The Process

Policies

Click the following link to review our policies and procedures and to download a form for you to print and sign: Policies/Procedures

Pre-Production

Research & Preparation

1. We discuss with you your ideas regarding the legacy video’s structure, interviewees, budget, and timeline.

2.  We conduct preliminary interviews with the main participants to establish basic biographical information.  This info helps us to create specific interview questions to be asked on the day(s) of production.

3.  Interviews and filming days are scheduled.

Production

Interviews, B-Roll & Document Gathering

1.  Interviews with the video biography’s central figure(s) can range from 1.5 to 9 hours (over multiple days) per participant. For instance, if a family is the focus of the documentary, each family member is interviewed separately and then the family is interviewed together to create a full picture of their family story. The number and length of interviews varies from project to project.

2.  For certain projects, we also interview other key figures participating in the biography video (spouses, children, grandchildren, close friends, siblings, co-workers).

3.  We film the central figure(s) on location while engaged in various activities (this is called b-roll). Examples of activities include gardening, cooking family recipes, working, socializing with friends, spending time with pets, playing an instrument, revisiting childhood home(s) and favorite places, etc.  Filming all kinds of family gatherings (reunions, anniversaries, lake outings, dinner parties, and family traditions) also make great b-roll.

4.  We gather all relevant documents to be used in the legacy video. This may include photographs, slides, home movies, newspaper clippings, diary entries, artwork, and other personal memorabilia.

Post-Production

Editing & DVD Creation

1.  The editing process creatively combines the interviews, b-roll, photographs, archival footage, newspaper clippings, diary entries, letters, home videos, and music into the final legacy documentary. Each legacy movie is unique in content and structure and every movie is edited in-house by the legacy specialist(s) in attendance of the interviews.

2.  The final movie is transferred to DVD. In addition, we offer our clients the option of storing the final movie, and all the supporting material, on an external hard drive that you get to keep.

3.  We create a custom legacy DVD that includes custom cover art.  Some projects also include chapter menus, photos, and music. Finished legacy documentaries can range from 5–45+ minutes each.