How to Make a Memorial Video for a Loved One

One of the hardest times in your life can be just after the death of a family member or close friend. Your whole world feels like it's been shattered. You doubt whether or not you can do anything, let alone, something as painful as walking through old pictures, reliving memories of that person you lost.

It's really no easy task. You have to sort through that picture of you and your mother or father, brother or sister, husband or wife and pick out the best images. It takes a degree of objectivity. Then, you might say that it takes a lot of heart.

Staring at the picture of you and your mother or father will bring back memories of better days. You'll probably feel a sharp pain in your temple. You'll probably want nothing more than to break down, crying. What I'm suggesting is that you put those tears on hold. If you can muster up the strength to pick out a coffin for your loved one's final resting place, this should be a cynch.

The reason to make this video is something you will have to ask yourself. Is your memorial video going to be something everyone will see? Is the video going to be presented at the funeral? There are questions that you really need to answer before you start making this video. Are you capable of doing this by yourself is one major question. Are you capable of actually digging deeper and discovering the heart of the person you lost?

You've got only so much time before the funeral. If you want everyone to see how much you loved the departed, then you'll need to answer these questions pretty fast. The steps listed below can be time-consuming.

First Step

Find every picture or video footage you have of the dearly departed. This can be very easy or very hard, depending on where you keep your photographs. I suggest putting every photo you own in one place. Try a photo album.

Video footage is a little different. You should still keep it all in one place. But, depending on what you recorded those memories on, whether DVD or VHS, you could have them scattered everywhere. That's why I've always thought it best to get every VHS tape you've filmed those memories on transferred onto a DVD or onto your hard drive.

Second Step

Transfer and scan everything into your computer. You'll need a scanner. I use an All-In-One HP printer/scanner. But, I think photos scan better onto the computer through a stand-alone scanner. Make a file for them all. As arduous as it might be, rename every scanned image in your computer. You don't want to lose track of them when it comes time to use them. But don't take too long. You've got a deadline for this video.

If your pictures are still on the roll, ready to be printed, my suggestion is to take the roll to a 1-hour photo and have them give you a CD instead of the print.

Now, as far as your video footage is concerned, this is where the transfer to your computer gets tricky. You'll need an adapter. Some of them come with their own programming, but I prefer to use Adobe Premiere Pro or any other great video editing software on the market. You'll need a VHS or DVD player. You'll need to plug in the player to the adapter and plug the adapter into the computer. At this point, you'll need to capture your footage with the software of your choice.

Play the DVD or VHS. It should run in the capturing window like you see it on your television. At some point, you'll need to push the record button. That's when the software will actually start capturing those memories and storing them on your computer.

Unfortunately, this can prove to be the most arduous and painful steps of them all. Depending on how long the video footage is, you'll be sitting there watching the dearly departed moving around and talking on your computer as if they were still alive. The best way of handling it is to simply regard everyone in the video as a movie star. This will help you cut your emotions off. You need to keep a relatively level head in order to do this right.

Third Step

Edit and dig deep to find the heart of that person you lost. You've got all of those pictures and all of that footage on your computer. Now, it's time to do something with it.

When I use my editing software, I can easily go up to "File", scroll down to "Import" and add files to the project I'm working on. That's why I can't stress enough the greatness of such software as Adobe Premiere Pro. Obviously, some people can't afford editing software. So, use what you have on hand. I've had a lot of good luck with Nero and even MovieMaker.

With Adobe Premiere, I would drag these files into the project. The photos would automatically take up like 10 seconds of time. If you zoom into the project, you'll quickly realize that your video footage is now broken into individual frames. You'll have to play and preview this footage over and over to get it right. You don't want to go through everything, frame by frame. Trust me. You'll go insane.

All advanced editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro will probably come with special effects or what I like to call, "camera effects". These techniques allow you, the movie-maker a lot of freedom. You can zoom in on a picture or video footage at any speed. You can pull away from the photo or video just to keep it all in frame. You can move it all, backwards, sideways, up and down. It can be a lot of fun. But, this is no time for playing around with new software. So, I have to suggest you pick up this kind of software and learn how it all works before you actually put it to use. Practice makes perfect, and you can't practice right now. You've got a deadline to keep.

