Story is as important to video as it is to book. A good celebratory video should have continuity and cohesiveness. It should also have a storyteller who is relaxed and comfortable on camera.
For this reason, a Legacy Prose™ video is always scripted in advance. We believe our storytellers should have the same advantage as celebrities and politicians who use scripts and read from teleprompters for important performances.
This allows our clients to approach the camera shoot with confidence, knowing that they'll tell their story in the manner that they want it told, without forgetting details or flubbing punch lines.
The process of preparing the script for video is much like that used for preparing a biography for print. We interview the storytellers the same way—off camera. Then we transcribe the interviews, extract the major story lines, fill in the blanks, arrange and edit for clarity. When appropriate, we incorporate an off-camera narrator to smooth transitions.
But while a book may run two hundred pages and take several hours to read, a video—especially one that will be shown at a social event—should last only fifteen or twenty minutes.
Therefore we work with the storyteller to select one or two life themes out of the eight or ten that might appear in print memoir. For example, videos for anniversary parties generally focus on the couple's courtship and marriage while those for retirement parties usually highlight career milestones.
The storyteller also chooses an assortment of personal photos and documentary material that can be incorporated into the video. Directions for their use are included in the script.
Continue on to "Producing the Video" →