Personal History – An Unpredictable Experience

Last year we completed an almost 3-hour biography on a 97 year old local woman. It was an incredible project to work on. Not only is she smart and vibrant but she had a lot of energy and we were able to do some remarkable video B-roll. We have shots of her driving her car, talking about her childhood in front of the home she was born in, giving us a tour of the artwork in her church that she and her late husband had commissioned as well as extensive stories and recollections from her 97 years of life. She was a joy to work with and her family was not only supportive but actively involved in the development and production of this project.

One of Betty’s sons hired us to help document his mom’s history. Previously, she had done an enormous amount of genealogical work, creating family history books for each of her three children as well as biographical books on both herself and her late husband using first person reflective. She also had very well organized archives of photographs and other memorabilia, all organized, annotated and preserved in archival albums.  It was a delight to work with someone as well organized as this she was. Creating a video was the icing on the cake of an already well-documented family history.

But in addition to the video history this family will now have, her son bought her an experience. Much like a roller coaster ride through one’s life, the process of going through creating a video biography allows the subject to be the star in the front seat on a ride through their own history. It was definitely an experience. From the very beginning, she was very excited and I know it gave her celebrity status in her assisted living home.

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