Video Biography Central

Best Life Stories Best Told (Not in Video)

2019-07-02T15:33:00.001-07:00

The history of biography is as old as human history. What is the Bible if not the greatest collection of lives ever told in print; the gospels all tell the biographical story of just one man. The Romans had Plutarch of course and his "Parallel Lives" - Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans.

Now we here at Your Story Here have a bias towards video and audio but we also write books. And what if you are looking for something more recent than the Bible and Plutarch's Lives? Well, the New York Times book critics have just put together their list of the 50 best memoirs written over the last 50 years. And the results may surprise you!

OK, so some choices won't surprise you. Such as "Angela's Ashes". A truly harrowing yet funny recollection of growing up poor and catholic in Ireland by high school teacher Frank McCourt. If you don't cry reading this book then you may not have a heart!

Also in this category of "yeah, of course" is perhaps Catherine Graham's "Personal History" - an account of her life centered on her owning and running the Washington Post and the extraordinary events around the Watergate Scandal. She tells the story with modesty and grace.

And then there is the tragic yet coolly lucid account by Joan Didion of the deaths of her husband and the terrible illness of her daughter: "The Year of Magical Thinking". Perhaps the most insightful and arresting book on grief since CS Lewis's "A Grief Observed" back in 1961.

Of course, if you are a seasoned writer (as Joan Didion is) then for the book you write on yourself or your own family you have no excuses! Philip Roth then makes the list with his "Patrimony" - which centers on his recollections of his father who at one end raised Philip Roth and his brother and at the other end sees the father become the child. Roth cared for him and witnessed, absorbed (and in some cases mopped up) all the sad, humiliating artifacts that accompany imminent death.

Nobel prize fiction winner JM Coetzee "Boyhood" recounts (in the third person) his growing up in apartheid South Africa in a post-colonial family who still thought the best thing about their country were the customs, manners and vestiges of old Europe.

Gore Vidal is slightly less distinguished from a literary standpoint but he may more than hold his own in literary style - and vocabulary. Witness the title of his memoir "Palimpsest" - which certainly had many of us reaching for the dictionary and establishes him from the very first as an elitist of the first order - but fun, supremely well connected, honest and revealing.

[More to come]

Peter Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Biography, a video production company that specializes in video biographies and personal history documentaries. Based in Orange County CA and working across the US and internationally, his award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. He can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through his website.

One Vast and Free Online Film and Image Archive

2018-11-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

1929 Poster from LOC's free online collection

In our line of work - helping folks make video biographies of loved ones - we are always looking for good source material to help tell personal history stories. One of our favorite places to find interesting things is our very own Library of Congress which has now digitized a vast amount of our Nation's treasures - allowing you easy access from your computer or your phone.

Library of Congress's latest and maybe most exciting announcement is its "National Screening Room" which allows you to view and download items from its vast collection of films.

What will you find? Well that very much depends on your tastes and interests. But so far there are around 300 titles and more are being added every month...

"Visitors to the National Screening Room have a front row seat to sample the nation’s cinematic history in all of its forms. The films range from fiction and non-fiction to home movies and social life and customs to newsreels and actualities [documentaries], covering a period of more than a hundred years, from 1890-1999," says the Library. It kicked off this new initiative with 17 home movies of George and Ira Gershwin, celebrating 120 years since George Gershwin's birth.

One of our personal favorites in the collection is a classic 1950s movie-length infomercial called "Ellis in Freedomland" so named because of the miraculous GE appliances featured which "freed women from the drudgery of housework just as Lincoln freed the slaves". The cast includes screen and TV legends: Edward Arnold (the range), Lucille Ball (the laundromat), Maureen O'Sullivan (the dishwasher), James Mason (the refrigerator), Jerry Colonna (the waste-away), Percy Kilbride (the dehumidifier), Andy Devine (the water heater), and Marie Wilson (the drier).

Applicable for today (November 6, 2018 - the 2018 Congressional election) is "Angel, Voting Can Be Fun" from 1960. Another film, perhaps more germane to one of our personal history documentaries, is titled "Chicago" and features stunning Kodachrome footage from this iconic city in 1940. Each film item you access also gives you links to somewhat cognate films and other items (e.g. "Freedomland" links to "Goodbye Mr. Roach).

In addition to films, the Library of Congress also has an enormous amount of photographs, posters and documents spanning hundreds of years. It is currently looking to crowd-source the transcription of historical letters from Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton and many others. That's gotta be more rewarding than watching Netflix in the evening!

Other current exhibitions that can be accessed from their website include "Baseball Americana": Exploring Baseball’s Roots, Its Changing Traditions and the Game Today; and "Echoes of the Great War": American Experiences in WWI.

There is so much negative material online these days and sometimes it feels like the promise of the Internet Age was hijacked and never realized. But spend 10 minutes rummaging through the digital collections of the Library of Congress - especially its national screening room - and your faith will likely be restored. THIS is what the world wide web was born to do.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Biography, a video production company that specializes in video biographies and personal history documentaries. Based in Orange County CA and working across the US and internationally, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Why Should You Consider a Video Biography?

2018-09-24T18:16:00.004-07:00

OK, I am talking right now to the main subject of a proposed family history. Not the son, not the daughter and not the grandkids or the nieces or nephews or the friends or anybody else. This is a private conversation between me and you - the family elder, if you'll pardon the expression.

So, just us. And today I am going to persuade you to record your family history. Why? Because you and your family are important to somebody – actually, many somebodies. And a lot of those somebodies love you very much. And they are very curious about what brought you - and all of them - to this place. And a lot of those somebodies are still very young, and many of them haven't even been born yet.

Who you are, and what you have experienced along the way – and what you have learned – is very rare. You are the only true witness to the events of your life! You are also the only surviving witness to so many other important lives. Doing this – recording your story, talking about the family history - is like the greatest gift to all of your special somebodies, and to all future generations. It's also a kind of immortality...

So, I know the family have been asking you to write down your history and what you remember about your parents, and their parents, and the old days. They want to hear about the family migration, the hard times, the fun times, about the days before computers, family traditions, your dreams, your loves, your hopes. They want to know what you learned, how you coped, your regrets. Maybe they suggested you record your story to audio, or perhaps they even suggested filming you for a video biography or some such. Imagine!

You might be thinking that all this is a big fuss over nothing. Record the family history? Create a video biography? Why bother? It's not like we have any presidents or Nobel prize winners.

Perhaps you are really busy right now. Retired from work doesn't mean retired from life, right? Or is the reluctance I sense more to do with the amount of work needed to pull out the old photos and the old documents. Where the heck is all that stuff anyway?

Maybe you are a bit worried about some not so nice parts of the story – the car accident, the run in with the law, the (ahem) remarkably rapid gestation of the first child, a first marriage, or a little too much drinking that went on.

Please tell me that it's not vanity! I know that our voices can get weaker with age, and we aren't as pretty or as handsome as we used to be. Could it be that you feel your memory isn't all that it once was?

All of these feelings are completely normal, and also quite common. Everyone who embarks on the journey of their life and their family feels some trepidation. It would hardly be worthwhile if they didn't. And sure, there will be some work involved, and some hesitations to overcome. But it's very important work, for some very important people.

Close your eyes. Think about your parents. And your grandparents. And maybe your siblings and cousins. Wouldn't you have loved it if they had left more of their stories behind. What if they had written a book? What if you had them on cassette tape – or even on film! Wouldn't that now be one of your most treasured possessions; the thing more than any other that represented your family essence, your family legacy? Well, that now is your obligation, that can be your gift.

So please record and tell your story, and the story of your family. Let it become that very treasure that you can imagine might – in an easier age – have been given to you. There are so many somebodies just waiting for you to say yes.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Biography, a video production company that specializes in family history videos,memorial videos, tributes and personal documentaries. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Keeping Memories Alive with Tribute Video: How One Family Honored a Lost Life

2018-05-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

Life doesn’t always turn out like we plan or like we hope it will. Kristy and Rob had three boys together - all still in school. Rob was a good man; friendly, active, helpful, funny, and devoted. Then the greatest setback of them all: Rob died suddenly from complications in surgery. The tragedy is impossible to fathom - except for those unlucky enough to be forced to go through it.

Sheryl Sandberg is the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook. Her husband Dave Goldberg died in 2015 while they were on vacation in Mexico. He was found dead in the gym – he fell off an exercise machine after having a cardiac arrhythmia caused by coronary artery disease. What do you do after events like these?

Sandberg wrote a book with Adam Grant called “Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy.” Sandberg had two young children and she wanted to keep Dave’s memory alive so that they would remember their dad. So she asked dozens of Dave’s closet friends and relatives to capture in a tribute video their memories of him. She also recorded her son and daughter’s own memories of their father. Kristy found inspiration in Sandberg's book:

“When children grow up with a strong understanding of their family’s history – where their grandparent’s grew up, what their parents’ childhoods were like – they have better coping skills and a stronger sense of belonging. Talking openly about positive and even difficult memories can help develop resilience. It’s especially powerful to share stories about how the family sticks together through good times and bad, which allows kids to feel that they are connected to something larger than just themselves.” (Page 124)

Like Sandberg, Kristy lost her husband Rob unexpectedly. He did not survive what was meant to be a routine medical procedure in 2013. Kristy was left to raise their three young boys. She read Sandberg’s book and loved the idea of the video tribute. She wanted her boys to remember their Dad – to remember how funny he was, how energetic and caring, and mostly how much he loved them. As Sandberg wrote:

“One of the most important things I’ve learned is how deeply you can keep loving someone after they die. You may not be able to hold them or talk to them, and you may even date or love someone else, but you can still love them every bit as much. Playwright Robert Woodruff Anderson captured it perfectly: “Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship.”

