OBJECTIVES

There are a multitude of reasons for creating a Life Tribute, a Legacy. Stories are one of your families/organizations great treasures. It reveals how characters were formed and helps us come to terms with where we are now. A persons’ life if filled with challenges and events and how they were handled contribute to and can inspire and encourage future generations. There is a lot of wisdom that comes with age and in sharing what you learned about life, you immortalize yourself. And if you don’t get it down, it is lost. Tell your story, narrate the tales that to you and your loved ones are so dear. Here are some organizational techniques and a series of questions in different categories to spur on thought. You can start from the beginning or at the present. Start by marking the questions that touch on a memory. You can be spontaneous in your delivery. The family stories that are interesting are not just about statistics, but about feelings and attitudes; relate the frustrations, the impressions, the changes you and your family went through. This section will get you started, after finishing this section visit the "Questions" section for more.

GETTING STARTED

Get out your family photos and start going over the questionnaires, marking questions that spark your imagination, thoughts and memories. You can record your thoughts on an audiotape or write/type them. These first steps will be very important in creating a detailed, interesting portrayal of the events of your family life. Share this questionnaire with other family members. Get everyone involved in creating your FAMILY LIFE TRIBUTE. It is your LEGACY in the Making!

· Sort & catalog your family/organizations pictures by person/s or years/generations & events. Write on the back pertinent captions, information as names, places & dates, and ages of people in the shots. Do not use a ball point pen, but use a pen that will not press through, a roller-ball style would work.

· Start collecting music, videos and record family stories. Journals and writings, copy sections that touch you, that gives you insight into character and times. Speaking of music, listening to music of your era is a great tool for capturing and reliving memories. It is a powerful tool in conjuring and jarring memories, it almost works as a time traveler and can help in recreating poignant thoughts of times in your life.

· Keep a dedicated notepad for this project as you come up with ideas for your approach and structure.

We can include pictures for print, family recipes, text, family trees, and web links in a PDF (Portable Document File) on the final DVD in a DVD-ROM Data File (depending on the size of the video.) The more pictures you have to go with your stories the better.

 · For historical research http://www.memory.loc.gov is a great source for information.

· We can have old videos transferred to a DV Tape, an editable format. Sometimes it is a challenge finding the right format machine for the task and we may need to send it to Los Angeles to a company who has a collection of old machines. We suggest making copies in both a DVD format or VHS for viewing; it must be transferred to Mini DV Tape, which is needed for editing purposes. (There is no generation loss using mini DV tape in transfers.)

OUT OF TOWN FAMILY MEMBERS – If out of town relatives have pictures that would be a good contribution to this project, they can send the pictures or go to a local copy/print shop and scan the photos in at a good print quality and have them transferred to a CD-ROM to mail to us. (See below). Also if you have family members that live far away and you want to include them in this project, have them make an audio cassette tape or digital cassette recording of their stories as well as VHS copies. The DV format is ideal for transfers. You can have them send copies of pictures, videos or music. Share this information with them.

PICTURES - A high-resolution 600-1200 dpi. is best. Also determine the size you would want to print this at, 8"x10" or 5" X 7". Often, it is better to go with the bigger size. You can always go down in size and resolution but after the initial scan you cannot go up in resolution without a re-scan. After we gather, enhance and organize all of the pictures we create a master disk for distribution of the materials to family/organizations members. We save the original source file as a tiff, (a tiff is not a lossy formula and retains all your color information). We also do photo repair.

NAME/TITLE: You can title your life tribute with your name and perhaps add a byline. Often it is good to wait till you have your piece structured and you know the content, sometimes titles arrive after the process of creation. You can come up with a catchy title that reflects your story.

Opening options for your legacy could include turning points in your life or momentous occasions or events. Your family background or history could be a beginning. You can get quotes from other people about you…or describe yourself. You could talk about a special person and their impact on you. Talk about your present life or your favorite place to be.

After you go through the questions below you will want to create an outline or chapter headings (i.e. Background, Genealogy, Relatives, Growing Up, Homes, Schools, Parents, Children, Marriages, Jobs, Talents, Ambitions, Travel, Health, Hardships, Historical Events, Retirement.) We will feed the questions you choose in the video interview process and insert pictures where appropriate.

FAMILY MEMBER LIST – Pertinent Facts/Vital statistics

Name/ Formal & Nick: name – Date, Time & Place of Birth or Death (Town, Hospital etc.)

Spouse(s), significant other, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and include those close to you.

You can then add nicknames and how they came into being. Also describe general information, appearance, character, values, profession, education, titles, religious affiliations, hobbies & present age. This is a genealogy approach, but more personal.

You could begin with what was going on historically in your ancestors, your parents or grandparents lives, how did they come to America? What is your cultural heritage. Was your family proud of their heritage? Were there accents in your family?  Cultural customs? Was becoming an American citizen important?

Don’t forget the: WHO - people involved WHAT - the event WHEN - date & time WHERE - place of happening WHY – cause or motive HOW – circumstances. And especially how did coming to America affect your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents? What were their values? What was important to them? What are the stories that that illustrate these values? What were the religious values set in your family and how was it practiced? Were people in your family involved in war? What sets your family apart?

How do you describe your family in a nutshell?

PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS

Where were they born?

Describe them and their personalities, dispositions:

Ethnic Background or heritage:

Life Circumstances, finances?

How did they meet and fall in love?

Education/Jobs, Careers:

Religion and Religious practices:

Were they affectionate?

Special moments, tender moments:

Illnesses:

Punishments:

Holidays:

Escapades:

Addictions:

Abuse:

Solace:

Family evenings & relaxation activities:

Meals:

Music:

Hobbies:

Social activities:

Sports:

Accomplishments:

Talents:

Were your Grandparents involved in your life?

What did you learn from them?

Are they alive? How did they die?

How many generations in America?

CHILDREN

How many? Names?

Describe them as toddlers.

Describe them as teenagers & adults.

Talents and abilities.

How are they like you?

Their dreams.

RELATIVES

Aunts, uncles, cousins?

Did you live near your relatives?

Family gatherings?

Family traits?

Comrades or problems?

Look at the composition of your life, the things that had a strong impact on you at an early age or at different stages of your life, use family stories that were handed down. Highlight the questions that stimulate a memory and starter an outline of how you want to format your story. You can format your story in CHAPTERS as Early Years ~ Teens ~ Middle Years ~ Golden Years. Or pick CATEGORIES as; Background, Marriage, Children, Job, Adventures.