The Video Scrapbook: Bringing the Past to Life

Scrapbooking has become extremely popular in the last few years. And for good reason. Scrapbooks are a great way to preserve precious memories, and commemorate special moments.

There are several kinds of scrapbooks you could create. The two most popular kinds of scrapbooking are paper scrapbooking (done by hand using paper, scissors, and pictures) and digital scrapbooking (which is done on a computer).

A third type of scrapbook is a video scrapbook.

Types of Video Scrapbooks

There are two types of video scrapbooks.

The first is the easiest to create. You capture an event on video (or use existing video from a past event) and use editing techniques, visual effects, sound effects and narration to bring it to life.

But what if you want to create a video scrapbook for some past event, but no video of that event exists? Are you out of luck?

Not necessarily. As long as you have pictures of the event, you can still create a video scrapbook. But you'd do it in a documentary style.

The Documentary Style Video Scrapbook

Think of some of the documentaries you've seen. For documentaries about the distant past, when video cameras didn't even exist, filmmakers rely on photographs or even drawing to bring history to life.

You can do the same with your video scrapbook.

So, to start putting together your video scrapbook, collect all the pictures you can of the event. Use pictures you've taken, and ask others if they have any pictures they can contribute.

Does any video or film of the event exist? It might not be enough to fill an entire video scrapbook. But it can add to it.

Once you have all of your pictures and materials, organize them in a way that will best tell the story of the event.

Create a "stage" for your pictures, which could be a table covered by a black tablecloth or sheet, with a black tablecloth hanging on the wall behind it as a backdrop. Fill your stage with props that fit the theme of your video scrapbook. For example, for a video scrapbook about your vacation at the beach, you can use shells, sand, and driftwood as props.

Set your pictures up on the "stage," either singly or in pairs or groups. Then, video tape the pictures from different angles and perspectives, so you'll have all sorts of options whey you edit your video scrapbook.

Putting it all Together

Once you have all of your pictures filmed, put together your video scrapbook.

Watching a video of a bunch of pictures might sound boring. But there are ways to being those pictures to life. For example,

1. Add narration, explaining what's happening in each picture or group of pictures.

2. Add sound effects, like crashing waves.

3. If you've got a picture of something funny that happened, bring together anyone who was there, and have them retell the story, either on camera, or as a voice over.If you don't have video of a past event, it might seem like it's too late now. But by using pictures, narration, and effects, you can bring that event to life in a video scrapbook.