Kristy decided to ask Rob’s friends and family to record on video their memories of Rob. She was less interested in technical perfection than in capturing authenticity - so she suggested people just use their smart phones or what they had available. She did need it stitched together in a proper video tribute though - along with pictures and family video - so she asked us to make the edit. We wove all the pieces together - the personal photos, some wonderful personal video that Rob had taken which recorded his voice, and also we also included some video of Rob that Kristy had taken.

The video was to be a surprise for the boys and she showed it to them on the fifth anniversary of Rob’s passing.

For Kristy the video was amazing. She said her boys were so surprised to hear their Dad’s voice and they made many comments that they could not believe it was him. “It was very touching and they loved it. Thanks so much.”

Jane Lehmann-Shafron is a video biographer who co-founded Your Story Here LLC Tribute Videos, a video production company that specializes in tribute videos and preserving family history. Based in Orange County CA, she has been featured in "Success" magazine and in the "Los Angeles Times". Her award-winning films have been screened in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949-742-2755 or through her websites.

7 Things to Consider Choosing a Video Biographer

2018-01-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

Thinking about recording a family story? You can do it yourself or you can hire a professional. We encourage everyone to record their family stories and have lots of free blogs to help you (see for example: "What Questions Should You Ask In a Video Biography?") We are always willing to talk on the phone to give (free) advice. For us it is a mission - and we just want to encourage you to get it done!

For those who do want some pro help, how do you choose a video biographer? What things should be on your list to consider? Well, based on around 15 years of experience in this business, here are seven things to think about as you make this important decision.

1. Are They a Comfortable Fit?

Video biography projects are very personal. They are personal for the subject and they are personal for the family. So the first thing you need to be sure about is that your video biographer listens, is genuinely interested in the subject, and is sensitive to the often varying (and occasionally conflicting) wishes of all the family members.

Although sometimes difficult to arrange, you should always try to meet the video biographer in person. You will know if the fit feels right. And when it is, the subject will be relaxed and will be very natural in the recording.

2. And are They Flexible?

Businesses make the most money when they standardize their product – one size to fit all. Our experience is that each story and each family is different. People have different budgets, they like to focus on different things, some folks want to control and approve each step and some are happy to agree an outline and let things play out. Make sure that your video biographer is flexible enough to accommodate what you need rather than steer you in a direction that mostly suits them.

3. What About Equipment?

Unless you know a lot about film production – and frankly even if you do – you are best off not getting into your video biographer's knitting when it comes to equipment. Are they shooing with a dedicated video camera or a DSLR; are they recording audio in camera or with supplemental equipment; do they use lavalier mics or a shotgun mic? Are they using prime lenses? Tungsten lights or (cooler) flourescents? How good is their white balance?

The way to protect yourself on all these issues is to look at work that the person has already done. You may be able to be satisfied from looking at high definition sample clips posted online. If not, you should request copies of authorized, completed projects and see how the material plays on your own equipment.

4. How Much Should it Cost?

The good news is that you can get something at almost any price point. The cheapest option is to do it yourself (obviously). The next best is to ask a professional to set up and carry out an interview – and take delivery of just the raw footage. It may not be in shape to play at a party but you will have captured the life.

Going up the line, your next option is a lightly edited video biography. But the best result of course is to obtain a fully edited, life story documentary that will contain beautiful interview footage; personal and historical images; chapters, music, graphics and titles, home or archive footage and voice over or narration to keep things moving.

Ultimately, what drives the cost of a video biography are three main items: the amount of footage recorded, the number of images or other video to include, and the length of the final product. Other costs can impact such as whether more than one life story is being recorded and told, the cost of travel, how lengthy are any re-edits, and third party costs such as narration (we provide narration in-house but can out source if desired).

Not long ago I wrote a blog devoted solely to the subject of pricing for video biographies: “How Much Should You Pay for a Video Biography?”

5. How do they Handle Images?

Apart from interview footage, images are likely to be the most important component of your video biography project. And Ken Burns has shown us all how powerful old photographs can be in telling the story of an event, a period or a life. Slow pans across a high quality image can reveal detail lost for generations and bestow a beguiling, filmic quality to a static image.

Typically the images will come from the subject and the family. Also typically, many will be in bad shape. Ask how your video biographer handles your precious images - are they scanned in high resolution and are they restored to professional standards. Do you receive all the images, high res and restored, at the conclusion of the project? (Your Story Here LLC has its own in-house photo repair restoration service that is included free with all our video biography projects.)

6. What do I get?

Most projects are delivered on one or more of: DVD, Blu-ray disk, movie file on USB or hard drive, digital upload, or digital cinema package. Not too many people ask for delivery on tape or film – but anything is possible, just ask.

Whatever else, make sure that you can get delivery of all the raw footage on a portable hard drive and also an uncompressed copy of the whole project. If you have images in the project which have been scanned and restored, be sure that you will get a separate file of all of those images in their highest resolution.

Keep in mind that the law says that the person who took the footage (not the person who paid for the footage) owns the copyright. So for extra caution you may want to ask if you will receive a formal assignment of copyright.

7. Testimonials

It makes sense to check the credentials of your video biographer. Things that are relevant are academic courses and qualifications, years of experience, and have they won any awards for their documentary work? Also relevant might be membership of appropriate professional organizations and positions held with community groups and academic institutions. And, take the time to ask for references and make the call to the names given to check that the person has done the kind of work you want done and that the client was happy with the result and the overall experience.

A key reason for engaging a professional is that they will commence and complete the project quickly. Check with former clients about how quickly projects were delivered.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron is a video biographer who co-founded Your Story Here LLC Video Biography a video production company that specializes in video biographies and preserving family history. Based in Orange County CA, she has been featured in "Success" magazine and in the "Los Angeles Times". Her award-winning films have been screened in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949-742-2755 or through her website.

DIY Family History Questions

2017-09-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

Some people rely on us 100% to record and preserve their family history. But if you are the energetic, self-starting Eads, you make the whole family pitch in and help.

Mimi and Tom’s story is a great love story. They grew up in South Gate, Los Angeles and both went to the South Gate High School, although seven years apart. Visiting his old high school, Tom saw a photo of Mimi and in his friendly but determined way he made it his mission to meet and date her.

Mission accomplished: They married when Mimi was just 19 after her first year at UCLA and after Tom’s graduation from USC (traditional crosstown rivals). Tom was a GI Bill graduate and fresh out of the army where he had served for 18 months mostly in Bavaria, Germany. His happiest memories from that time were learning to ski. Skiing became one of Tom’s lifelong passions and he shared it with Mimi and, later, their three children.

It was earlier this year that we were asked to help record Tom and Mimi's stories - both their childhoods and their lives together. As always, we listened carefully to what was most important to the family and how they wanted to approach this most vital of tasks. What made this project particularly special was that all the questions for the project were provided by their children and eight grandchildren.

All of Tom and Mimi’s kids and grandkids were asked to come up with a question to ask Grandpa and Granna (as they call Mimi). They gave the questions to Tom and Mimi so that they would have an opportunity to think about the answers.

The questions their family asked were really good (we will add them to our permanent list):

- Growing up, who was a major influence in your life?

- What did you like to do as a child?

- Tell us about your scariest skiing experience.

- What qualities did you get from your Mom and Dad?

- What was your favorite part of high school?

- What was the highlight of being a mother and what was the most challenging?

Tom and Mimi were extremely diligent in preparing answers to the questions – they even made notes. They were truly committed to doing the best job they could as they knew their family really wanted to know the answers.

The Big Day

Tom and Mimi were a little nervous – they hadn’t been interviewed on camera before. My job was lead them through the process, to help make them feel relaxed about the interview and also to help them decide on the photos they wanted to include in the edited video. We did one interview with Tom, a separate interview with Mimi and then an interview with them together – of course capturing an on-screen kiss from the couple who have been married for over 60 years!

We edited the video adding in their personal photographs, as well as text elements and music and delivered it all in a custom designed DVD box. The family was just thrilled with the result, as were we! It really was DIY Family history - with just a little bit of help!

Validation of a Life Well Lived

Mimi told her daughter that after watching the video she felt that the video had captured her life’s accomplishments and had really validated what she had achieved in her life. Mimi had gone back to school after the children had grown and got her BA from UC Irvine and then taught middle school for many years.

So, if Tom and Mimi’s project inspires you – ask the kids and grankids: What do they want to know about the lives of their parents and grandparents. Start with just one question each and share those questions with the interview subjects. You will be surprised at how excited everyone will be about the project!

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here LLC Family History Video, a bespoke video production company that specializes in family history videos. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Recording Family History: The 5 Biggest Mistakes

2017-07-27T12:59:00.002-07:00

A bit of fun this month - I am going to talk about the five worst things you can do if you are thinking about recording family history.

And in my time as a personal historian - with a pioneering video biography, memorial and tribute video business - I have seen some mistakes (thankfully not by me). Like forgetting to plug in the microphone, shooting into sunshine (casting the subject in shadow), or recording over an existing interview. But this blog is about even bigger mistakes... some of which I have made myself!

1. Believing in Immortality

OK, I never really believed in immortality but I sure acted like I did... There was plenty of time to sit down with my Dad and get his stories of World War II, right? Plenty of time to record all those stories of growing up without enough to eat, walking miles to school, and being "lent" to another family so he could work their farm in return for food. Plenty of time to hear about his early married and work life. Sure, until I got busy with college, career, marriage, and young kids - and until he got busy with liver cancer. He passed away, but not before he wasted away.

I will always have my memories but I should have acted sooner. I learned my lesson and recorded my Mom's story much later. Moral: You don't know how much time you have to act - so act soon.

2. Thinking a life worth recording must have major drama

Some people have lead lives with high drama. My plumber for instance, who is from Afghanistan, was telling me just last week how his father was imprisoned by the Russians during their invasion of his country, how his uncle was murdered by them, and how he walked along the Khyber Pass all the way to Pakistan when he was 18. OK, that's a decent story.

