider:
- Will you be showing the video before/after the funeral? If showing before/after, you don’t need to worry about music choice since most people will not hear the video during this time, unless on a professional sound system.
- Will you be showing during the funeral? If yes, consider the size of your audience. If large, keep video under 5 minutes. If more private and family oriented, 5-10 minutes might be appropriate.
- What photos to choose? Choose your favorite photos if showing before/after. If showing during the funeral, you may need to include other photos that help tell the story of the person.
- Should the photos be in order? If video shown before/after, order of pictures is not important because most likely folks will not see the video in its entirety. If shown during the funeral, try to have some order. You’re telling a story and people like to follow the order of events.
- How many photos makes up a 5 minute video? Appx 60-75 pictures
We have found there is an increasing need for Celebration of Life Movies. This do not replace the funeral video but is something typically put together months later and shared with a larger group of family & friends. To view an example, see http://youtu.be/9tyCo0M6jEY.
MovieMe! 