There are things in many families that cannot be simply scanned.  Yes, can use your Flip-Pal to scan medals, coins, quilts, portraits, paintings and photos of any size or condition.  But what about the odd things you have found that you would like to preserve and may use in your family history video? 

In our family, we have trophies from an uncle that competed in horse competitions with his prized Clydesdales, my mother’s wedding dress was made by her seamstress mother (my grandmother), her mother (my great grandmother) was a Harvey Girl and I inherited one of her aprons, her mother (my great-great-grandmother) passed down some beautiful crystal, and my husband inherited his grandfather’s pistol from the civil war.

Taking pictures of those items is what we’ll be talking about this week so think about what you’ve got that you need to capture with your camera and choose one or two of those items to work with.

Now that we have made your project a priority, even if it is a simple 30 minutes per week, we will continue to scan pictures, letters, paintings, and memorabilia.  Now as you do that, you can immediately rename them so they are easily found as we move through our project. Someone in your family took the time and effort to take those pictures or save that telegram, now it is up to you to preserve them.

So this week, scan more pictures AND go back and rename some jpegs you have already digitized.

"If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are." .....Madeleine L'Engle – Author, ‘A Wrinkle in Time’

Last week we looked at what we have learned so far.  Monday, we resolved to make it a priority even if it’s just a few minutes per week. Today we’ll look at where we are going. 

After we have interviewed, gathered stories, and digitized the supporting photos and videos we will compile them into a video and then a book. Everything you have done so far now needs to be transferred to a computer.  Put it into a file that you can easily find as needed.  Under ‘Documents,’ make a new file bearing the family name.  Within that file you can place jpegs, videos, and transcripts.  You can always add new files within that file should you want to get more specific with an individual. 

You’ll want to make your video between 10 and 30 minutes with an introduction and an ending. Most often, the grandparents, great grandparents and great-great-grandparents on one side of your family can be condensed into one video.  Your parents however may need one of their own – or each parent may need their own! Why? In most cases, the family stories beyond the ones you lived yourself or your parents told you about are gone.  We can no longer capture those eras by first-hand accounts.  Let’s not let that happen again!  We have the technology to capture and save the family history for many generations to come IF we make it a priority and follow through.

“Who has that kind of time?”  It’s what I hear from people when I tell them what I do.  It comes right before or right after, “That’s a great idea!”

Last night while I was watching TV, I sat with my Flip-Pal and just scanned photos from an album.  I haven’t even downloaded them yet but at least they are now digitized.  I only have about 14,000 more to go!  ☺While I’m walking you through the making of a family history album week by week, you need to work at your own pace in your own time.  You might only work on it 20 minutes a week.  It will take longer than a week to complete each segment that way but anything is more than you had yesterday! 

I find it ironic that we have time to scan and make a slick collage of photos to post on Facebook yet have no time to save, file and catalog these photos for future family members. You have already scanned them!  Why not put them into a folder on your computer or cloud so you can later add them to your family tree video?!?!?  Two weeks ago was Father’s Day.  If you were one of the millions that scanned a picture of you with your dad or grandfather but have not made a folder on your computer to keep everything you find on previous generations, do it now. The folder should bear the family name and each photo should be numbered (0001, 0002, 0003 etc.) as well as titled with who is in it.

Find and open a jpeg on your computer. Any jpeg.  Now right click on it.  Click on Properties. The box that appears with tabs at the top will most likely be on the ‘Details’ tab. Now click on ‘Title’, ‘Subject’ or ‘Comments’. Click on the blank space to the right and you can add your own title, subject and any comments that you’d like.  Do that with the picture you just saved to your computer.  That information travels with the picture now that it is digitized. 0001-GreatGrandpa Ray, Military Service, Taken during WWI

Remember too that this is a project that has no real end.  You may want to focus on one person or one family unit and put what you have together now and move on to another branch of the family tree.  You can always add another person or unit as you gather more information. Again, anything you do makes a difference, and will make a huge difference to future family members trying to recreate the family tree.