But you don't need a war or an immigration story to warrant recording a family history story. This is what I tell the shrinking violets who think their story is too modest to trouble about:

You and your family are important to somebody – actually, many somebodies. And a lot of those somebodies love you very much. And they are very curious about what brought you - and all of them - to this place. And a lot of those somebodies are still very young, and many of them haven't even been born yet.

Who you are, and what you have experienced along the way – and what you have learned – is very rare. You are the only true witness to the events of your life! You are also the only surviving witness to so many other important lives. Doing this – recording your story, talking about the family history - is like the greatest gift to all of your special somebodies, and to all future generations.

3. Blaming someone else for not getting it done

There may be someone closer to a particular family member who you think should be doing the job of recording the family history. Maybe they live closer, maybe they are a more immediate relation, maybe they have more time than you do, or did better in a family asset split, or are better with the technology.

Boy, is that a dangerous attitude. Conditioning your acceptance of a duty by reference to notions of fairness, equity and burden sharing may make perfect sense (to children anyway). But it won't get the job done. As my mother used to say: If you want something done, ask the busiest person. And that may well be you!

4. Letting money get in the way

Recording a family history story is the easiest thing in the world. You don't need to hire a personal professional and you don't pro equipment - you can do it all with your smart phone. Have an iPhone? Just get it out, open the "Voice Memos" app, tap the red record button and start asking questions! Tap the red button again when you have finished.

5. Losing the tape

In a burst of energy you sit down and record a story. You feel great, it's all in the tin if you ever need it, time to get back to regular business. You put the tape aside, or maybe you even upload it to a computer. Then you forget about it. And two house moves and three computers later, the thing is gone!

I am not going to give you advice about safe deposit boxes or home safes or special, dedicated hard drives. Often, the worst thing you can do with something valuable is to place it in a special spot. One-off hiding spots can be the most forgettable. No, the best thing to do once you have made a recording is to make multiple copies and send them around the family. Sure, keep your copy safe, but if you ever lose it I can guarantee you that someone in the family will still have their copy!

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here LLC Family History Video, a bespoke video production company that specializes in family history videos. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Their Love Defied The Race Laws

2016-11-04T13:46:00.001-07:00

She was an American living in Lovelock, Nevada and he was a Canadian working nearby. They fell in love. But Nevada's race laws prohibited "miscegenation" and said they could not marry.

But that wasn't Sue's only problem. She was also a young woman of Japanese ancestry and it was WWII. Living inland, she was safe from internment. But the family's radio and cameras were seized, travel was restricted, and her brothers' rabbit hunting guns were taken.

Her brothers were mad, of course, but volunteered to fight in Europe and became heroes with the 442nd.

It wasn't until 1967 that the Supreme Court finally reversed itself and declared, in Loving v. Virginia, that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional (now the subject of a major new motion picture "Loving.") And it wasn't until 1988 that President Reagan apologized for denying Japanese-Americans their "fundamental liberties" during the war years.

A Story Worth Preserving
Sue (Chizuko) is still alive and lives in Sacramento. She managed to marry that strapping young man of hers - Wilfred - but they were forced to travel to Colorado to tie the knot. After the war, still feeling the sting of racist slurs, they moved to Canada. They returned to California to raise her children. Now battling dementia, her daughter Janis wanted to preserve her mother's story.

“My mother has Alzheimer’s disease and I knew I had to capture her telling her story for her grandchildren before it was too late. My mother is extremely proud of her Japanese ancestry and very proud of her two brothers Hideo and Teruo who both served in the 442nd army unit during WWII. I wanted her grandchildren to know their history.”

Your Story Here Helps Out
Since I make video biographies and family history documentaries, Janis contacted me about helping out. (We had gotten to know each other after I helped her restore some old family photographs through my photo restoration and repair business.) The 40 minute family history documentary that Your Story Here produced for Janis and her family captures Chizuko as the story teller of the Takenaka and Tyson family history, woven together with family photos, historical material and narration.

The family history documentary that we made was a joint project - Janis had plenty of ideas and so did we and we blended the best of both to make the film. It is something we pride ourselves on: working with clients to achieve their vision with our input and tools.

The Family Reaction
“The response to the video biography documentary has been overwhelming,” says Janis. “I sent copies of the project to family in the US, Canada and the UK and received many touching notes and calls of appreciation as to how much it meant to them.”

A distant relative in the UK wrote to Janis to say “The story itself was amazing and something future generations of your family can cherish. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the story. It was very heartwarming and, I must admit, there was a small tear in my eyes at the end. Thanks so much for sharing it!”

Anti-miscegenation Laws
There is something especially odious about a ban on love - which is what anti-miscegenation laws ultimately target. Who knows how many lives were ruined by these disgraceful bans? Sue and Wilf did not take the state of Nevada to court over their marriage ban. It was the Loving case out of Virginia in 1968 involving a white and African-American couple that finally toppled the remaining state anti-miscegenation laws. Nevada was a little unusual in that it prohibited Asian mixed marriages (as well as African American, Native American and, for the avoidance of doubt, "Filipinos"). Most states targeted just African American and Native American mixed marriages. Nevada repealed its anti-miscegenation laws in 1959.

Sue and Janis's family history is the story of a multicultural America at war with its own people. Sue's parents were both born in Japan but Sue was born in Sacramento in 1923. Wilf was pure Canadian. Sue grew up in Lovelock, Nevada where her parents ran the local laundry. That is where she met Wilf and where their loving but difficult journey together began. Their story is a story of frustration and deprivation - but also of endurance and reconciliation.

The unique power of video biographies to tell stories
A video biography is a great way to tell a personal story of struggle and success. Not every story is as heart wrenching and dramatic as Sue and Wilf's. But every family history is unique and contains the kernels of how that family came to be where it is today. As Mark Twain said: "There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of (every) exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy.” Don't wait too long to record your family story.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here LLC Video Biography Productions, a bespoke video production company that specializes in family history videos. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Family History Video Ideas for Your Family Reunion

2016-04-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

I had a call last week from Carri Levy – senior producer of Lifetime Television's "The Balancing Act". The show is planning a segment on how families use video in family reunions. The call was good timing as I had just delivered a video project for Bev and Steve - an LA couple - who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They had decided to host a family reunion in Santa Barbara with people flying in from across the US and from France and Australia - and video was going to play a big role.

Family reunions - which are especially popular over the summer - are a great place to celebrate family history. Organizers often encourage people to bring old photos and even make sure they have access to scanners so they can be shared around. Some families ask people to bring along heirlooms to talk about. Other families use the reunion as a chance to compare and swap old recipes. But what about taking advantage of video in your family reunion? Glad you asked!

Pre-Reunion: The Family History Documentary

Often, families research and produce a family history video to show at a reunion - sometimes where the reunion doubles as a birthday or anniversary celebration.

Janice's father was Canadian and her mother Chizuko ("Sue") was born into a Japanese American family. Janice wanted to preserve her parent's story and especially the story of her mother and her mother's two brothers who all lived through WWII in a comprehensive family history video. Her mother suffered discrimination and hate-speech while her uncles became war heroes fighting in the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team. We recorded Sue's extraordinary story for Janice who was kind enough to say:

I can’t overstate how remarkable our project is. From the beginning to end, the experience was positive. From selecting photos, writing the narration, documenting the history with captivating stories and fascinating facts, selection of music, editing… the list goes on...

The story flowed exceptionally well and captured the story and essence of the lives of my Father and Mother. My Mother, her children, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were touched and delighted with the documentary. The Historical Society from her town wants a copy for their Museum. The Historical Society stated this was the most professional documentary they had ever seen. (Janice)

The project was premiered for the whole family during a reunion in Sacramento.

During the Reunion: Family History Creation

Other times, families want to use the family reunion as a chance - with so many members present - to record the family history for later inclusion in a family history video. This can go down in a number of different ways - here are three:

The Bus Tour: A number of my clients who have organized family reunions have located them in cities or towns significant in the family story. John's family came from Philly so they all met up there and took a tour of the old family homes and haunts - video recording things along the way reality show style. Another client had us help him film important places from his childhood and his family history in Jamaica Plain, Boston. We have done similar things across the country.

Crowd Sourcing: Other families have taken advantage of cell phone propinquity to record family members and events during the reunion. Cell phones can also be used to make oral history recordings. The resulting material was then woven into a story of the family.

Formal Interviews: We are often called in to reunions to take advantage of the event to record the stories of (usually) the older generation. This is something we did for Bev and Steve. Part of their reunion was a session called "Portrait of a Marriage" where they recalled the often-times very funny early days of their relationship. We professionally filmed that as well as conducted more formal interviews with other members of the family and - together with "crowd-sourced" video - edited the material into a unique record of a spectacular event for an extraordinary family:

We are very pleased. We premiered the video yesterday to a family member group who applauded enthusiastically at the end and laughed frequently throughout. It was a big success. Your dedication to the project produced an excellent and memorable product. And it was fun! The bonus tracks came across great. We still can't watch without some tissues handy. Thanks for everything, Bev and Steve

Some Simpler Family Video Options for Your Reunion

Other families decide to keep things simple and just have old family video transferred and digitized - then organize a "movie night" at their reunion. (We have also helped clients transfer old family video to DVD for this purpose.) These events can be invaluable for promoting discussion about the family, prompting memories and even identifying people and places long though anonymous or lost.

Summer will soon be here and reunions will be happening all over the country. If you are planning yours now give some thought to how you might incorporate family history and even family history video into your reunion.

<Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Tribute Video Productions, a slide and video production company that specializes in family history videos. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Pro Secrets for Better Video on Your Smartphone

2016-02-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

Photo montage: Your Story Here LLC

Lots of us take video on our phones - and if you are one of my kids then you post it to Instagram or Snapchat or Vine or something of the sort and it's laughed at then quickly forgotten. For this kind of video ephemera (as the Romans would say) there is not much I need to tell you. But if you intend to keep the video, then it pays to take some care.

