I don’t like home videos so much.
They’re depressing. It’s a lose-lose-lose situation. If they’re of fun times, then I get depressed that those fun times are gone. If they’re of bad times, then I get depressed that there were those bad times. And if they’re of neutral, boring times, then I get depressed that we wasted so much film on those times.
Not like this is a non-stop depression binge for me or anything. I mean, for one thing, I don’t have to watch the videos while I transfer them. For another, I’m rather pleased with myself for figuring out how to do it–which entailed buying a VCR/DVD Recorder. Yes, that doesn’t sound too hard, I know–but you haven’t tried reading that manual. I don’t know who wrote it, but English certainly wasn’t his or her first language, and I’m not convinced they had too good of a hold on their first language, either. It’s like they took all the facts and steps to successfully using the recorder, then stuck them in a blender and hit “Puree.”
Anyway.
What do you think of home videos? Like ’em or leave ’em? Do share.
And now, back to watching myself in the middle school musical production of Little Mary Sunshine. My singing is . . . depressing. 🙂
That was an idea I had that I told Mom we could do as a project for her over Christmas. Guess she stole the idea for you to do it. Oh, well. 🙂
I realized, while watching Gramie and Boba’s anniversary video that your dad put together, that home video is priceless. Remembering through photographs is one thing, but seeing “living” images of those you care about, especially if they have aged or passed on, is so amazing. Ted and I talked about how really the best videos are little clips that show the person’s personality or emotions at a particular time–more than capturing an entire recital, etc. We’ve decided that we need to be better at taking video of our kids.
I don’t watch too many, but in general I like them in small doses. I think JBC’s comment is really touching. I will look for those moments and focus on those in future viewings!
Gretel–Actually, Mom didn’t mention that to me. It was an idea I’d had for a while, myself. Great minds think alike, I guess. It’s a huge job, though–I don’t think I’ll be done before I leave, so you can keep it going when you come. 🙂
Jodie–It’s true. One thing I’m noticing as I’m watching these videos is that I’m not interested in seeing all 45 minutes of a band concert. Especially not one where I can’t tell who’s playing what. Well-edited snippets are the way to go.
Karol–Small doses. Definitely. 15 hours of them in two days? A bit much. (Of course, I haven’t been watching all of them–I’ve just had them on in the background.)
Ah, gotcha! That’s funny. I’m all for home videos, but I agree that they need to be well edited. And if it helps, I can’t watch myself from Cinderella. I am horrified at my lack of acting skills in sixth grade. {shudder}
You haven’t seen yourself in the baseball play, then? 🙂
Did you buy something to digitize them? Or is there a way I just don’t know about, I recently learned how to digitize my cassettes!
I used a VCR/DVD recorder all-in-one machine. It was really easy, but it cost a fair bit, too. There are cheaper ways to do it, if you have the right software and cables, but they’re more complex. I don’t know of a cheap and easy way of getting it done, unfortunately.