Videotaping Your Family History A Presentation by Jennifer Sias

Types of Video Cameras Analog Mini DV Disc based Flash memory Hard-drive built in camera

Analog camcorders –VHS-C, Super VHS-C, Hi*8 –Fading from the market

Mini DV Digital Video – Digital camcorder dominates –Mini DV tape format is most popular, but some digital video cameras store their recordings on dvds. Newer cameras use flash memory or store on the camera’s own hard drive Top brands: –Sony, Canon, JVC, Panasonic –Prices range from a couple hundred dollars to over $1000 Mini DV tapes = 60 minutes Playback –On camera screen/viewer –hook camera to TV or VCR/DVD player to watch onTV screen –Download to computer for editing and burn a DVD –“Going the way of the steam engine?”

Disc based –Hailed as more durable and you can skip easily to specific scenes or parts (think cassette tape vs CD or VHS tape vs DVD) –Compatibility issues

Flash memory based Camcorder Records to a small card, such as an SD card

Hard-drive based Camcorder Saves to the camera’s internal hard drive Pro – don’t have to buy tapes or dvds Con – if a tape breaks, you can buy another tape for recording. However, what will you do if the camera’s hard drive fails?

Digital Video Camera Accessories Tripod – a must –Also, if you buy a new camera, find out if it has an image stabilizer External microphone – lavalier mic Lighting

Editing Software PCs – Windows Movie Maker MAC – –iMovie and iDVD –Final Cut Studio – contains Final Cut Pro

What if I don’t have a digital video camera? Images –Use a regular digital camera for still shots –Gather together old photographs and scan them

Audio Record a family member telling a story Use a digital voice recorder, such as an iPod voice recorder – then download audio file to computer Regular cassette – play it next to your computer’s microphone and record/save to computer

Putting together your film Make a storyboard to help you organize your narration and images Story Introduction Grandma as storyteller – told ghost stories Grandma told story of old woman who had to smoke outside

What makes a story? Memories of others – video or audio tape them Photos Video of the subject Audio of the subject Your own memories – be the narrator

Video Memoir of Grandma Johnson Grandma was a storyteller Wishes and regrets Rick Bragg’s influence Mailed questionnaires and started interviewing family members

Grandma Johnson – Introduction to Video Memoir

Video Memoir Celebrating the 90 th Birthday of a dear friend Still photos from digital camera Digital video and audio Music Subtitles to compensate for unclear audio

My HON 396 Storytelling Students’ Veteran’s History Projects Major project – –select a veteran (any 20 th Century war) – interview veteran record audio of interview(s) take notes during interview – transcribe the audio interview –write a narrative journalism story –prepare classroom presentation

HON 396 – Spring 2005 Tell Me a Tale: The Culture of Storytelling in Oral History, Narrative Journalism and Literature. Student presentations

How do I start? Start small Define your subject Think memoir, not biography or autobiography Write! Gather your pictures & scan them Gather videos if you have them Shoot your own videos if you can Take still shots with digital camera or film camera Storyboard

Interviewing What questions should I ask? –Veteran’s History Project – suggested questions Interviewing tips: –Share questions ahead of time –Select a quiet, well-lit, comfortable environment –Make sure you have a microphone and tape! Test before launching into interview –Ask open-ended (rather than yes/no) questions –Start a question with “tell me about …”

Editing At work I use Windows Movie Maker At home I use iMovie and iDVD on my iMac Will need lots of hard drive or external hard drive for movie Be aware of copyright issues Burn a dvd

Questions? Thank you! Jennifer Sias, M.S.L.S. & M.A. Associate Professor, Information Literacy Librarian Marshall University Libraries, Drinko