1. Turn the Thing Sideways!

It's always best to take phone video with the phone turned sideways. TVs and computers have a horizontal aspect ratio so video that is destined for those displays should not be taken with a "portrait" aspect. Video which is taken with a vertical aspect will show on televisions and computers with a lot of wasted space on either side - and looks plain wrong.

2. Keep the Phone Steady

Whether you are using a phone or a real video camera, it's almost always best to let the action do the work. Take a position and just let the light talk to the device (if you take my meaning). And try not to shake: it sometimes helps to hold the phone with two hands and keep your elbows locked by your sides to provide some stability.

The best approach is not to hold your smartphone at all but to prop the phone up on a surface or nestle it in a beanbag or something similar. Best of all, get one of these smartphone tripods (pictured right). This guy here is called UBeesize and is small, light and portable - and is adjustable for different phone widths. It even has a Bluetooth remote control (which I haven't myself tried). This little tripod - perfect for shooting better video on your smartphone - cost me all of $10.98 on Amazon.

3. Get in Close

Not too many phones of my acquaintance have a zoom function. And even if they do, it's almost always best to move in close. Moving in close reduces the impact of camera shake and considerably improves the quality of the audio.

4. Turn Off Background Noise

Us humans are remarkably adept at tuning out background noise and honing in on voices. Sadly, our phones do not have this remarkable capacity. To improve the quality of your phone's audio listen for extraneous noise like a TV in another room, or a radio or music, or even air conditioning. And, if possible, turn it off. If there is mowing or blowing going on outside, or a plane flying over, wait for it to stop.

Photo montage: Your Story Here LLC

5. Natural Light is Best

Ambient or natural light is usually best – preferably not direct sun. Shade or cloudy conditions work best. When filming inside with your phone, try to position the action in front of a window and position yourself between the subject and the light source. If you film with an artificial light source, have the light on the subject’s face and not behind them.

6. Give Some Context

It is never a bad idea to record on the phone video where you are located, what the date is and who you are talking to. If you are taking video of someone else tell us (i.e. the historical record) why they are important.

7. Preview the Setup

The great thing about digital - versus the old world of film and tape - is that the recording medium is virtually limitless and costless. So, do a test and check your set up and audio – not great? Try again. You’ll learn from your mistakes and just keep doing retakes until it is perfect.

Bonus Tip

Don’t stop filming immediately after the action has stopped or someone has stopped speaking – give the editor a “handle” i.e. a couple of seconds before you hit the stop button. "Handles" are also good to get before the action or speaking starts - if you can.

Using Phone Footage in Family History Projects

So, many of us will use our phones to take video which we intend to keep. I know of many people who might record a piece of family history on their phone while visiting a parent or grandparent. (One man I met recently recorded the only video of his WWII veteran grandfather on his phone - the veteran having now passed and the video clip now priceless.) Folks may not have an edited project in mind but just want to upload to Facebook or to Ancestry.com to share around with friends or family.

When making tribute videos, I often ask family members to record a message on their phones which I will later weave into a fully edited tribute video. With the magic of modern technology, and a small amount of transcoding, we can turn all sorts of bits and pieces into a compelling video production.

In both cases you will want more than just a giggle piece - you wouldn't mind something half decent. So the question is now answered: this is how to you take better video on your phone.

Dear Younger Me: Relax, It will all be OK

2015-09-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

One of the questions I almost always ask in a video biography or ethical will interview is "If you could give a piece of advice to yourself aged 20, what might that be?" How would you answer that question? How would your family answer that question?

Jonathan Goldstein sought answers to that question and made a compelling 4 minute documentary entitled "How to Age Gracefully" (see it below).

Goldstein hosts "Wire Tap", a Canadian radio show that is broadcast in the US by PRI. For eleven years, the show invited listeners to eavesdrop on a mix of funny, thoughtful and unpredictable stories and conversations. Sadly, they broadcast their last show last month, but went out in a blaze of humor by posting a touching video of people of all ages giving advice to their younger selves.

From an 91 year old (addressing her 88 year old self): "Cultivate younger friends, otherwise all yours will die off!"

From a 92 years old: "Don't listen to anybody's advice. Nobody knows what the hell they're doing."

Every life is different and all our paths are unique. We are shaped by peculiar circumstances and our individual experiences hardly comprise a valid statistical sample. And yet... The advice of people to themselves looking back does lay claim to our attention. All of us, at least part of the time, are asking ourselves: how do we lead the good life.

Not all the good advice comes from oldsters. From one 8 year old wearing a Viking helmet: "No matter what anyone says, stay weird." A high schooler has this to add: "Don't get involved with the 'popular' kids. They are narcissistic capitalists who know nothing about politics." Perhaps most useful is this: "Ask her to dance. Just trust me on this."

Perhaps the most common and gratifying answer I receive in my video biography work is along these lines:

"If I could talk to my 20 year old self I would say: Relax. It's all going to be alright"

There is so much stress around finding a partner, getting educated, dealing with friendships, making a living, raising children, aging, looking after parents, losing loved ones, and so many other things (to say nothing of the world's problems). Yet, for most older people I meet, when all the hue and cry dies down, they reach a level of acceptance and calm which they just wish they knew was waiting for them when they were younger.

But for many of the interview subjects in "How to Age Gracefully" they are still learning the smaller - though important too - lessons:

"Dear 19 year old, just because it's an 'all you can eat' buffet, does not mean you need to eat all you can".

"Dear 48 year old. Always tell the truth. Except when it's your online dating profile."

How would you answer this most fascinating of questions? How would your family and your friends answer it?

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Biography, a digital media production company that takes on highly personal video projects like ethical wills on video. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Tom Turned 70. And His Tribute Turned the Tables

2015-07-11T15:17:00.001-07:00

Tom plays songs reflecting important moments & vital people

Many of our tribute video projects are prompted by an anniversary or a birthday. Seventieth birthdays seem especially suited for celebration video tributes. Typically, the subjects have slowed their work pace and have more time to plan and help produce the event. They have often left the constant barrage of career concerns and grown more reflective - and more grateful.And they are still young enough to bring all their energy and attention.

We recently helped produce the 70th anniversary tribute for Tom. But Tom had something very unusual in mind. He didn't want an event all about him. Tom wanted an event that turned the spotlight on the most important people in his life. Tom wanted to use the excuse of his 70th birthday to say thank you to those folks who really mean the most to him. So together we helped create his "Homage to the Important People."

You might think that a video biography project - or a video tribute - needs no excuse. It is just so worthwhile that everyone would just want to do it, and families would feel they need to do it. And for some clients, and some families, it is. But, for special events and milestones - like a major birthday or a 50th wedding anniversary – some people are more willing to invest their time to create a special gift or a special event.

This proved true for former Mad Man - Ad Man Tom. As past president of Chiat/Day Advertising in Los Angeles, he advised clients like Nike, Nissan and Pizza Hut and dreamed up never-before-seen approaches to promoting these and other companies.An especially creative man, he still spends a lot of his time thinking about the Next Big Thing.

Turning 70 was never just going to be another birthday for Tom.

Birthday Boy Tom: He gave all honor to friends and family

Tom's vision was unusual. He decided he wanted to honor the most important people in his life. Instead of placing himself at the center, he wanted to turn the tables and tell the stories of the dozen or so people who have really mattered in his life. And together, through video and music, we did just that with a soon-to-be-more-common tribute video celebrating everyone else!

Tom selected around 15 people and told their stories in words and through our video presentation. He then selected songs that were emblematic of them or their times - or which reflected what they meant to him. Being a skilled musician (among other things) Tom then sang those songs, joined in many by the people honored.

"We want more meaning in our lives." Tom believes. "Technology is opening up new worlds and connecting us to things remote and unexpected. But our need for personal connection is all the greater. I really wanted the people I love to know I love them, and that I remember and honor their help in my own personal journey."

Trust us Tom: they got the message. They really got the message! Guests raved about the event - during and after.

Tom feels sure that the impetus that energized him is a common one and that birthday celebrations and tribute video productions will increasingly tap into the sentiment. The Next Big Thing? We would like to think so.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Tribute Video Productions, a slide and video production company that specializes in tribute videos. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

The 7 Quickest & Best Photo Repair Tricks

2015-05-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." (Dorothea Lange)

Through our video biography work, and then as a stand alone business, we have fixed thousands of photographs over more than ten years. But even after all these years, I still get tickled when I look at new images that need help: it's knowing that through some digital magic the old can be made new again. It's also that every old photo is a kind of magic peep-hole into the past. Old photos really are the closest thing we have to a time machine.

In this blog, I am going to give you the seven quickest and best tricks to restore your old photos. And you can do them on almost any photo editing program - including "Aviary" which Flickr provides, Windows Live Photo Gallery and Photoshop Elements. So, let's get to work!

1. People Falling Out? Reorient and Straighten
Crooked horizons can be fun, especially if you want to add a touch of zaniness or even intrigue to an image. But, otherwise, it's just plain disorienting in a photo; or worse, your subjects look like they might slide right out of the photo entirely! One of the quickest and most powerful fixes is to adjust the rotation of the image so that the horizon - or the flat surfaces of furniture if you are inside - align with the top or the bottom of the image.

If you are using Flickr's Aviary, it's the "Orientation" tool you will need, in Windows Live Photo Gallery its "Straighten"; and in Photoshop Elements use Image>Rotate>Free Rotate.

2. Flat Gray Images: Correct Contrast
Some images look flat and lifeless - lots of grays but not much in the way of pure blacks and pure whites. Walden Pond at misty dawn is allowed to be gray, for most other images you want close to the full tonal range - which means you will need to adjust the contrast so that you have at least some absolute whites and some absolute blacks.

If you are using Flickr's Aviary, it's the "Contrast" tool you will need, in Windows Live Photo Gallery its Auto Adjust>Settings>Exposure"; and in Photoshop Elements use Enhance>Auto Levels.

