by Karen Braynard
kb@kbwrite.com

Bedford Bulletin
Thursday, April 27, 2006

BEDFORD - If a picture paints a thousand words, then how much can a video tell? If done professionally, it can tell a life's story. One such way to preserve the memories of your family and ancestors is through a video biography.

Imagine, even years after a loved one has passed away, family and friends can reminisce with more than just a photo album or old letters. With today's technology, even young children will be able to know their deceased great-grandparents in a way never before possible.

Videotaping a biography sounds simple, like something anyone can do. But, as most video enthusiasts will agree, taking the footage is one thing, putting it together into a meaningful documentary is a whole other ballgame. It's much more than just sitting in front of a camera and rambling about "the good old days." To produce a quality biography, you must have vision, the ability to make fluid connections and of course the skill to "cut and paste" images and sound bites.

If you don't have those skills, a video biographer can do this for you in a matter of weeks. This professional will prep you for the experience and lead you and your family through the steps that will make your video biography memorable and treasured by generations to come.

David Waldman, owner of Treasured Memories Video, is a Bedford biographer who enjoys the challenge of taking hours of video interview, old photos, old video footage and musical recordings and composing them all into a memorable video biography similar to a biography on the A&E channel.

"Video biographies," explains Waldman, "are personal portraits that can offer stories, life lessons, inspiration, wisdom and comfort to future generations."

Waldman first realized the value of a video biography shortly after his father had passed away.

"My father was diagnosed with cancer and asked me to videotape his comments to loved ones," said Waldman. "We did more than just videotape him. We put together a production that included music, photos and other special effects. I had no idea, until he was gone, how treasured that video would become to my family."

That experience put Waldman on the path to creating his own video biography business. Because he works for an educational multimedia development company his experience in editing and producing DVDs and CDs lends him very well to the production of video biographies.

Video biographies are a growing industry, especially since the baby boomers are now entering their 60s. Waldman predicts that over the next 20 years there will be a high demand for this service.

Preparation for a video interview includes finding old photos or videos and jotting down some interesting anecdotes to talk about. Waldman says that people can really personalize their biography by playing their favorite music or even filming at a favorite location.

Fees for a video start at $750 and go up based on scope and complexity. For more information, call 566-3075, visit www.treasuredmemoriesvid.com or e-mail davewald@comcast.net.