A DVD Family Portrait
Production

To begin your movie project, at your convenience, we’ll have a meeting to accomplish two things.

One: I’ll review your archives in detail to get a sense of your family history.

Two: we’ll review your ideas on the events of the times you’d like to include as well as the music for your DVD family portrait.

From this we’ll determine the story you want to tell. That simply is what you want to say and how you want to say it.

Based on this discussion, I’ll write it up for you to review to make absolutely certain I have the information correct.

I’ll also give you ideas on approaches we might take with your DVD family portrait.

The process is designed to set us on track to make your story personal, unique and effective.

It is important to me to take this time to make sure I’m headed in the direction you want to take your DVD family portrait.

When we are ready, I’ll take possession of your archives to transfer the material to the digital world for editing your DVD family portait.

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOUR ARCHIVES ARE PROTECTED.

If you are a Toronto client, I will personally transport your archives to my facility. I can handle all transfers of photos, slides, video and DVD “in house”.
8mm and 16mm films will be done at an outside facility and will be personally supervised by me.
Once this is accomplished, I will personally return your archives to you.

For out-of-town clients I recommend using a carrier of your choice.
DHL, Purolator, UPS, and FedEx are all reliable carriers.

We must be careful to insure that the proper address and phone contacts are of the box(es) and that we both have the tracking number in case they go astray.

Your archives are irreplaceable and you should take every precaution for safe delivery.
I will do the same to ensure their safe return, but I cannot take responsibility for their loss.

Using various digital software, I will make every effort to enhance the quality of the material to be included in the film.

Once the digital transfers are completed, I will deliver to you a DVD copy of all the photographic material and a separate DVD copy of all the video, 8mm and 16mm film material "uncut" to add to your archives.

From the 2 DVD’s we will almost certainly get additional ideas and concepts for your DVD family portrait.

I will also put together CD’s of possible music selections for your approval.

My first step is to do a 1st cut or “rough assembly” of your transferred family archives and the documentary material I’ve gathered.

This process will take approximately one month.

Based on our discussions, it will be a rough version of your DVD family portrait from the picture and sound available.

I’ll provide a DVD copy of this for you to screen at your leisure.

Remember – this is only the launching pad for the finished version.

At this point we can make a decision on filmed interviews, additional photography, and voice overs.

Let’s review each of these options.

I will, based on previous discussions, design questions that will illuminate the archive material.

The important element is to get you or your family members to say what you want to say how you want to say it.

There’s no rush.
I’m an experienced director and we’ll take the time necessary to get it right.

For out-of-town clients this would involve a separate trip to your location or we can make arrangements for a do-it-yourself production for this element.

I will, of course, need specific addresses of your selected locations.

I can do the filming on my own or with you – your choice.

For out-of-town clients this could be accomplished at the same time I film your interviews or, again, we could arrange a do-it-yourself production for this element.

Something to bear in mind. In the instance of photographing the house you grew up in, permission from the current owners would be necessary.

For my film the owners were quite happy to give permission to film the exterior of the house which I combined with photos from fifty years earlier.

Permissions should be easy to get and I can do this for you.

These are usually done near the completion of the “final cut”.

One idea is to designate a family member to provide the “voice” or we could get a professional actor to provide an expert third person view of your family. The choice is yours. There is no extra fee for using an actor.

In my DVD family portrait I chose not to use voice overs.
I simply felt it got in the way of picture and sound that more effectively told my family story in an emotional and dramatic fashion, but again, the choice is yours.

Each voice over will have a timing to it so it will fit with the picture.

I will design a script with you that is to length so that the voice overs will fit seamlessly.

Now we go to the final stage – Post Production (click on the word).

Return To Making Your DVD Movie Video Demo Baby Boomers' Guide Music of Your Times Bruce Pittman's Resume Pricing Contact Bruce Pittman Return to DVD Family Portrait Home Page