Photo Montage, Video Biography, Slideshow or Tribute Video?
Clients often ask us what they can do with their boxes and boxes of slides, film reels, photographs, memorabilia and other kinds of family treasures. They are concerned that even though these heirlooms have great value and are often irreplaceable, they might deteriorate, get misplaced or even lost forever.
That’s where we come in.
Lasting Legacy Films helps you organize what at first might seem like an overwhelming collection of keepsakes, memories and emotions. We’ll help you decide what the best solution is for you: a video biography, tribute video, family history documentary or photo montage (slideshow). In each case, the process is the same: first you collect as many memories as you can and try to choose the very best ones. Then, with your help, we organize them into a captivating and unforgettable story. In other words, reduce all those unmanageable boxes down to the size of a single DVD that people will actually watch, enjoy and pass down from generation to generation.
What is a Tribute Video?
A tribute video celebrates the life and accomplishments of an important person, from either a personal or professional point of view, or both. Feature-length tributes explore the personal history and milestones of the honoree, as well as the special achievements for which he or she is being honored. Shorter tributes, lasting 5 to 10 minutes, usually focus on the accomplishments.
In contrast to a memorial tribute or memorial video, most of our tribute videos are made to honor someone who is living and can enjoy, and sometimes participate in, the making of the film. In some cases the honoree is told about the video ahead of time and might even be interviewed for the video, and in others, the movie is presented as a complete surprise (often at a party or celebration).
Getting Started
The first question is: what is the story I want to tell? Who are the main characters, which parts of the story do I already know and which parts do I only have a sketchy understanding of? Next, what materials do I have to work with? You can include as few or as many of the following as you like: slides, photographs, home movies, documents and certificates, music and keepsakes. Provide us with a list of people who are willing to be interviewed (on camera or off) and we will take care of the rest.
Two Kinds of Tributes
Tribute Photo-montage
For families who are mainly concerned with paying tribute by preserving slides and photographs, a photo montage or slideshow is a great solution. Using extremely powerful digital scanners, we will first transfer the images, adding color correction and removing scratches and imperfections as we go. In addition to adding music, we can record family members narrating sections of the montage that might require explanation or just an interesting or funny story. We can record any number of family members in order to give the presentation a personal, story-telling quality. Think of it as a moving, talking photo album! These techniques can also be blended into a tribute video.
Tribute Video
A tribute video, or tribute documentary, can last as short as five minutes or as long as an hour. Our feature length productions are similar to something you might see on the Biography Channel. Each one is unique and highly personal, whether celebrating a professional milestone, such as a promotion or retirement, or a personal one, such as a birthday or anniversary. Businesses and organizations often wish to honor an individual who was a founder or key player in their growth and development. (The personal and professional tribute videos often combine in the case of a family-owned business.) If the honoree likes to laugh and doesn’t mind being teased, the tribute might take the form of a roast or spoof.
Format
Lasting Legacy Films delivers tribute videos on DVD. Short tributes can also be prepared as web videos that stream on personal websites or YouTube. Two or three minute highlight versions of longer tribute videos can also be delivered in the form of web videos so that friends and relatives across the country and around the world can share in the joy.
Why Tribute Videos?
We are often asked how our founder, David Mayer, got started in the business of helping people tell the stories of their lives. The answer is simple: it’s a combination of his lifelong interests in education, journalism and filmmaking. “The journalist in me is always asking questions, the teacher tries to put the answers into plain language and the filmmaker wants to bundle it all together into something interesting and entertaining”, says Mayer. “People often tell me years later that making their film was one of the most meaningful things they’ve ever done.”
Lasting Legacy Films
5600 West Maple Road
Suite C-315
West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322