It’s time to refocus and rededicate a bit of yourself to future family members.  I had three great aunts and a great uncle that never married or had children. To my siblings and cousins, they were like having extra grandparents since they didn’t have any of their own grandchildren.  They took the time and effort to look into the family history.  It was quite an undertaking since there was no Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, newspapers online or Wikipedia.  But they did have funeral notices, newspaper clippings, family lore, library micro fiche, and Collier’s Encyclopedia.  They are the reason I know that branch of the family came from Dresden, Germany in the mid 1800’s.  I always knew that branch better that the other 3 because of their dedication to passing on the family data.  I have one of the many copies they made of their research and thank them frequently as I try to recreate the rest of the tree. 

So whether you have children or not, you came from someone, somewhere and your efforts will make a difference to and be appreciated by someone, sometime. 

But we all know that life gets busy. We get distracted.  We forget about things that are not pressing and then 10 years later we think, “Why didn’t I do that?”  There will be times when you just get too busy.  Other times you’ll be waiting for a picture from a relative and time seems to grind to a stop. Then you put it aside and forget.  Here are a few ways to keep it going:

1.      Choose a time to work at this each week. Even a half hour will really make a huge difference by the end of a year.

Week 1.  We began our journey by writing down what we knew of our family tree, planning a specific time to dedicate to this project each week, and started the dialogue by asking Mom to share some stories.

Week 2. We took stock of what we had to work with, started organizing it and watched a video on how to preserve any memories we are gathering now on our smartphone.

Week 3. We focused on the military services within the family and remembered a hero.

Week 4. We learned the value of digitizing, made plans on how we were going to scan, and began scanning.  (Remember this one is now something we’ll do each week.)

Week 5. We prepared to begin interviewing, by making a plan to visit someone in the family, looking at the lighting and sound, and downloaded the meeting planner with questions

Week 6. We delved deeper into the interview process with tips and tricks to get the best interview footage, learned about B-roll, and made plans to interview Dad.

Week 7 That brings us to this week with a refocus and recap.  We’ll try to do that every 6-8 weeks or so. Not only will it keep us on track but we’ll be able to go back to specific weeks in case your timing is a bit different than our blog’s.  

It’s time to pause, recap and refocus.  We are in the midst of gathering your family history, the stories and the media that will relate that history and those real life stories to future generations.  Which would move you more, “Our family came from Ireland” or “Your grandfather’s grandfather came from Ireland in 1895.  Here’s a picture of the very boat he came on which landed in Boston. Here’s a picture of the passenger list.  It appears he came without any other family.  He was 28 and single.” Now you want to know more!  Why did he leave his country?  When did he meet and marry my great-great-great grandmother? When did the family leave Boston?  How did our family get to Chicago?  We now want to go beyond facts to stories and get to know him better!

Pictures really are worth a thousand words.  So much more can be gleaned from a picture. Look at the above picture again. Can you now picture yourself on that boat? What would it have been like? Even more can be gleaned from moving pictures!  Watching – with or without sound – the interaction of family members can tell you much more about them than a name on a tree. 

So we are gathering and digitizing as much as we can to compile a family history video and book to pass on to many generations to come.  Why both?  Think about how much technology has changed.  Think about how the printed word has always been our back up.  So in the interest of redundancy, we will make an engaging video but we will back it up with a digitized AND printed book.  Both the video and the book will be catalogued with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and be available on the cloud.  If you are American, it can also be housed digitally at the Library of Congress.  We are the American history so each of our immigration or family history stories are part of what makes America what it is today. Other countries have national libraries too so no matter where you are from or where you live now, you can probably submit your family history to your national library if you so choose – if it’s digitized.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned while working on my own family history videos it’s that I wish my family had passed on more stories, taken more pictures and videos, drawn the family tree full of facts, dates, and places and passed it down somehow.  Any one of those things would have made this easier and more comprehensive for my future great-great-great grandchildren. 

So the goal this week is to put ourselves into our future family members’ shoes and recognize the significance of what we are working on.  Your efforts today will be greatly appreciated tomorrow!

1.      Make sure you have some kind of tripod or stand (or box or shelf or a stack of books – whatever!) to put your camera on.

2.      Practice.  Grab your spouse, your kids, your neighbor, your best friend and interview them about anything.  Or maybe interview someone in your genealogy group who will then want to practice interviewing you!  Then look at your interviews and check out the lighting, the sound, the overall look.  You’ll learn a lot by making mistakes or trying new ideas.