3. Drab Photos: Crank Up Saturation
Colors lose their luster over time, sun and ozone have a way of leaching the saturation out of images. Sometimes the loss is in one or two color groups; if you are lucky, it is an overall loss of saturation across all the hues in the photograph that can be fixed with a simple movement in your photo editor's
saturation color slider.

In most photo editors, this fix can be found under the "saturation" adjustment. In Photoshop Elements use Enhance>Adjust Color>Adjust Hue/Saturation.

4. Fuzzy Photos: Sharpen
If your photo is out of focus, there is no 100% effective cure. But by careful use of the "sharpen" tool, you can increase the contrast between light and dark pixels at the edges of objects - giving the appearance of a sharper, more focused image. This neat little trick can make up some of the lost ground in a fuzzy photograph - but by no means all.

If you are using Flickr's Aviary, it's the "Sharpness" tool you will need, in Windows Live Photo Gallery there is no tool; but in Photoshop Elements use Enhance>Auto Sharpen or Enhance>Unsharp Mask.

5. Flash-Caused Red Eyes
We have all had this happen to us: we snap a photo in dark conditions (where our pupils are nice and large to let the maximum amount of light in) and the flash goes off. Great, except that oftentimes the light bounces right back from the back surface of the eyeball, showing a nice red hue (which is pretty much the color of all of our insides). Luckily, easy to fix.

If you are using Flickr's Aviary, just click the "Redeye" tool and select the circle size; in Windows Live Photo Gallery there is also a "Red Eye" tool; and in Photoshop Elements use Enhance>Auto Red Eye Fix.

6. Hue Shifts and Color Casts: Color Correction
Another common problem with old color photos is a differential loss of color (i.e. not even across all color channels) leading to a color shift or a color cast. Sometimes it was caused by using daylight-balanced film inside under incandescent lights and sometimes it's just color loss. Most photo editing programs give you a good shot at fixing the problem, by examining the overall balance between the red, green and blue color channels and making a correction if there is an imbalance.

If you are using Flickr's Aviary, click the "Enhance" tool, then "Color Fix; in Windows Live Photo Gallery you have a choice between "Auto Adjust" and "Color" where you get to choose a countervailing color shift; and in Photoshop Elements use Enhance>Auto Color Correction or Enhance>Adjust Color>Remove Color Cast.

7. Dust, Scratches and Tears
This is really the holy grail in terms of amateur photo repairing - an easy to use tool that fixes dust and scratch marks. Luckily, we have now reached a level of sophistication in our quick and easy tools where these problems can sometimes be fixed by the part-time photo restorer.

If you are using Flickr's Aviary, just click the "Blemish" tool and select the circle size; in Windows Live Photo Gallery the closest you can come is to use the "Noise Reduction" tool (which may not get you where you really want to be). Photoshop Elements is the most advanced of all the amateur programs and it really comes into it's own with dust and scratch repair: start with the Spot Healing Brush tool, or the Clone tool - both available in the tool panel on the left.

I hope these seven quick and easy tool tips help you restore your precious old photos to their former glory. If you would like to see more examples of what can be achieved with old photos just click across to Your Story Here's new dedicated photo repair and photo restoration website and check out the extensive before and after gallery!

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Biography, a video production company that specializes in tributes and family history documentary. She used the skills acquired through photo work in her documentaries to create her photo restoration business "PhotoFixRestore". She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Dying in the Digital Age - And Staying Alive

2015-02-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

A memorial page on Flickr linked to from Facebook

As a video biographer and personal historian, I am a grateful fan of Facebook. It helps us connect and stay up with family and friends, provides a free repository for our photos and videos, and offers an increasing array of tools and ideas for creating and preserving our personal history, including something important just announced.

Nowhere is Facebook more helpful than in tragic situations of death. When my good friend Peter died too young last year his family set up a Facebook "group" where we all shared stories, posted video, and uploaded precious images - all shimmering with fond memories (these are some of my photos here).

But that's not all...

Memorializing Facebook Pages
For some time now Facebook has given family the option of "memorializing" a person's page after they have passed, including their photos and videos. Of course, you could do nothing and just leave the page as is. But:

When an account is memorialized, we set privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search. We... remove sensitive information such as contact information and status updates. Memorializing an account prevents anyone from logging into it in the future, while still enabling friends and family to leave posts on the profile Wall in remembrance.

There was a problem though - what if a family member or important friend wanted to log in to fix something, accept a friend request, post a video, or make some necessary changes such as removing off-color or even bullying posts? Who owns a Facebook page anyway? The issue of ownership and control has become a hot topic: At least five states (Oklahoma, Idaho, Rhode Island, Indiana and Connecticut) have passed legislation regulating one's digital presence after death, including email. New Hampshire has been considering the same thing and there are calls for federal legislation.

A "group" page on Facebook accessible only to friends to share stories, video and photos

New: Your Facebook Executor
Coming to terms with this groundswell, Facebook announced last week that it will now allow users to designate a "legacy contact" (go to: settings > security > legacy contact). Once Facebook is notified that the person has passed away, they will memorialize the account and the legacy contact will be able to:

Write a post to display at the top of the memorialized Timeline (for example, to announce a memorial service or share a special message);
Respond to new friend requests from family members and friends who were not yet connected on Facebook; and
Update the profile picture and cover photo.

The legacy contact can be notified and given permission to download an archive of the posts, photos and profile info shared on Facebook. Operating a bit like a living will, the legacy contact will not be able to log in as the deceased nor see that person’s private messages. Alternatively, people can let Facebook know if they’d prefer to have their Facebook account permanently deleted after death.

Facebook's policy here follows the lead set by Google in 2013 when it launched its "Inactive Account Manager Service", which lets friends or family members take control of a deceased person’s Google assets (YouTube, Blogger, Gmail, Google+ etc).

There is no true salve for the loss of a loved one. But social media is helping us to enjoy each other while we live, and to remember those who made our lives more liveable when they are gone. It's a kind of magic, social media immortality.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Legacy Video, a video production company that specializes in memorial videos, tributes and family history documentary. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Voice Over Narration in Life Story Videos: Yes or No?

2014-11-08T17:05:00.001-08:00

You're making a life story video - for a parent or a grandparent let's say. (Well done, by the way!) You are going to use video interview material of your subject, old photos and documents, and maybe some archive photos or archive video. You plan to divide the project into chapters. Are you going to use voice over? Should you?

The use of voice over in life story video or video biography projects is ultimately a personal choice. For many documentary purists, your story should be so well constructed - with plenty of "show me" footage - that you don't need "tell me" parts. "Leave the narration for the six o'clock news," some purists say. "It's lazy and intrusive to have a narrator telling the audience what to think."

The first documentary I ever made (which ended up winning awards and playing on public television) had no narration. So I certainly get the point. But for most of my life story video projects, I think the advantages lie with including voice over. Here are some circumstances where you should think seriously about narration...

You want to summarize a story or get it moving more quickly. (e.g. "After school, Joel moved from city to city, never really finding a job, or a partner, that truly suited him. It was in Sunnyvale that he finally settled down.") No doubt about it, carefully written narration allows you to compress a lot of years and events into a small space so you can move onto the important stuff.

You want to set up and develop a certain theme or story line. (e.g. "Doris's life has been defined more by turns of luck than careful planning...") You may have spent a great deal of time with the subject and you may in fact be an expert on their life's events. You may have detected themes or motivations that the person themselves were not fully conscious of.

You need a segue between topics. (e.g. "Jack finished up in the Marines then accepted an invitation from his brother to help out in his trucking business.") You can signal a change of subject with a new chapter heading, but sometimes you are working within a segment (e.g. "career") and don't wish to do that. And, sometimes your subject just didn't manage the segue in a way you can use.

You want to add some humor. (e.g. "Betty liked the idea of living on a farm, but three years of working harder than the horses, and eating a lot less, convinced her that her options might be better in town.") OK, that's not all that funny, but the material may suggest lines to you that are appropriate and that lighten the mood somewhat.

You need to describe the subject’s qualities or achievements. (e.g. "John was the youngest partner the firm had ever promoted, and over the years received more industry awards than all the other engineers combined."). Many subjects are going to be too modest to boast of their achievements, or they are going to make light of them. So you are going to have to do it for them.

You have photographs or other images, possibly silent family video, and no matching interview audio. It is always a good idea, if you know all the images and video you will be using in your life story video ahead of time, to ask you subject about them. But sometimes you just didn't do that, or there was too much of it, or the material came to light too late. It makes sense then to explain that visual material with your narration.

You want to lift your "production values". Huh? Well, a pleasant voice in narration, adding another perspective with (one hopes) some insightful thoughts can be an additional asset in the production - it can make it richer, more complex, and hence better.

When to Avoid Voice Over
There will be times when you will want to avoid narration in your life story video project. Such as when you have no visual material except your interview. Sometimes, your subject is simply not comfortable with another voice in the story Also, narration has to be written, then recorded, then edited in, then altered if needed, so it comes with a higher price.

Who Should Narrate?
In many of my projects, I handle the narration myself. But I have also recorded family members reading the voice over (in one project, I had all the grandchildren doing separate pieces of the narration about the story of their grandparents). And I have also used third-party professional voice talent; in one case we used a woman with an Irish accent to match the Irish roots of the subject.

Final Tips on Life Story Video Narration
When filming, try to get footage of your subject doing something - and not talking. That footage can then serve as your visuals that you can place over narration - especially at the beginning and the end.

It is usually best to write the narration during the editing process – as you bring together the various elements like your interview and maybe occupational footage, personal and archive footage and images, and other material.

Try to keep the narration simple and as short as possible. The idea here is more PowerPoint than High Literature. Sentences should be 10 to 15 words long and have only one thought in them - no subclauses or the like.

