These days, a family movie can be made on any mobile phone, a tablet or any device with a camera. Ideally, you\u2019ll want to acquire an editing package of some sort to finish the movie, and somebody in the family should have enough enthusiasm to learn it or already know how to use it. The family movie is an ambitious project and will require several sessions to complete. It will also require \u2018buy in\u2019 from all members of the family. The last thing that you want is for members to feel \u2018forced\u2019 to comply. If you do not have a budding editor in your home, it is probably not worth embarking on this activity.<\/p>\n
In all our years together we have only made one film which had a genuine fictional story. There have been numerous \u2018holiday videos\u2019 some of which were narrated by one of the toys (Aron\u2019s elephant, Ro). But the only story containing acting, props, effects and so on that we have made to date was a fictional film called About the Baby<\/em>. There are several sections to making a film, which I will outline below.<\/p>\n Writing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n First, draft the film\u2019s story. Each person should play one character and the plot should be very simple, and possible to complete in three or four sessions, or scenes. Plus the scenes need to be set around the house or garden.<\/p>\n Dressing up to be in character is suggested depending on clothes available. I would recommend a very basic plot with very obvious goodies and baddies. Draft the plot together as a family in one session, based on contributions and ideas- but one person (an adult) should write it down and make the decisions. The plot should have a set-up, and a challenge, and a resolution. There should be four or five scenes, maximum, as each scene will require a session.<\/p>\n The first two scenes should establish the characters, and set up the premise and situation. The scenes can be improvised, but actors need direction as to what they should talk about. The person filming will need to be swapped depending on who is in the scene. Somebody should be selected as the director. Bear in mind one person will need to operate the camera, but close-ups can cover for this. In About a Baby<\/em> we used the plot line that my children, Aron and Bronwen were burglars. Myself and Hywel were a rich couple.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How to shoot your family movie<\/strong><\/p>\n A tip is to keep the camera as still as possible. Wobbly-cam will not work. And never use the zoom. Always shoot a wide scene of the whole scene, then repeat the whole scene as close ups, separate on each character.<\/p>\n Close ups can just be nodding in response to the other character-this works well when cut together. Also include close-up shots of relevant objects. In our case, shots of Veronica and shots of the pile of money (actually monopoly money). This will enable you to make cuts later when you come to edit the film.<\/p>\n In our film it woeked as follows:<\/p>\n The first scene established myself and Hywel chatting over counting our money (\u201cwe\u2019re so, rich!\u201d) , and cuddling our baby (a toy baby). We called the baby \u201cVeronica\u201d: \u201cVeronica\u2019s so lovely!\u201d At the end of the scene Hywel\u2019s comments \u201cthere is something I\u2019ve been meaning to tell you about Veronica\u201d but I cut him off saying it was time for bed, leaving Veronica in frame in cot, exiting scene.<\/p>\n The second scene featured Aron and Bronwen outside the house at dusk plotting a break in. The third scene was the break-in shot from inside the house, and then a siren added to indicate the police were on their way.\u00a0 Aron and Bronwen run off, grabbing a pile of money and the baby Veronica.<\/p>\n The next scene again in the house, the parents receive a phone call from the burglars. This was vocal from Aron with Bronwen filming and of myself and Hywel with both children off-screen. The burglars threatened to kill the baby if we did not pay \u00a31,000. They told us to meet them at the nearest clifftop, threatening the baby\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n In the final scene , the burglars and one parent (me) meet on the clifftop (actually a slight hill). But the mother (me) has forgotten the money! So Veronica is thrown over the cliff by the burglars. After me wailing, Hywel comes puffing up at the end \u2013 \u201cthere\u2019s something I\u2019ve been meaning to tell you- Veronica..she\u2019s a toy!\u201d This somewhat corny line acted as the payoff to the movie. Simple and corny is good as completing the movie will require sustained attention and dedication.<\/p>\n Editing<\/strong><\/p>\n Editing or post-production is where the magic happens, but really is a job for one very computer literate person or at the most two. The rushes (the uncut material) is transferred into the editing package, shot by shot and labelled (by scene and content). Usually the wide shot of the entire scene is laid down first then cut always and close ups can be inserted.\u00a0 Music tracks and captions can be added at this stage. Our somewhat lame plot was actually huge fun to shoot. But the editing was left entirely to my son, pictured, and he was also responsible for putting the film on-line for the amusement of family and friends.<\/p>\n The (real) End.