Getting Started Guide: Preparing for the Project

In Articles Tags #how-to Published 1/16/2025

After your you complete your initial consultation, submit a new project questionnaire, receive the Dropbox link and start your project with us - it’s time to gather and organize all your media. This preparation is a crucial step in creating a heartfelt and visually stunning memorial video. To ensure a smooth process, we follow three essential steps:

  1. Gather: Collect all relevant photos, videos, and audio recordings.

  2. Organize: Sort and categorize the media into meaningful groups.

  3. Filter and Prioritize: Identify the most impactful moments to include while removing duplicates or lower-quality files.

Step One: Gather

Gathering is one of the most collaborative steps, as it often involves reaching out to friends and family for their contributions. Round up any physical photo albums, pull together all those online storage accounts/albums and start picking.  We will be filtering down photos later, so don't be shy with your choices - the more the better - but remember that quality is always more important than quantity.

  • Photos: Older photos are usually harder to find, so make sure you find those first. Then look for a mix of individual portraits, candid moments, and group photos that represent all aspects of your loved one’s life.

  • Videos: Include clips from significant events, family gatherings, or even casual moments that capture their personality.

  • Audio Recordings: Gather anything featuring their voice, such as voicemails, interviews, or home movies.

Sharing the Dropbox link is a key part of gathering photos from friends and family and to encourage their participation. Sending a thoughtful email with clear instructions can make this process easier and more effective. To the right, we’ve included a sample email you can use to ask for their help. Encourage them to contribute by the deadline to ensure everyone’s memories are included.


Tips for Gathering Media:

  1. Check Everywhere: Review photo albums, digital archives, cloud storage, and even social media accounts.

  2. Ask for Help: Reach out to relatives or friends who may have unique photos or videos of your loved one.

  3. Keep Originals Safe: When working with physical photos, it helps to use Ziplock bags to group things together and keep them clean and safe. If mailing physical photos or a flash drive, use protective packaging to avoid damage during transit.

  4. Give Conext: If you’re submitting physical photos, add labels or sticky notes to the back of each photo with brief descriptions.

Hi [Friends/Family],
I’ve hired professional video editors to create a memorial short film for [Loved One]. As part of this, I’d love to include any photos, videos, or audio recordings you have that are meaningful to you or capture special moments with [Loved One]. The editors have specifically requested we send high-quality photos and videos and any video or audio recordings featuring [Loved One’s] voice, such as voicemails, interviews, or home movies.

To ensure the best quality:
- Please avoid texting or emailing files, as these methods often compress them.
- If you’re photographing physical pictures, make sure there’s no glare.
-You can easily upload files from your phone or computer using the Dropbox link below: [Dropbox Link]

The deadline for uploads is [Deadline], so please contribute as soon as possible before the link expires. Thank you so much for helping us honor [Loved One] with this special project. Your contributions mean the world to us.

Best, [Your Name]

 

Step Two: Organize

Depending on your involvement in the project, organizing your media can be a crucial step that helps streamline the video creation process. Once friends and family have uploaded all their media and you have all your scanned copies, you can start to organize them. While your editor can organize media without your help, it's always better to give them as much context as possible. They can help you choose groups, set up a system of folders for you to work with and other technical challenges, but by sorting and categorizing your photos, videos, and audio recordings, you create a clear narrative and direction for the project. Here’s how to approach this step:

1. Write Down a List of Group Folders

Here are some examples:

    • Life Stages: Baby, Childhood, Teen, Young Love, Early Family, Middle Age, Golden Years, Senior Years

    • Important Moments: Family Gatherings, Vacation Photos, Career Milestones, Hobbies

    • Media Types: Portraits, Early Film Reels, 4k Videos, Audio Recordings

2. Set Up a System To Organize:

  • Avoid using a phone. Try to designate a single computer. Consolidate all your photos in one place on the file system if you have this knowledge and capability, otherwise, open up Dropbox.
  • Set up a window on the right side of your screen that displays all the parent folder groups so you can quickly drag and drop photos into those groups. If using Dropbox, use the "move" function to move photos into your group folders.

3. Drag and Drop Photos into The Groups

  • Keep it simple and move fast. Don't worry too much about certain details. Just group things up in a way that makes sense to you and keeps you moving through your collection. 
  • When possible, highlight specific items that are most significant to you and your family, such as milestone events, favorite hobbies, or cherished family traditions. You can do so by many methods but easiest it usually just adding a "PRIORITY-" to the beginning of the filename.

  • Rename digital files with descriptive names, such as “Vacation_2005_Beach” or “Wedding_Dance.”

Step Three: Filter and Prioritize

The final step in preparing your media is filtering and prioritizing to ensure the most impactful moments are highlighted. Before you proceed make a backup of your entire collection before organizing. This will help you restore items you accidentally delete, and make the process of weeding out items easier. Let's get started... Here’s how to proceed:

1. Identify the Best Media:

  • Move through each folder group and focus on photos and videos that are meaningful, high-quality, and representative of your loved one’s personality and life.

  • Remove photos that are blurry or duplicates

  • Choose items that evoke strong emotions or tell a story.

2. Limit Overcrowding:

  • Aim for a balanced selection. For example, a 10-minute video typically requires around 150 photos.

  • Avoid including too many similar or repetitive images.

3. Highlight Key Moments:

  • Ensure significant life events, relationships, and achievements are well-represented.

  • Add variety by including candid shots, posed photos, and action moments.

4. Flag Essential Media:

  • Mark photos or videos that must be included in the final video and share these preferences with your editor.

  • Provide context for flagged items, such as the story behind a photo or why it’s significant.

5. Prepare for Revisions:

  • Make note of any additional media you may want to add later and keep them easily accessible.

  • Communicate with the editor about any specific adjustments or preferences you have for the final product.