SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT MEMORIAL DVD'S

A memorial DVD for someone who has recently died is an excellent way to preserve a lifetime of memories.

They are a respectful tribute for a life that has touched the lives of many others.
They are a good way to share a lifetime of memories with family and friends at the service for that person.
They can make you laugh, they can make you cry, they will bring back memories of that person
that may otherwise have been forgotten.

When someone dies, we all grieve.  Usually in different ways, at different times, and for different reasons.
Memorial DVD's in some cases help survivors with their grieving process.

The bottom line is that when we leave this life, the memories we made while we were here will live
on in the minds and hearts of our loved ones.  Why not preserve them in a memorial DVD?

How do you go about it?
Quite honestly, not all people can.  And if you can't... that's okay too!
It is going to require that someone go through photo albums and gather up about 80 to 100
photos of that persons life.  That can be painful.  But it also can be part of the healing process.  It all
depends on each individual and where they are in the grieving process.

And if you have some video of that person, that is good too!  Or even some audio recording of that
person talking can be powerful in a presentation.  About all forms of media can be used.  Black and white photos,
color photos, digital photos, video, audio, it all has potential.

Because everything is going to be converted to digital format, we will need to scan your photos.  We can do that, or you can.
If you choose to scan them, use a high resolution for best reproduction.  Save them as jpg format, or tiff format.  Burn them on
a CD or DVD so we can import them.  Remember, between 80 and 100 is good.

If you have video or audio recordings, we will need to know where to cue the tape up so we use the part of the tape you
are wanting.   Same way with audio tapes.  You can bring the tapes to us, and we will take it from there.

We will need your photos and/or video or audio tapes for about one day to convert them to digital format.  We will get them
back to you as soon as possible.  We fully understand the importance of these to you.

We have a questionnaire available as well.  We will need to know date of birth, date of death, and will discuss that person and
his or her life with you.  We want it to represent that person to the best of our ability.

And you will need to provide us with the music, or name of the music you want used in your presentation.  If you only give us the name
of the music, we pay the download fee for the singe use of that song.  Some people have their own music they want used.  That is fine.
It must be on a cassette tape or video tape for us to pull it in to the presentation.  If someone wants to narrate the presentation, we can record
them for use on the DVD as well.  Or they can provide us with a tape or DVD or their narration.

We can include any text, graphics, versus, or sayings on the DVD as well.  You can provide us with them, or we can make some
simple recommendations based on the information you provide us about your loved one.

We recommend that the presentation last no more than 10 to 12 minutes.  If you can't come up with 80 to 100 photos, or some video to
use, then it may only last 5 or 8 minutes.  That is okay too.  Each presentation always ends up being as unique as the person being honored and remembered.

We need a couple days turn around to produce the presentation.  Maybe a bit longer if there is a lot of video to go through, convert to digital format
and import. 

In the end your presentation will be delivered on a DVD.  You may want to check with the church, funeral home, or service you are using
to ensure they have the equipment to play the DVD at the service.  They may need it converted to video tape.
Herring's Funeral Home still uses video.  They are in the process of switching to DVD.  So check with them if using Herrings.
In addition to a DVD player they need to have a television or projection system, and a sound system.
We are happy to meet with whom ever you are using prior to the service to ensure everything is compatible and working.
We don't recommend waiting until the day of the service to do a test run.

We can upload the presentation to our web site, providing a confidential web address for you to send to family out of town to view the presentation
if you choose.  We can convert it to mp4 for playback on your video iPod if you desire.  Or we can convert it to VHS video in the event a DVD player
is not available for playback.

A simple, basic presentation starts at about $150.00.  As we add video, audio, narration, or other special requests
the price goes up depending on the amount of time we have to spend on it.  The $150.00 basic price includes scanning photos.
We will agree on a price at the beginning so there are no surprises in the end.

If you have further questions about Memorial DVD's, please feel free to call.

Thank you.