<\/strong><\/p>\n These days, a family movie can be made on any mobile phone, a tablet or any device with a camera. Ideally, you\u2019ll want to acquire an editing package of some sort to finish the movie, and somebody in the family should have enough enthusiasm to learn it or already know how to use it. The family movie is an ambitious project and will require several sessions to complete. It will also require \u2018buy in\u2019 from all members of the family. The last thing that you want is for members to feel \u2018forced\u2019 to comply. If you do not have a budding editor in your home, it is probably not worth embarking on this activity.<\/p>\n In all our years together we have only made one film which had a genuine fictional story. There have been numerous \u2018holiday videos\u2019 some of which were narrated by one of the toys (Aron\u2019s elephant, Ro). But the only story containing acting, props, effects and so on that we have made to date was a fictional film called About the Baby<\/em>. There are several sections to making a film, which I will outline below.<\/p>\n Writing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n First, draft the film\u2019s story. Each person should play one character and the plot should be very simple, and possible to complete in three or four sessions, or scenes. Plus the scenes need to be set around the house or garden.<\/p>\n Dressing up to be in character is suggested depending on clothes available. I would recommend a very basic plot with very obvious goodies and baddies. Draft the plot together as a family in one session, based on contributions and ideas- but one person (an adult) should write it down and make the decisions. The plot should have a set-up, and a challenge, and a resolution. There should be four or five scenes, maximum, as each scene will require a session.<\/p>\n The first two scenes should establish the characters, and set up the premise and situation. The scenes can be improvised, but actors need direction as to what they should talk about. The person filming will need to be swapped depending on who is in the scene. Somebody should be selected as the director. Bear in mind one person will need to operate the camera, but close-ups can cover for this. In About a Baby<\/em> we used the plot line that my children, Aron and Bronwen were burglars. Myself and Hywel were a rich couple.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How to shoot your family movie<\/strong><\/p>\n A tip is to keep the camera as still as possible. Wobbly-cam will not work. And never use the zoom. Always shoot a wide scene of the whole scene, then repeat the whole scene as close ups, separate on each character.<\/p>\n Close ups can just be nodding in response to the other character-this works well when cut together. Also include close-up shots of relevant objects. In our case, shots of Veronica and shots of the pile of money (actually monopoly money). This will enable you to make cuts later when you come to edit the film.<\/p>\n In our film it woeked as follows:<\/p>\n The first scene established myself and Hywel chatting over counting our money (\u201cwe\u2019re so, rich!\u201d) , and cuddling our baby (a toy baby). We called the baby \u201cVeronica\u201d: \u201cVeronica\u2019s so lovely!\u201d At the end of the scene Hywel\u2019s comments \u201cthere is something I\u2019ve been meaning to tell you about Veronica\u201d but I cut him off saying it was time for bed, leaving Veronica in frame in cot, exiting scene.<\/p>\n The second scene featured Aron and Bronwen outside the house at dusk plotting a break in. The third scene was the break-in shot from inside the house, and then a siren added to indicate the police were on their way.\u00a0 Aron and Bronwen run off, grabbing a pile of money and the baby Veronica.<\/p>\n The next scene again in the house, the parents receive a phone call from the burglars. This was vocal from Aron with Bronwen filming and of myself and Hywel with both children off-screen. The burglars threatened to kill the baby if we did not pay \u00a31,000. They told us to meet them at the nearest clifftop, threatening the baby\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n In the final scene , the burglars and one parent (me) meet on the clifftop (actually a slight hill). But the mother (me) has forgotten the money! So Veronica is thrown over the cliff by the burglars. After me wailing, Hywel comes puffing up at the end \u2013 \u201cthere\u2019s something I\u2019ve been meaning to tell you- Veronica..she\u2019s a toy!\u201d This somewhat corny line acted as the payoff to the movie. Simple and corny is good as completing the movie will require sustained attention and dedication.<\/p>\n Editing<\/strong><\/p>\n Editing or post-production is where the magic happens, but really is a job for one very computer literate person or at the most two. The rushes (the uncut material) is transferred into the editing package, shot by shot and labelled (by scene and content). Usually the wide shot of the entire scene is laid down first then cut always and close ups can be inserted.\u00a0 Music tracks and captions can be added at this stage. Our somewhat lame plot was actually huge fun to shoot. But the editing was left entirely to my son, pictured, and he was also responsible for putting the film on-line for the amusement of family and friends.<\/p>\n The (real) End.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" These days, a family movie can be made on any mobile phone, a tablet or any device with a camera. Ideally, you\u2019ll want to acquire an editing package of some sort to finish the movie, and somebody in the family should have enough enthusiasm to learn it or already know how to use it. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2887,"featured_media":2119,"parent":2094,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n