Narration is to be heard not read – so read it aloud to check for sense and timing – make sure that it matches your images or your footage.

If you decide to use voice talent, educate them on difficult or unusual pronunciations and on your intended meaning – so they can get the intonation right.

I hope these thoughts and tips have helped. Good luck with your project!

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Productions, a documentary production company that specializes in life story videos. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Courage, Generosity, Faith and Hidden History: Films for Non-Profits

2014-09-17T18:03:00.002-07:00

Films for non-profits – both in their creation and in their viewing - can be made the centerpiece for connecting to the donor community and for fundraising. They can be shown in exhibition spaces at one-off events (possibly as part of a well advertised "launch") or set up on screens as part of the permanent collection.

A well planned and carefully made video can also be used on web-sites to educate and inspire visitors, and uploaded or linked to on social media to create interest and goodwill...

A proven facility for story telling, experience with on-camera interviews, creativity in making and transforming images and video, and a track record of successful partnerships with non-profit community leaders has earned us the privilege of helping reveal stories of courage, generosity, faith and even hidden history. So this week for a bit of a change of pace, here are some of our recent non-profit videos...

Stories of Courage

The Miracle League of Orange County, California, is dedicated to providing disabled children and adults the chance to play baseball. For them we put together this inspiring piece that features their courageous kids, their amazing families and the tireless volunteers who make it all happen. The smiles on these kids' faces is sure to bring a smile to your own!

Stories of Generosity

A DVD we created for the Teen Project founded by Lauri Burns (and author of “Punished for Purpose”) was sent to current and prospective donors to shore up support and widen the donor base.

This excellent non-profit provides teens who age out of the foster care system with the resources and support of an intact family to allow the greatest opportunity for a successful transition to adulthood.

The Teen Project has only one full time employee and over 400 volunteers. Their belief is that donations for a non profit should go direct to services for the people they serve and administration costs should be at a bare minimum.

Stories of Faith

Christ Community Church engaged us to design and produce a welcome video for the benefit of new parishioners for use on their website. This friendly church provides Worship services that are Word-driven, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led, "so that God will be glorified and honored and our joy may be truly found in Him". Amen to that:

Stories of Hidden History

Most recently we completed this historical piece for the Balboa Island Museum and Historical Society. The mission of the museum is to preserve the Island heritage and its sense of community. It aims to be a place where Islanders and visitors can gather and share Island memories - and has an active campaign to gather these stories:

"Everyone has fond memories of their favorite Balboa Island experiences. Tell us yours and we'll preserve them forever in our archives. Sharing the memories spreads the fun around so all can enjoy."

For non-profits, both the process and the result of a short film can be used to build stronger connections with local communities and to strengthen support from community philanthropists.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Productions, a documentary production company that specializes in custom documentary films. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Backing Up The Human Mind

2014-08-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for a summer vacation this year got me thinking: We back up the important data in our computers don't we?

So why don't more of us back up our minds, or help the ones we love to back up their minds? Is there any practical way to preserve something of ourselves - for the ones we leave behind - beyond disaster or death?

Science has so far struggled with solutions, and much of what it has suggested is grisly, to say the least, and still very early in its stages of development.

We know for example that a mouse, having eaten the brain of another mouse who has learned a maze, will run that same maze more quickly than if it had merely snacked on crackers. But that seems a bit limited for humans who may have more on their minds than a reward at the end of a cardboard labyrinth...

We need a bigger solution, something that promises to preserve more information. Something more imaginative...

Wait, didn't Walt Disney arrange for his head and brain to be frozen? Isn't Old Walt reposing somewhere, expecting to be woken up any day now to a new world, free of disease and full of fresh opportunities? (Boy, what would his Disney stock be worth?) Well, no, that is an urban myth. Walt was cremated and interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. But Captain America was brought back to life after decades locked in Arctic ice, right? And Mel Gibson (all of him) survived a similar process in Forever Young. The idea is certainly appealing.

Do we really need to peel off skin to back up the mind?

Baseball legend Ted Williams certainly did (and does) have his splendid melon snap-frozen, courtesy of the Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan. Science can easily handle the freezing and storing part, but Ted's family is still drumming their fingers waiting for it to solve the “wake-him-up-and-hear-him-talk” part. So the idea has never really caught on. Not yet anyway. There is the cost factor (around $30,000) and the extreme doubt that you will ever really be “woken up”. If it does end up working, there is also the basic unattractiveness of the idea of living as a disembodied head. How would you scratch your nose, or swing for the fences?

But the idea of saving some part of our minds is definitely worth pursuing. If only there was a way...

More recent and more sophisticated approaches to preserving the human mind include “mind uploading” or “connectomics”: micro slicing the brain's grey matter, creating a complete map of the brain's neural circuitry, then uploading the resulting information to a computer to host (be sure to back up that computer). One of this technique's chief advocates is neuroscientist Kenneth Hayworth, who dreams of waking up as a kind of robot jockey.

Jeff Bridges mastered the whole brain-uploaded-to-computer thing in Tron: Legacy, and managed to save his son into the bargain. The son lives, but Jeff Bridge's character doesn't seem to. Which leads to the main draw back with cryonics and connectomics – you gotta be dead first, or die in the process.

There has got to be a better way...

I enjoyed three weeks in Spain this summer, relaxed and assured knowing that all that was digitally dear to me was safely backed up. Can you say the same about the people you hold dearest?

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Life Story Video, a documentary production company that specializes in personal history videos and family history documentary. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

5 Things We Always Regret at the End

2014-04-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

What will you regret, at the end? An Australian palliative care nurse named Bronnie Ware worked for years with the dying; easing their passing after medicine had done all it could. Reflecting on the many patients she cared for, she came to see how much people grew when they were faced by their own mortality. "Every single patient found their peace before they departed, every one of them."

She also noticed recurring themes when folks reflected on their lives, and pondered the things they regretted. Late in 2011, she decided to write a blog about the top 5 things she had observed people felt sorry about before they passed. Her observations have been repeatedly reposted and much discussed ever since - perhaps none more than the regret "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."

There is much wisdom in these ruminations of the soon-to-be-departed, originally posted on the blog Inspiration and Chai. Looking at them again, it is possible that some adjustments are called for; also that we could probably go a little easier on ourselves.

What regrets will you have, in the end?

1. I Wish I Hadn't Worked So Hard

Bronnie says that this regret came from every male patient she ever nursed. They were especially sad that they missed so much of their children growing up and their partner's companionship - and she recommends people simplify their lifestyles. Women also had this regret, but to a much smaller extent - given that many of them had been the primary care givers and the recipients of their (hard working) efforts were their own children.

I have heard the same regret in my work recording life stories on video, usually from men. But I never judge my subjects who find themselves in this position.

After all, how do you know when you have worked enough, or saved enough, to support your family? And the way life is arranged, we are normally called upon to build our careers right about the same time that we start a family. If we are lucky enough to have some success - making choices to ease back a little easier - the temptation is to keep striving and earn a little more to give our children more options. Who knows what the future holds; and how many acorns stored in the tree will be enough?

2. I Could Have Let Myself Be Happier

Is that even possible? While it's true that "happiness" is somewhat genetically determined, for the rest we decide how happy we are going to be. Some of it may simply be waking up and saying "It is going to be a good day today..." and some of it is treating all experiences, even the difficult ones, as opportunities to understand and learn; Hope: It helps a lot to foster an optimistic approach to life because that helps us to deal with adversity; and Purpose: A sense of mission keeps us grounded and looking forward.

Just what your sense of meaning, hope and purpose should be is up to you. For some, religion ticks all three boxes; for others a secular life of service does the same.

3. I Should Have Had the Courage To Live Life True To Myself

This was the most common regret: people not following their dreams. And once people's health begins to fail, it is often too late. We all need to be appropriately selfish and meet at least some of the goals we start out with. Young adulthood often gives us this chance; sometimes we need to wait till all the child rearing is over.

But again, let's not be too hard on ourselves. Life presents us with a perennial series of circumstances and choices. We make decisions, as best we can, as we go along. Very often those decisions do involve sacrifice, but normally for the ones we care about. We may forget - at the end - the reasons why we did not complete more items on our bucket list. But knowing people, my guess is that the reasons probably had to do with duty and love for others. Those reasons should be some compensation.

4. I Wish I Had the Strength to Express My Feelings

This one relates to the previous regret, because sparing the feelings of others normally involves a measure of self-abnegation. So it's not necessarily a bad regret to have.

Avoiding this regret probably means communicating more frankly. Bronnie Ware says that people may initially react adversely when you start speaking more honestly, but in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level.

Or not: How we express our feelings so as not to cause undue offense is a matter of contextual calibration and it may be hard to recall that context and your exact reasons years later. If you trust your younger self, you may have made the right calls along the way.

It all comes down to love and relationships

5. I Should Have Stayed in Touch With My Friends

"It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships," Bronnie observed in her work with dying patients.

If the secret to happiness is social relationships, then we do need friends. Are old friends the best friends? Sometimes, but they are not the only friends. Friends are, after all, just the people we do things with - and that changes over time. If you live long enough, younger friends are the only friends you are likely to have!

Me, I am hopeful that with all the modern technology and tools, we will eventually all live in a world where we will be able to reach out and touch our friends, old and new, at any time from anywhere - even at the very end. Wait, with our smart phones, aren't we already there? Cross this last one off all our list of future regrets!

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Life Story Video, a documentary production company that specializes in tribute videos and family history documentary. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

The Spirit of Place and a Tribute in Video

2014-03-19T10:46:00.002-07:00

Is there really such a thing as spirit of place? The ancient Romans certainly believed in guardian spirits, or genius loci, and made offerings to keep on their right side. The idea has evolved over time and is reflected in art and literature and the Romantic idea that a place can be more than the sum of its soil, its nature and structures, and its people - it can be enchanted.

