The Building Blocks

 

There are six building blocks for our family legacy projects.

 

1. INTERVIEWS are the foundation of our work.  We highly recommend engaging with the matriarch / patriarch to capture their stories before they are lost and forgotten.  Interviews of other family members are also included.

 

2. MEDIA consists of photographs, 35 mm slides, old film (home movies), old video, old audio tape, and copies of important letters or documents.  The media is added to the production to enhance the narration and interviews.  We provide formulas for the amount of each media needed.

 

3. NARRATION can be provided by a family member(s) or by a professional with a script.

 

4. B-ROLE is simply movies or photos of places and things of a certain time  period to enhance the production.  We provide these images.

 

5. MUSIC of certain time periods is used to appropriately enhance the interest of the production.

 

6. FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT AND VALUES are optional.  The stories being told to help inspire, guide, and educate future generations often help create the mission statement and express the family values.

 

Our Family Legacy projects usually include the founding of the family (back as far as there is knowledge and material), the early years of those interviewed, student life, career and interests, key activities by decades ( 30’s, 40’s, etc.), lessons learned and values adopted (by the older generation), identification of next generations, and an optional summary of family mission statement and values.

 

There are a number of products which result from a legacy project.  These include:

• Personal memoirs (captured in first person)

• Family member biography (as told by others)

• Memorial video (often includes parts of interviews with the deceased)

• Tribute videos for various life milestones:  birthdays, graduations, marriages, awards, community recognition, anniversaries, etc.

• Significant event videos (documenting such activities as reunions, anniversaries and significant parties).  We often recommend these events as the time and place to do the legacy interviews.

 

Our legacy projects can be completed a piece at a time, with the above interim video products being provided.  This process helps to manage cost and production timing.