3.      Interview DAD.  Perfect weekend to focus on Dad.  Ask him about his family, how he liked to spend his time as a child, what he remembers about his dad.  If your Father’s Day is loud with family, make an appointment to meet with Dad on another day – but don’t put any of it off for long!!  If nothing else, “interview” yourself about what you remember about your dad or your children about what they remember about their grandfather.

4.      Continue to scan meaningful pictures.  A few minutes each week and you’ll have a lot of your family photos digitized and organized when our project is complete.

Details make the difference when interviewing.  Checking those details may feel overwhelming but doing so really shows in your end result. Attached is a Set up check list to help you.  Feel free to download it, print it, and take it with you.  The diagram above may also be helpful.  Download it here.

Be prepared, Boy Scout!

·         Have your camera fully charged. Take an extension cord and a recharger with you. 

·         Have your questions ready.  Use them as a guide but be prepared to capture a story or emotion that you may not have expected.  Return to your questions list when needed. 

·         Carve out the appropriate amount of time for your subject.  Get as much done as you can but don’t overtax them.  You may have to meet several times. Instead of two 4-hour sessions, you may have to meet in four 2-hour sessions.

·         Take your scanner for any pictures or letters or recipes or whatever that you haven’t digitized.

When you arrive, scope out a comfortable arrangement for your subject.  Their favorite chair or the sofa for them and you pull out a kitchen chair and sit opposite them.  You should try to be just a few inches taller in your seat than they are (don’t overdo it.) You’ll want to be at least 8-10 feet away, if possible.  Situate your camera just above your shoulder.  That way, when the interviewee’s eyes look slightly up to meet yours it will not only open their face, it will look very natural on camera.

Once you are all set up, do a sound and frame test. 

·         Check the sound level to be sure you can hear your subject.

·         Check for intruding sounds (air conditioners, dogs barking, TV on in the background, etc)

·         Check the background.  Move anything that may be distracting to a viewer. Add the warm touch if need be by putting something on a table nearby – photo, books, knick-knack, house plant.

·         Check the lighting.  Is the overhead light glaring off your subject’s glasses? Are they squinting at the sun through the open drapes? Is it so dark you can hardly see them?  A little glare off glasses is natural but if you can’t ever see their eyes, you may have to use a table lamp instead of the overhead.  You may have to close the drapes and put that table lamp on the floor between you without the shade – especially if your subject insists on wearing a hat. 

Try different things so your viewers will be listening to the stories and not distracted by poor lighting or poor sound.

B-Roll. Take some footage of your subject, looking through photo albums, or the family Bible, or old letters, or playing an instrument, or simply looking out the window.  Anything except looking at the camera.  Take at least 5 minutes of each “activity.”  This is called B-roll and it’s used when you want something besides them looking at the camera and telling a story. 

DON’T FORGET to scan any letters or photos that may be introduced while doing your interview.  

Interviewing is easy but important.  Preparing is worth a second week to make you aware of the details to get the best interviews you can. Last week we made you think about lighting and sound – both volume and surrounding noises.  This week we’ll look at some other details that can make a huge difference.

The first family history films I did outside my own family, I met with my subjects many times before we actually turned a camera on.  My employer thought I would need to get to know the family, their history, and my focus on their story before I got anything on camera.  It was a mistake.  When the stories were repeated, they were not as detailed because the teller knew I had heard them before!  In one instance, I then interviewed the children of my subject and they knew I had not heard their stories so they were much more in depth since they needed to set their stories up for me.  Future viewers will need even more set up!  If your grandmother tells a story about party lines, future generations may think she’s talking about line dancing at a party – not some unknown person on her telephone - a telephone with a rotary dial that’s attached to the wall!

I also storyboarded[1] the films as if I now had a script, knew what I wanted my subjects to repeat, and how I wanted them to word it.  Again, a mistake.  That’s how you would make a fictional movie with a script, actors and producers. A personal history movie should be more candid, more real, more relaxed.  You want to capture the family history, their stories, and the actual family.  That will be much more meaningful to future generations.

Consider having the camera on while looking through photo albums and then be ready to scan those photos for your project.  Photos can be very memory provoking and a fresh reaction is priceless.

All of this takes more memory on your camera and more editing later but your results will be well worth it!
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[1] Storyboarding is laying out the sequence of your movie by scene. We’ll look at it more closely later.