And if ever there was an enchanted land, a tough parched land promising plenty but demanding all, then it is the farms and fields surrounding Altus, Oklahoma where Peggy and Johnnie, and their ancestors going back to the days when it was all Indian Territory, have made their difficult lives...

Your Story Here was given the privilege of helping tell the story of Peggy and Johnnie, and their pioneering families in video, in the summer of 2013. Both came from cotton farming families, and they remember well the dawn to dust, back breaking work - as children - of getting the cotton crop in. Both would escape that world, Johnny through his baseball and Peggy through her education. But they stayed in touch with the land, and their families still farm the land around Altus, and still pay daily homage to its fickle genius loci.

Learning about their story, and visiting the district, we knew that place - Johnnie's old farm; the little wooden church in Hess that Peggy attended for decades; the Sears mail-order home where Johnnie grew up with his brother, parents and grandfather; and the town of Altus itself seemingly locked in a 1950s time warp where Peggy would finally serve as city councilor - would all be an important part of the story. Place would be a character in their story, just as landscape always is in a good Western.

The challenge for us was to create what was, in truth, a tribute in video to this couple and a tribute in video to this unique and often harsh place. We did that through still images and filmed images, and through many personal and often quirky recollections of place, and by physically taking Johnnie and Peggy back to their old haunts, and with sound that was haunting and melodic and even droning and repetitive - reflecting the seasons and rhythms of this land just north of the Red River.

The short extract of the video tribute we filmed and produced focuses on how Johnnie and Peggy first met.

The land never really lets go its hold and patiently waits to welcome us back. For Johnnie, that embrace came just months after we filmed the project. That event brought great sadness, but also comfort. All the family was grateful that Johnnie's daughter and his granddaughter had taken the time to record his story, and the story of Peggy, and their stories together - for themselves, their families, and future generations.

If you have a family story, give me a call and let's talk about how we might help you tell it.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Tribute Videos, a documentary production company that specializes in tribute videos and family history documentary. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

It's Official: Nostalgia is Good for You

2013-11-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

Exciting new research reported this month in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by Tim Wildschut and others shows that time spent reminiscing makes people more optimistic. This finding, which is consistent with previous, smaller studies, seems to retire forever the old canard that remembering the past suggests a fear of the future, is inherently maudlin and destined to make us sad.

Perhaps the best description of the benefits of nostalgia (anticipating the research that was to follow) comes from the sociologist Fred Davis in 1977:

"It (nostalgia) reassures us of past happiness and accomplishment; and, since these still remain on deposit, as it were, in the bank of our memory, it simultaneously bestows upon us a certain worth, irrespective of how present circumstances may seem to question or obscure this. And current worth, as our friendly bank loan officer assures us, is entitled to at least some claim on the future as well."

The most recent study used hundreds of subjects and set out to test the proposition that nostalgic recollections activates past positivity and that positivity will project into the future. Four separate types of experiment were involved. And conscious that attitudes and responses

may be culturally based, the research tested people from America, The United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Examining all the data, the authors conclude that nostalgia does indeed promote optimism and that held true in their study regardless of the way in which nostalgia was induced (words or music) and it held true both for both women and men and across all age groups.

“The optimistic flame ignited by nostalgia is fueled by increases in self-esteem, which is founded on social connectedness. Nostalgia is not just an old, sepia-toned photo, locked in a box. Its power is far-reaching and can brighten up the path ahead.”

This is something that I have observed in my video biography work.

Typically, projects are initiated with the end in mind: folks want an engaging and attractive record of the lives of (usually) their mother or their father. And that is what we deliver. But something additional also takes place, something special.

The subjects are almost always elevated by the process, before, during and after. I always believed that this was a by-product of all the attention the subject received and the fact that the process creates a kind of productive flow which humans have always responded happily to.

But I see now that there are other psychological factors involved. In addition to these positive aspects just mentioned, the act of recalling times when the subject succeeded, or overcame some obstacle, or simply enjoyed life in all its challenge and complexity reminds them of success and breeds optimism for the days ahead.

So there we have it, it's official: Nostalgia is good for you. Reason #19 to go ahead and call me to talk about recording your story.

Note: A pdf of the complete study can be accessed at Academia.com .

Why Write Your Own Obituary?

2013-09-14T17:00:00.002-07:00

"Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick born Jan 4, 1935 and died alone on [Aug.] 30, 2013. She is survived by her 6 of 8 children whom she spent her lifetime torturing in every way possible."

So wrote two of those aforementioned - and unfortunate - children in a recent obituary appearing in the Reno Gazette-Journal. And, to rub salt in the wound, the scathing obituary went viral, appearing in all the major media from ABC News to USA Today and on and on around the world and back again.

Poor Mrs Johnson-Reddick, not only dead but globally vilified.

Why write your own obituary? Well, to forestall a hatchet job by your own children might be one good reason!

Winston Churchill was going to take no such chances. Reflecting on his own legacy, he told the House of Commons in a 1948 speech: "[It's best] to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history!"

And it may well be true: history could be the kinder - if you write it yourself!

But there are other reasons to write your own obituary. For one thing, you know the facts of your own existence better than anyone else. Only you really know your struggles and successes, the highs and the lows, the principles and people you valued, and the things you want to say to those you will leave behind. So, go ahead and say them. This stuff is too important to leave to chance (and, if you will forgive me, too important to leave to the customary rush that accompanies a death and the memorial service).

Jane Lotter had the right idea. She had the (ahem) advantage of knowing she was dying of Stage III endometrial cancer. So had time to get things organized:

"I was given the gift of life, and now I have to give it back. This is hard. But I was a lucky woman, who led a lucky existence, and for this I am grateful."

She wrote in the Seattle Times in July 2013.

"What a gift!... Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. Thank you for those moments, those gifts. I love you."

Your own obituary could be an aspect of a larger project - creating an ethical will. Ethical wills are a more personal, more spiritual message than what you would include in your obituary or your will, and might cover topics such as thoughts and feelings about life, the lessons you've learned, values and a final summation of the life you have lived and the people who have made it worthwhile.

An ethical will is usually created for a small, private audience while an obituary is designed to be shared widely. But they share many common elements.

Another reason to write you own obituary is to create for yourself a kind of report on your own life. Have you done the things you would really want to be remembered by?

It's a common exercise in mid-career MBA courses to ask the executives to pause and reflect then set down on a page the things they will likely be remembered for. The result, very often, is a long list of career achievements that reads more like a resume than a report of a full and meaningful life. It very often serves as a fillip to widen interests and to create a life with more kindness and service.

Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was apparently so appalled when he read his own mistaken obituary in a French newspaper - saying he had "became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before" - that he vowed to change the way history would remember him. The result was the Nobel Prize for "the most or best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".

So don't wait. You will never have more time than you do today. Write you own obituary then tuck it in a drawer alongside your will. Then sleep peacefully knowing that your legacy is in safe hands: your own!

But wait: What's better than writing your own obituary? Well, it's telling your own story, the whole thing, in your own words, in your own ethical will on video. Interested? Click on over and give me a call to learn all about it. I am currently taking bookings for the first half of next year so don't delay!

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Family History Video, a documentary production company that specializes in video biography and family history documentary. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

Best Online Storage for Family Historians

2013-06-22T15:35:00.003-07:00

Our roles as personal and family historians is to collect, restore, explain, share and archive all the varied artifacts of our ancestors' lives. Fair summary?

The things we collect might be hard copy objects like photographs, old school yearbooks, 16mm film, audio recordings, and letters and cards. Or it might be new material like stories we hear and record on audio or video, or stories we write. It might be our research with ancestry.com and all the census and immigration records we locate.

These days, our job as family historians (self appointed though we may be!) includes digitizing the material and making it available to the rest of the family. The question then arises: what is the best way to store and share all this stuff? Well, keep reading because I am about to tell you.

In this blog, I am going to give family historians some ideas for archiving their treasures and I will tell you about the newest, biggest, most generous, most vivid place to store documents, images and videos for free!

Storing Family History Files Locally
The choices for storing and sharing your digitized family history research are now legion: First of all, there is the hard drive of your computer – probably where all the stuff is right now. But in addition to your Mac or PC hard drive, you need a dedicated, external hard drive - powered or portable - for all of your ancestry files. They are as cheap as chips – around $150 for 2 TB at Target.

Some people like to back up their files to CDs (770 MBs), DVDs (4.7 GBs) or even Blu-Ray disks (25 GB). And now, flash drives are getting big (e.g. 32 GB) and much cheaper than before (around $1 per GB) and if you don't have a ton of material – no video for example - they could be an option.

How Much Storage Do You Need Anyway?
Well, that's a bit like asking how big your barn should be – depends on how many horses you have! But as a guide: 1 GB of storage will cover around 1 minute of uncompressed HD video; 5 minutes of uncompressed standard definition video; 20 large digital images; or 200,000 pages of text (and a partridge in a pear tree).

If you have a good deal of family history video, you are going to need to start thinking in the terabytes (remember, one thousand MBs = 1 GB; and one thousand GBs = 1TB). A one TB drive will hold around 80 hours of uncompressed SD video and 20 hours of good quality HD video. You can compress video so that you fit more in (e.g. MP4s) - but that is not your best archive option.

Storing Family History Files Online
Things really start to pop when you choose online storage options. For example, you could create your own blog or website; the internet service provider you choose effectively gives you storage space on their server (e.g. for the modest price of its web hosting, “Go Daddy” give you 40GB of space). If you have a web host, you can “ftp” transfer your files to your storage there – none of which needs to be actually displayed on your web page.

You could of course just send the files around to the cousins directly using one of the email-enabled ftp services like “YouSendIt” which specialize in dispatching large files. The basic account is free allowing you to send 50MB files and give you 2GB of free storage. Then, slightly more cumbersome, there is Dropbox which allows you to upload up to 2GB for free - folks can then log in and download.