On the software from Nero, you've got a lot of limitations. You can dissolve in several different ways. Some of them are less appropriate for this than others. To me, if you go from one picture to another by using the shape of a star, it doesn't quite fit a video of this kind.

You've got a 90 minute time limit. This keeps you from adding every picture you want into your project. And you'll also be restricted to a certain length of time on each photo. When you add your music, you'll reaize how this can be detrimental to your project.

Your hands are basically tied a lot moreso with these lesser programs than others. It may seem easier. But, you may not be very happy with the end-result. For some reason, with a video like this, you get very picky.

While you're looking at all of these pictures and all of this footage, stare into the eyes of the person you lost. Try to remember them, and all of their traits, qualities and excentricities. This could be the hardest part. Just when you think you've got a handle on those pesky feelings, you can't help but draw a few tears during this step. But, it is essential for picking your music and setting the entire tone of your project.

Fourth Step

Pick the music your loved one would have loved. It's not easy trying to find the right music for such a sad and depressing video such as this. You can't just throw on some love song and have it all work perfectly. Obviously, the tone of your video will be lost of you use some offensive rap song or heavy metal song. However, if that is the music the dearly departed love, then you have very few choices in the matter.

Luckily, I was told to use Enya if I couldn't find anything else. My mother noticed how great I had worked with Enya when I made my grandmother's video when she died of Alzheimer's. My mom was a big fan of classic rock from the 1970s and 1980s. She wanted me to use something from Foreigner or Fleetwood Mac or whatever. Well, when I went to play those songs with her photos, they didn't feel right. Not one bit.

So, after much deliberation, after much toil, I decided to go with Enya again. I adjusted the entire project to fit with every song and it all worked beautifully. I was very proud.

It's no easy task to fit pictures into a song. You may get so picky about where this photo dissolves into this photo during the course of the song, you may lose track of time and you may even lose your mind. Take a photo, set it just at the beginning of a chorus in the song and you've basically got down the basics of this. The tricky part is when you place your photo just before a certain instrument starts to play in the song. Then, it gets really fun when you start using those "camera effects" at certain times. For example, you'll start zooming in or out when the singer or band cuts away to a guitar solo.

Fifth Step

Preview or render your video before you put it on a DVD. Hopefully, you didn't add any music to the video footage you captured. To me, it kind of takes away from the "movie star" in that video. Hopefully, every song and picture works perfectly together. Hopefully, when you watch your video, that pain in the side of your head comes back and brings tears to your eyes.

Obviously, I'm not trying to say that I want my readers to go through excruciating pain. But, if this video you just put together can make the guy on the street corner cry, you've done a great job.

When I make a video, I do it all in sections. One section basically introduces the audience to my loved one. One section tries to better describe my loved one's personality. Adding photos of your loved ones with their favorite things always proves to be great. Then, I add two or three more sections to help the audience reflect and mourn this movie star on their TV. Finally, it needs something more uplifting, something to suggest that your loved one isn't truly gone. You don't want an audience to turn away from your video and the dearly departed, feeling completely miserable. They may never want to see it again.

Warning: The rendering or DVD-writing process can be long and boring.

Sixth Step

Run the DVD on your TV and make the final revisions before you show it to others. What I noticed with my videos is how many people don't actually want to experience a trip down memory lane. When they see your video, it will be for the first and last time. So, obviously, the decent thing to is to not torture people with it ahead of time.

Playing your video on your TV may show things in the project you may have missed while it was on the computer. If you see something you want to change and you've got the time to do it, go ahead. You'll have to reliving that long rendering process or DVD-writing process, but it'll be worth it. Nothing is worse than seeing something you've put all your heart into messed up by something silly like a dissolve you forgot to add or a photo that doesn't quite play as long as it should.

Final Word

This video should be a celebration of a life that's now over. Show your mother, father, sister or brother, husband or wife in the happiest light and the ugliest light. A life really isn't a full life without both of them. This memorial video should be able to make an audience feel like the dearly departed is still alive. I don't mean to brag, but at one point during my videos, I could swear I felt like I was stepping back in time. And of course, this video should be able to tell an audience who the person is and why we should mourn their passing.

I hope your video made you, and everyone else who saw it happy.