Every project is different and has its unique aspects, however, some things are the same throughout. Here is a general outline of how the process works:
1. Discovery Phase
In the initial phase, we learn about what you have in mind, the story you want to tell, things you want to focus on and what you may want to avoid. We learn what visual resources you have; pictures, film, video and other materials.
What can be scanned in person and what should be sent off to a digitization company?
If you live far from Oregon, will we fly out to do interviews on location, or should we go with a remote filming option?
What family members are willing and able to be interviewed?
We think about shooting location options, see about scouting the locations.
Usually, a son, daughter or family friend is designated to help with coordinating the details, arranging times through texts, emails and calls.
2. Project Planning – Finding the Arc of the Story
In the initial phase, we learn about what you have in mind, the story you want to tell, things you want to focus on and what you may want to avoid. We learn what visual resources you have; pictures, film, video and other materials.
What can be scanned in person and what should be sent off to a digitization company?
If you live far from Oregon, will we fly out to do interviews on location, or should we go with a remote filming option?
What family members are willing and able to be interviewed?
We think about shooting location options, see about scouting the locations.
Is there a family business involved? Generational succession?
We’ll go over a list of possibilities of what the film will intrinsically be about.
3. Interviews & Production
We shoot all those willing to be on camera and get their priceless insights. We shoot as much B-roll as we can, getting shots of the environment, pictures in frames on bookshelves, treasured items around the house, and things of great meaning. Shots of the subject person possibly reading a letter, talking about an old picture, walking around outside or doing an activity they love. These are shots that define what people will remember and cherish about your story.
4. Editing
Many people think of editing as simply cutting away what doesn’t get used. It’s much more than that. It’s the process of finding out what works, what doesn’t, what pieces fit together and why.
After months of crafting the story based on all collected media, we have a cut that’s ready to show the client. For the subject of the film or the family member who is the head of the production on the family side, this is the great day of discovery; the first screening after many weeks of anticipation.
Typically, the only changes at this point are if there have been factual mistakes about when things occurred, someone in an old picture is not who we thought it was, or very minor fixes. When any required changes have been addressed and made, the film is finished and made available to the client and family.
5. Delivery & Viewing
The finished film is digitally delivered to the designated family member and a screening time is chosen. It may be an intimate home setting with few people or a lavish rented room somewhere with many family members who have come to see what the storyteller/filmmaker has come up with.
They enjoy the journey of discovering new things they didn’t know about the family, and by the end of the film, have been overwhelmed with the emotional magnitude of the family’s story.