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What Should I Include In My Family’s Legacy Video?
James K
Realize This before You Start.
The process of determining what should or shouldn’t be included in a family legacy video can be overwhelming. There are so many memories and stories from decades and decades of life lived together, how can someone fully capture all of these precious moments?
The short answer is: You can’t.
It’s impossible to comb through every detail of a loved one’s life and pick out all the sweet moments. But there’s good news! You don’t need to. Frankly, that wouldn’t make for a captivating legacy video. Once you accept the fact that you’re not going to be able to get every moment, you can sit back and breathe and start this process.
What You Should Focus On
A helpful way of figuring out what to focus on in a legacy video is to ask this question, “Tell me your life story in two minutes.” This kind of question institutes a time constraint that will force the person being asked this question to give a very high-level overview of different events in their life. The goal here is to get a list of milestones that will be expanded upon. This gives you a baseline starting point.
After you do this, you should have a list of 6-17 milestones or events. Now, switch to a different line of questions, for example:
- What are moments from your life that had the greatest moments of positive impact?
- What were some of the hardest moments or biggest challenges you went through?
- What were times or things that have brought the greatest amount of joy to you?
- What are some life lessons you’ve learned?
- Who were the people who had the biggest impact on you?
With these questions we are moving away from traditional autobiographical facts like:
- What city did you grow up in?
- What were your parent’s names?
- How many kids did you have?
And we are moving more toward autobiographical experiences. Autobiographical experiences give a lot more insight to who the person is and the life they have lived.
Contrast These Two Statements
- “Larry Bird was a very confident and competitive player.” (Biographical fact)
- “Larry Bird once walked into a locker room full of the best 3-pointers shooters in the league, and asked, “Which one of you is coming in second?” He then went on to take 1st place in the 3-point shooting contest.” (Biographical experience)
In this example, the second statement illustrates the first statement but it also paints the picture of how Larry Bird’s confidence and competitive nature demonstrated itself. It gives the audience a much fuller picture of who Larry Bird was on the basketball court. That’s exactly what we want to accomplish with a legacy video.
Finish compiling a list of significant events/milestones, lessons learned, and fond memories.
Get Family, Friends, Neighbors, and Co-Workers involved
Now, (if applicable) go to others who are close to this individual and ask them questions. Ask them what are interesting things to know about this person, what are things you wouldn’t expect. Find out what kind of impact the person who is the subject of the legacy video had on them personally.
Someone’s legacy should be determined by the people around them and not the immediate person.
A Practical Tip
A good way to take some stress out of this process is to go chronologically. So, asking someone about their childhood or early years and then going into teenage years and young adult life can be a very effective way of walking through someone’s life. This also helps ensure you don’t miss any important moments or dates.
The Two Final Steps
At this point you should have tons of ideas. Probably too many ideas. It may help to sort these ideas into various categories like special moments shared with friends, lessons learned, basic background information, early childhood development, etc.
Confirm the questions and topics with the people being interviewed, making sure they know what the interview is going to cover. And then ask a completely neutral source about what they might be interested to hear about from this person’s life, not having ever met them. Give them the two-minute rundown of this person’s life and see what they say. This can offer a fresh perspective and you might ask a couple of questions you didn’t have on your list.
Watch An Example
Here’s a legacy video we did on behalf of a young man named Spencer. Spencer was diagnosed with encephalitis when he was a child. Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain, this delayed Spencer’s mental development significantly. After a decade his encephalitis worsened leaving him in conditions where the family feared he might pass away.
They contacted Midwest Legacy Films to create a video that preserved precious moments from Spencer’s life and his impact on friends, family, and classmates. They also wanted something to show at Spencer’s celebration of life service.
Next Steps
If you’re interested in creating a legacy video, you can give us a call at 612-564-2157 or email us at contact@midwestlegacyfilms.com.
Or you can fill out the contact form below and we will reach out to you.