And let's not forget Microsoft and Apple: Microsoft will let you backup 7 GB for free with their “SkyDrive” and Apple gives you 5 GB for free with its “iCloud”. Then there are the real pros like “Amazon Web Services” which has a huge online storage service business (e.g. it handles all the Netflix movies). Its cheapest and most limited option - “glacier storage” - costs just 1 cent per month per gigabyte!

My Friend Flickr

Flickr's new image display shows a fraction of your 1TB

Now, I could go on and talk about other services like Cubby, Sharefile, Egnyte, Opendrive and a host of others all well worth exploring. But for all of my personal family history stuff, I am currently in love with Flickr. Why Flickr? Well, Yahoo (which owns the thing) has just given anyone and everyone 1TB (that's 1000 GB) of free storage and display!

How many hi-res photos or document images is that? Twenty thousand! You are allowed to: Upload photos of up to 200MB per photo; Upload 1080p HD videos of up to 1GB each; Video playback of up to 3 minutes each; Upload and download in full original quality.

Not really a complete backup service I'll grant you, and a bit limited for video, but virtually unlimited for documents and images. And, Flickr now has a gorgeous new display.

As family historians, we will continue to try out different storage options, always remembering to keep multiple copies, on multiple disks and drives, in multiple places. But right now, everyone one of us can take advantage of Flickr's new found generosity.

Disclaimer: I have no connection or affiliation with Yahoo or Flickr - except as a (free and paying) consumer of their online services.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Family History Video, a documentary production company that specializes in video biography and family history documentary. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

The Memory in Things

2013-04-27T16:39:00.003-07:00

The New York Times carried a piece in its "Books" section last Sunday about that poignant moment when it finally comes time for a parent to put away the children's picture books ("Memories of a Bedtime Book Club"). It's exquisite sadness – all the memories of wet hair, tired toddlers and clean pajamas come flooding back as we finally close the door and staunch the light from that warm chapter of our lives.

Not surprisingly, the task takes ages, as we pause over ever title...

They're not just books! They're little time machines, capable of transporting us back to golden, gloaming moments – all the more gilded by the passage of time and the fading memories of the hard stuff. So, most of us don't actually throw or give away that ratty copy of “Where the Wild Things Are”. We store it in the attic, or in the garage.

Then there are clothes, and tiny shoes, and toys: "Family History Embedded in Toys". This has been a year of many such nostalgic musings for me as my two oldest children are now away at college.

But the big struggle in our lives this year has not been dealing with the books. It has been to finally dismantle the kids' outside fort. It has sat in our garden for all of the children's lives and has hosted all manner of tiny occupants. It saw use right to the end – high school seniors sat in its rather confined upstairs space during an end of year party last year. Rats have had it to themselves for the last 12 months or so...

The old fort: before and after - either way full of memories.

So it was time for the fort to go. And with it, the inevitable attenuation of many of our fondest summer memories. Because memories attach to things, don't they? Not always, but usually. Anyone who has ever revisited their old elementary school can attest to the flood of fresh recollections that came upon them – seemingly attaching to the buildings and stairs and handrails themselves.

I often make use of this phenomenon in my video biography work. I love to take the subject back to some important place from their past and record the results - as I did for this lovely Irish couple from New Jersey: "New Lives in America".

And speaking of buildings and schools, there are smells of course! Powerful memories can attach to smells. Catching a chance whiff of sun dried washing can bring you back to the time you helped Mom pin the clothes up on the line all those years ago (when folks actually had washing lines).

Sadly, a fort can't be packed away in the garage or an attic like old picture books - ready for another chance acquaintance and that happy-painful rush of remembrance. Not our fort anyway.

Fortunately for us, our need to junk the fort and our reluctance to destroy a vessel packed with the echoes of happy times coincided with the spinach, kale and chard whole-food craze that is sweeping the world. I love green smoothies! But I don't entirely trust the produce I buy (pesticides, freshness, etc). So it hit us like a ton of lumber – why not repurpose the wood and build garden beds for vegetables?

Now, some three months later, I have my spinach, kale and swiss chard. And I have my memories too - right there in the wood that encloses the plants. Memories can live in many places: photographs, books, buildings, DVDs and video - and, it turns out, old wood.

Jane Lehmann-Shafron co-founded Your Story Here Video Biography, a documentary production company that specializes in video biography and family history documentary. Based in Orange County CA, her award-winning films have been featured in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949 742-2755 or through her website.

20 Ancestry Projects for (Modern) Kids

2013-02-10T10:27:00.002-08:00

Ancestry and family history can be a Big Job – and one that we, as adults, crawl all over. But there are so many ways that we can get the kids involved. So this week I am going to give you twenty small projects that either the kids can help you with - or that they can do alone.

You're going to find that many of these projects are right up your kids' alley – using as they do much of the new technology that is making modern life so much fun. So, let's begin!

1. Shall we start with the end in mind? Then let's create a display case for the stuff we are going to make and find. And let's do in on Tumblr. Do what? Make a family history website! Tumblr is the sensational new micro blogging site that takes all of about 45 seconds to get on. It's super cool for photos and really, really easy to navigate.

Tumblr was made for images - but you can write just as easily.

2. Then, click on over to the National Archives and look up a relative in the 1940 census - or earlier. The census records answers gathered by a person who stood outside your ancestor's door in a hat with a pen and questions all those years ago. For best results you will need an old address – just the street should do it.

3. Got an iPhone or a Galaxy? Go online and get the “Audio Memos” app – it's going to let you record all kinds of things. Now, once you have it, ask Mom to sing one of her old songs for you. How did she learn it? (Good luck asking a male!) Advanced student? Put the song into your Dad's iTunes library.

4. You have cousins don't you? One thing cousins have in common is grandparents. Send them an email giving them an update. Ask them to send you a story about grandma or grandpa: what do they remember most?

5. Set up a virtual ancestry filing cabinet. A what? Well, you are going to be collecting a lot of information – right? And you are going to need to put it all somewhere – and your laptop desktop is not the answer. So, start with a “family history” folder; create “mom's side” and “dad's side” folders and go from there. Nature abhors a vacuum - if you get my drift.

6. Scan (or take a digital photo of) five of the most interesting images from the old family photo album. Talk to the family and get the story behind each of them. File them in the virtual filing cabinet and post them to Tumbler and send the link to some cousins.

7. Go sniff out some old letters. Letters written from school or college or foreign travels are always good. Letters written in times of war are even better (usually). And yes, take a moment to digitize them. If you are up for it, retype them. Add them to that new filing system of yours.

8. Search Facebook for a topic of interest (Irish Ancestry anyone?). Like the page, and then check your feed for notifications.

9. Google the family surname. Know which town(s) the ancestors came from? (Check the 1940 census.) Google that too. The internet was made for ancestry projects. And kids.

10. Kids, learn a family recipe. Parents and grandparents are bound to have some cooking that harks back to the old days, maybe even the old days in the old country. With luck, it won't have cabbage in it – but don't bet on it (in our family, the recipes include pelmeni and borscht with cabbage).

11. Even better, film a family recipe being made.

12. Catch an episode of season 3 of NBC's “Who Do You Think You Are?” The shows are super interesting and hugely motivational. Oh, and they can make you cry.

13. Write your own obituary. Come on, it's not morbid – it's just a way of setting down your own biography, highlighting the things that are important to you! If you are still young (kids), then write the obituary that you think you will have.

14. Still got that cell phone and the “Audio Memos” app? Kids, ask your Mom and/or Dad to tell you the story of how they met. Interview them separately. Upload it to SoundCloud.

15. Scanned the old photos yet? Well, scan some more, add some recent images, write some captions and create a family photo book with Blurb or Lulu or Costco (working title “From There to Here”).

Give it back as a present with a nice foreword of thanks. Folks love that stuff. Or, use an old image to craft an Einvite - maybe add an Instagram-like effect first using Pixlr-o-matic.

16. Call the oldest member of the family. Just chat. Call them again: Ask them if it was all worth it and what, if anything, they would do differently if they had their time again. For advanced oldsters: use Skype video chat. For even more advanced oldsters, help sign them up to Facebook and become their first friend.

17. Visit Life magazine's vast photo archive hosted by Google. Gorge yourself on all that popular and cultural history. Use the search function and see how many images you can find that connect to your own family's story.

18. Create a family tree. (Many kids have already done this ancestry project at school.) Find an attractive form by typing “family tree template” into the Bing search engine. Print it out or keep it all digital by typing in text using a simple photo editing program.

19. Join a conversation! Go out into cyberspace and find an ancestry or genealogy blog and leave some comments or just ask some questions.

20. Interview - using video - Mom or Dad or Grandma or Grandpa. Need some ideas for questions? Try these video biography questions designed to extract wisdom (sounds kind of painful - but it's not!). Keep it short - maybe just 5 questions.

OK - we have barely scratched the surface of all the project possibilities for kids to get involved in family history, genealogy and ancestry using all these chill modern tools.

Choose one or two, give yourself some time - the summer maybe - and see what turns up. There's a reason why family history, genealogy and ancestry are all America's favorite pastimes (who goes fishing anymore?).

Jane Lehmann-Shafron is a video biographer who co-founded Your Story Here Family History Video a video production company - that specializes in preserving family history. Based in Orange County CA, she is currently gathering information and ideas for a new book "100 Ancestry Projects for Kids". Her award-winning films have been screened in festivals in the United States and Canada. She can be contacted on 949-742-2755 or through her website.

The Glorious & Prosaic Connecting Us All

2013-01-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

This is the poem written by 2013 inaugural poet Richard Blanco telling the story of all our people - and describing the glorious and the prosaic things which connect us all.

One Today
One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper --
bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives --
to teach geometry, or ring up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.

All of us as vital as the one light we move through,
the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,
the “I have a dream” we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind -- our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across cafe tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom,
buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me -- in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn’t give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always -- home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country -- all of us --
facing the stars
hope -- a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it -- together