Sometimes during an initial discussion about a legacy video I just know I'm going to pitch my potential client on incorporating archival stock footage. Maybe the storyteller's life intertwined with some seminal events in history that vintage newsreels can help visualize. Perhaps the family has little in the way of visuals like photos and memorabilia and I know I can instead use stock footage to lend context, interest, and "entertainment value" to the stories being told.
My most recent legacy video was a case in point. During our initial phone call, my client sketched in the life of her 95-year old father-in-law, whose stories we'd be documenting: Shanghai'd from New Orleans at eleven years old and forced to shovel coal in a steamer for months; hopping freight trains during the Great Depression; joining the Army underage when he was fifteen, then signing on to the Merchant Marine after Pearl Harbor; surviving being torpedoed; landing on Utah Beach during D-Day; hitching a ride with Bedouins in order to visit Cairo, Egypt - the list went on and on. I knew that archival footage could really make this video sing.
Stock footage in a personal video biography you might ask? Isn't that kind of stuff reserved for big budget productions? Where would I find the shots I need? How can I afford it? All good questions and I'll address them here.
WHAT IS ARCHIVAL STOCK FOOTAGE?
Just so we're on the same page, I'm talking about film and video from years past: newsreels, documentaries, government propaganda and training films, commercials, cartoons, television shows, etc. There's a ton of great, vintage film and video available. The trick is figuring out what you need, finding the right source for it, and then licensing and yes - paying for it.
My most recent legacy video was a case in point. During our initial phone call, my client sketched in the life of her 95-year old father-in-law, whose stories we'd be documenting: Shanghai'd from New Orleans at eleven years old and forced to shovel coal in a steamer for months; hopping freight trains during the Great Depression; joining the Army underage when he was fifteen, then signing on to the Merchant Marine after Pearl Harbor; surviving being torpedoed; landing on Utah Beach during D-Day; hitching a ride with Bedouins in order to visit Cairo, Egypt - the list went on and on. I knew that archival footage could really make this video sing.
Stock footage in a personal video biography you might ask? Isn't that kind of stuff reserved for big budget productions? Where would I find the shots I need? How can I afford it? All good questions and I'll address them here.
WHAT IS ARCHIVAL STOCK FOOTAGE?
Just so we're on the same page, I'm talking about film and video from years past: newsreels, documentaries, government propaganda and training films, commercials, cartoons, television shows, etc. There's a ton of great, vintage film and video available. The trick is figuring out what you need, finding the right source for it, and then licensing and yes - paying for it.
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