But this is not done via your computer. Instead,
you send your old media to a lab for conversion, a process that takes two to four weeks.
Transferring 8 mm, Super 8 and 16 mm
movie film, just about all videotape formats
and 35 mm slides to a digital
format lets you revisit so
many discarded memories.
You no longer are limited
by the lack of a movie or
slide projector, or a Betamax
player. Leave all of those
devices in the museum.
When you submit an order
for movie film and slide conversion, you’ll often have the
option of adding a music
track selected from a variety of styles.
Once your old-media images have been
converted to DVD, you will be able to extract
the newly digitized versions for use in other
chronicling projects.
DIY multimedia alternatives
Searching the Internet will produce many
options for producing your own family video
history. Most people will benefit from some
assistance or guidance with this project.
Whatever method is selected, the more
planning you do in advance, the better the
final results.
Building a Web site devoted to a family
history opens up the project to sharing with a
wide audience and gives you the ability to
update the site easily as new content becomes
available. Still photos and videos are perfect
Web elements, and there are many good soft-
ware applications that simplify building a
Web site.
Consider starting a blog as a wide-open
family-history journal. A blog is different than
a Web site because its entries are organized
chronologically. Photos and video work just as
well as components. The real plus for blogs is
the feedback mechanism—every entry encourages comments from all readers. Many family
members can become regular contributors,
and no special software is required.
Costco member Dick Liersch provides
another alternative with a CD-ROM (www.
mylivinglegacy.net) that provides detailed step-
by-step instructions for assembling a multi-
media life history on DVD,
with an emphasis on good
advance planning.
“Don’t bury your family
story,” Liersch exclaims over
the phone from his home in
Saukville, Wisconsin. “There’s
a death in the family, then the
genealogy starts, but that’s
backwards. People should
have family reunions
and record all the sto-
ries—how everyone is related and what they
mean to each other.”
by-step instructions for assembling a multi-
a
backwards. People should
e d
Going Hollywood
Many families like turning the whole project over to a professional videographer to produce. Typically running 30 to 60 minutes,
these histories can rival the type you might see
aired on the popular A&E Biography series.
RJ McHatton is a videographer who has
traveled to 20 states this year as he’s shot video
histories for clients. Active in the Association
of Personal Historians and as a lecturer to
genealogy societies, McHatton has a studio,
Inventive Productions (
www.inventivepro
ductions.com), in Redmond, Washington. He
is a Costco member.
“My style is autobiographical, and I’ve
come up with 124 questions that I ask a person about their life,” says McHatton. “We try
The Costco Connection
A variety of basic tools for chronicling,
including digital cameras, camcorders,
computers, scanners, printers, external
hard drives for backup, blank media and
image-editing software, can be found in
warehouses and on Costco.com.
All Costco 1-Hour Photo locations can
copy your photos to Gold Photo DVDs—a
new standard in archival discs, with seven
times the capacity of the old Gold CDs,
but at the same price. You can also bring
in your old home movies, videotapes and
35 mm slides for transfer to DVD.
The Photo Center on Costco.com
offers photobooks from My Publisher, DVD
slide shows through Moments Captured
and several other creative photo gifts.
Your images can be uploaded to the
Photo Center for archiving on Gold Photo
DVDs with pickup at the 1-Hour Photo
near you.—DW
NOVEMBER 2009 ;e Costco Connection 33
to focus on the values of the person, their
character, their wisdom, their advice to a
future generation.”
It’s often easier for a third party to draw
stories from subjects that wouldn’t have been
as easy for a family member to elicit.
When seeking a professional videographer, be sure to review demo videos to find a
style you like, and be sure to check references.
Prices vary widely depending on the amount
of creativity desired. A big budget affords
stock footage and even special effects.
Typically, productions range from $500 to
$20,000 or more.
Regardless of the approach you commit
to—simple photobook to full-blown Hollywood production—it’s never too early to start.
Recorded video and the sound of a loved one
talking and laughing can effectively convey
the character of the subject for generations
to come. C
