Home Movies in the Digital Age

I have always been the documenter, the man behind the camera, the editor, and the poster in the family. Always trying to get the best camera to snap photos and record videos, I stuck to the phone to capture life's moments. I've flirted with actual cameras before, but my favorite median is the pocket sized all-in-one that is within easy reach.

Apps and technology have developed to help make it easier for "amateur" photographers. There is still some skill involved lining up shots and angles. I won't be selling my photos any time soon. But I can make scenes pop. It helps having some great subjects - the ladies in my life.

With my daughter, I have started moving from just photos into move videos. She is the second most tech savvy person in the house (sorry to my wife). But, she grasped swiping on phones before she was two. And, take that judgement elsewhere. This is my blog and my story. She knows which apps are hers and she knows how to get to photos and videos.

I thought to myself, rather than 5000 individual photos and videos, why not start combining them? Make a new multimedia experience. The basics behind it is not any different than old home movies recorded on VHS.

Back in the day, someone hauled a suitcase sized video recorder on their shoulder to capture Christmas morning as shag carpeting and three shades of ugly wallpaper backdropped the kids excitement. Birthday parties where there was at least one cigarette per person hovered over someone about to exhale/spit all over a cake that would then be shared. Or, a couple on a honeymoon capturing nature's beauty only to be played back in a 14 inch tube TV for friends and family who could not care less.

Yet, anyone who had that in their lives will fondly watch the grainy, low light videos with a gleam in their eye. Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

I don't have a ton of records from my youth. There are a hundred old photos I have, but most of them from grade school. I've got a pair of VHS tapes with, what is labeled as, races from my track and field days. There's no way for me to play them and find out, as I don't own a VHS player. Even as I got to college and met my wife - we have a couple handful of digital photos (printed out at Meijer) and displayed.

For my daughter and our family, I now have a phone full of pictures and videos, HD and 4K. Almost too many to think about going through in just one evening. Going back to how my daughter knows how to find them on both my wife's and my phones, she loves watching herself grow up. She can refer to older photos of her as "baby". But, 10 seconds here or a minute there make for jumbled viewing.

Recently, I have started the home movie trend, again. I edit clips and photos together into short videos. Aiming for one to two minutes each, I pair them with music and effects. Nothing too fancy, but enough where my biggest critic, a toddler with a short attention span, will stop and watch them multiple times.

They will be memories for her for years to come. Rather than just giving her a terabyte hard drive and say, "Here is your childhood," I have found a few ways to create that home movie feeling. Without the second hand lung cancer and bulky tapes. I encourage you to bring back the home movies. It is the best way to create embarrassing memories to show people in 20 years. Plus, with no more grainy blobs, we can enjoy the happy times, the embarrassing time, and everything in between with crystal clarity.