OT - Editing a life

dibbkd wrote on 8/6/2007, 9:05 AM

Most of you folk edit for business, and you know how you can edit a video to make it seem however you want. (for the most part)

My videos are pretty much all of my kids and family.

They'll have their own memories, but a lot of their memories will be burned in from the videos I make. All of my videos are of happy moments, although everyone knows that life isn't always happy.

Is it warped thinking that I should capture some of the non-so-happy moments of life, like when my little girl (almost 4) is screaming and crying because she doesn't like this or that, or when my 2 year old son gets put in timeout for hitting his sister?

And as wrong as it may seem at the time, these moments could be funny years later for a graduation or wedding video.

I want to capture life as accurately as possible, and of course at the same time focus on the good times.

Suggestions?

Comments

rs170a wrote on 8/6/2007, 9:57 AM

As you said, it's all a part of life and no one said life is perfect every day.
If it was me (and, with 2 daughters, it has been!!), I'd leave some of the not-so-happy stuff in there for the reasons you stated.
They will look back on those moments in years to come and laugh at it - and you can always threaten them that you're going to put it in a grad video.
My daughters hate me when I say that :-)

Mike

AlanC wrote on 8/6/2007, 10:11 AM

Some of the photo's I take of my Grandkids include those moments when they didn't get what they wanted or get mad because they were 'pipped to the post' by a sibling. We call it sulking :-( but I don't know how that translates on your side of the pond.

I haven't used them in a video yet but they will get used in a compilation at some time in the future.

rs170a wrote on 8/6/2007, 10:17 AM

Alan, it's called sulking over here too and, as we all know, kids are masters at it :-)

Mike

richard-courtney wrote on 8/6/2007, 2:09 PM

Interesting point of view......
I have a child and he at times has been "normal" but has also showed times
of great understanding and compassion for others. I think if you
can show both, you will not show a video of something to be embarrassed about
but something to be proud of.

I was asked one time to video a funeral. I felt EXTREMELY uncomfortable going
into it. We agreed no open casket shots. The expressions of love the family
and friends showed over shadowed the tears.

My feeling is shoot miles of tape, never will be wasted.

Jim H wrote on 8/6/2007, 6:27 PM

I got some great footage of my kids at Disney some of which older brother was teasing and imitating younger brother who was whining about whatever... later in the video older brother was having a disney melt down on the way to the boat back to the hotel. 10 years later I finally edited the old hi8 tape and it was very entertaining. Keep them cameras rolling!

farss wrote on 8/6/2007, 6:49 PM

Interesting topic. If you get a chance watch "The Final Cut" and no, nothing to do with that other NLE.

Bob.

Ecquillii wrote on 8/7/2007, 1:55 PM

What was it that my friend Eric quoted the other day?--Oh yeh, Art never averts its gaze.

Tim

TorS wrote on 8/8/2007, 4:20 AM

I look for situations where my girls are doing something practical and I try to edit them into stories. The shorter the better, usually. Christmas time I put all the year's shorts on a DVD and present it as a gift for my wife.

Examples:
Big sister bakes a cake.
Little sister has lunch (alone with me) and tells me of the ghost someone had seen in kindergarten, explaining to me that ghosts really don't exist, only a little.
Big sister is being made up for a special party.
Little sister has just learnt how to bicycle.

Both my girls are church choir singers, so I usually shoot some processions and performances during a year. In October they will both be singing at services in Winchester, Salisbury and Portsmouth cathedrals. I'll be on the tour shooting, but the clergy does not often like cameras at the actual services.

I try to avoid shooting as we go, when we're out strolling. To get something useable I must run ahead, and then I'm not fully participating in the family anymore. I can't (and won't) stand on the outside recording family life. But when we stop to buy icecream or look at things in a shop I sometimes find stories there.

I think story is the important word - not "life accurately". If you shoot a child crying you ought to shoot someone comforting it, too. Otherwise, when looked at years later, how does it reflect on you - fiddling with your camera when you child is in tears?

Looking back, I think the most valued shots in our family are the ones where the girls are talking, saying something. It is a challenge to get the sound right when you need it.
Tor

CVM wrote on 8/9/2007, 8:55 AM

You know... my opinion is that life is filled with good and bad. Why the hell would anyone want to reflect on the bad? Picture this... someone close dies in a car accident and you see it. For the rest of your life, do you think about the great times you had with this person or do you think about the accident site? Obviously, you think about all the good times.

This is an extreme example, I know. But it relates. My videos are only of happiness, joy, and 'normal life.' I edit out the parts of my home videos that show my daughter choking on a grape, my son getting stung by a jellyfish, and my father hurting himself while working. I want to remember my kids laughter and smiles rather than crying and pain.

But, to each, his own.

xberk wrote on 8/10/2007, 8:34 PM

I've been shooting home movies/video for about 45 years. I started on reg 8mm in 1962. Things were much more difficult then. Now I use a GS250 Panasonic DV camera (often use a .38x wide angle) and even get lots of very useful video from my pocket sized Casio still camera. I like trying to capture everything as naturally as possible -- but I've found that letting people know you're going to be sticking that camera in their face helps relax them
. When the kids were small I let them shoot film of me too. They loved doing it and seeing it later. That footage is precious. I rarely was in my own movies in the old days. This is easy now as you can turn the camera on yourself (especially with a wide angle). Makes great cutaways and you can help fill in the story. Now that I'm retired I've been editing my way through all that footage and video -- adding music, titles and effects. It's been a gas and I've gotten lots of it down to a viewable time. I too did not concentrate on the sad or bad, but if something did happen to happen, I let that camera roll. Believe me, years later, it may be funny or poignant or even sad or questionable taste -- but to me it is all part of the deal we call life.