Checkout this starter video from familysearch.org on getting started with genealogy. Great tips on where to find easy information from memory, home and relatives.
Best Interview Tips
Here are a few of my best interview tips for gathering your family oral history. Interviewing my living relatives has played an important part in the researching of my family tree.
Interviewing the relatives that you can still talk to will be one of the most important bits of detective work that you engage in. While you will probably also find a lot of information online and by going to libraries, the kind of memories that living family members will have can include all kinds of clues and hints about your ancestors. If you are serious about learning more about your family history, it is critical that you interview your living relatives. Don’t simply sit down and chat about what they remember, come up with a plan for how you will be able to ask the right questions and record the answers.
Best Interview Tips
The best way to get the most out of any conversation is to be able to go back to it and listen to the responses again. You may find out some information that conflicts with what someone has told you, and if you can listen to the way that living relative explained things in the interview, you might catch that they didn’t remember things clearly or that they were intentionally keeping something from you. A recording of the interview will allow you to revisit the conversation again, hearing the exact words spoken by the person being interviewed. If you can’t get a recording device, take notes with as many details as possible. It is very hard to remember dates, names, and details if you have an entire conversation to try to remember.
Additionally, you should come up with a general list of questions to start with. Be specific, but include some very open-ended questions that will help your relatives to explore their memories.
If you heard a story of an incident from one family member while conducting an interview, and another family member was there at the time of the incident, make sure to get a second version of the story. Memory is a fickle thing, and getting more than one perspective can be incredibly helpful.
I hope my best interview tips helped and will serve you well with your next family interview.
by Leonard Smith
How To Make a Movie Trailer
Characteristics of the Best Movie Trailers
Your documentary is finally complete. You have unique information, an insightful story and authentic content to base all of your claims on. All of the hard work paid off and you created a visual masterpiece. Having a suitable trailer to accompany your film will be the final step of the process.
Great film trailers are characterized by several key features. Knowing how to capture the interest of the audience in just a few seconds will depends on your understanding of these elements.
Set Up the Basic Premise
Good film trailers introduce the story and give the audience a general idea about what the documentary is all about.
The trailer should have logical flow and structure. Start with a brief intro and move on from there. Just like every good story, the trailer should build up until it reaches a peak point. Think about the essence of your film and try to capture that in less than two minutes.
Give a Few Details
Some of the best film trailers give viewers interesting details. Rather than revealing all of the essential information, they hint about the most exciting parts.
Leave something to the imagination. Let the audience wonder. If people have questions after viewing trailers, they will be willing to explore the films, as well. Tickle the curiosity a little bit and let the trailer do its magic.
Music and Effects Matter
If you are serious about your film trailers, you will have to work on professional execution. All elements will play a role, so you should leave nothing to chance. Professionalism is crucial for documentaries since the audience will be turned off by amateur mistakes.
Do you have music accompanying the trailer? Or maybe you rely on sound effects? Whichever possibility you choose, make sure that it sets the tone and creates the atmosphere you were looking for.
Use special effects only if they contribute to the meaningfulness of your trailer. The content should speak for itself. If you have to rely on filters and additional thrills to accomplish your goals, you have probably done a mediocre job in terms of storytelling.
Visual storytelling is a really exciting opportunity. Creating your own film will enable you to explore the depth of a story in a way you would have probably considered impossible in the past. Take some time to design the perfect trailer. It should be personalized, fun, unexpected and beautiful to look at. All of these characteristics will help get the audience excited and eager to learn more.
Black Farmers & Their Land Documentary Trailer from Leonard Smith III on Vimeo.
St. Raymond & St. Leo The Great Parish Celebrating 5 Years Trailer from Leonard Smith III on Vimeo.
Great Storytelling Commercial-Derrick Coleman
Derrick Coleman
Derrick Coleman (born October 18, 1990) is an American football running back for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), and the first legally deaf offensive player in the NFL.
Biography
Coleman became deaf when he was 3 years old.[1] He attended Troy High School and played college football for UCLA.[2]Coleman went undrafted. Picked up by the Seahawks, Coleman made the cut after the fourth preseason game and thus was added to the 53-man roster. In week one’s game between the Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers, Coleman had three catches for 30 yards. Derrick Coleman scored his first NFL touchdown on December 2, 2013 on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints.[1]
In January 2014, Coleman was featured in a widely-praised commercial for Duracell batteries.[3][4]
For more on Derrick Coleman click here.