It’s a lot of fun going to your child’s school activity and videotaping the event. Having those scenes captured forever is fun but it’s even more fun if the event is recorded as a movie or a documentary. Sometimes it’s hard to follow a video that has a few clips of this and that and jumps around to different places and times or an hour long video with a static wide shot of a school concert with the camera never moving and nothing else is included. No interviews of the kids before and after. No shots of where it was held or even what the weather was like. These can be a bit dry for anyone but the immediate family to watch and even for them sometimes.
make a movie
I try to do the school videos as movies or documentaries. It‘s really not difficult and only takes a little more planning and production. I actually start to do the video before we are even there. I get shots of everyone getting ready, shots of loading into the car, the ride there, getting out of the car, the building it’s in, the place before it fills up and as it’s filling up. I get crowd shots, stage shots, close ups and wide shots. I get shots of other people getting their shots. If I can get backstage for a few quick shots I will. Sometimes it’s okay to get backstage if things aren’t too hectic and sometimes they don’t appreciate it. I get the performance of course and also interviews and comments after the performance. Shots of everyone leaving, cars pulling out, headlights and taillights maybe even sleeping kids in their seats in the cars make for a nice ending.
I like to edit my videos in my PC by trimming the length of the clips, adding titles, cleaning up any shaky shots, adding music, etc. If you are making a movie for just you and your family you can add your favorite songs here and there in parts to add interest (just remember copyright infringement). In-between scenes you can add transitions like “fades or dissolves”, etc. Just don’t overdo the effect and put one on every scene change. If it becomes quite a long movie you can add chapter markers to enable skipping ahead to certain parts. Put the whole project together and then burn it on a DVD. Keep the raw footage though it’s always fun to watch the unedited video too.
If you don’t like to edit your videos or aren’t up to editing, you can still add some special effects by getting shots of the programs for titles of the show, shots of the building’s sign out front to show where it was, maybe nametags or people saying their names so we all remember who they are.
Making these moments into a movie is really a lot of fun and just involves starting before the actual show does and getting some extra shots. It adds a nice bit of a storyline and helps the highlights the event. Not every school activity has to be a fully produced movie but some just lend themselves to it. Others work okay as just short clips.
Have Fun.