Making a video yearbook at DVinfo.net

Dave Anderson · November 20th, 2007, 08:22 AM

I've been recording my daughter's high school plays and choir concerts to sell on DVD as a fundraiser for the school. Last year I made a quick simple video yearbook of the choir. This year I wanted to do better so I'm posting a question here.

Has anyone produced a video yearbook that can share some ideas for the layout and format of the content? The yearbook I made last year had a menu with segments of each choir. There are 3 choirs. So I took a few of the popular songs they did and while showing the concert clip, I cut-away to each student saying 'Hi, my name is ...' Then I just took random short clips of them in the classroom in a montage format.

While this was ok and the students who purchased a copy liked it, I was wondering what others have done. I'm looking for ideas. And if anyone has any examples to view.

Thanks

Chris Harris · November 20th, 2007, 10:39 PM

Last year, we did a video yearbook in a TV show format, to break up the monotony of having just a menu with a bunch of segments.

For example, you have a host who is well-known in the school, could be a student or teacher. They introduce themselves, say something about the year, and then they start introducing each piece. Think "compilation shows", like America's Funniest Home Videos, etc.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas.

Dave Anderson · November 26th, 2007, 09:33 AM

I like that idea. Thanks. I think I will make my segments and have the teacher introduce and talk about the segments. Then I think I will also make a menu so the viewers can select to watch the "main feature" or the student introductions. I also came up with the idea to have a "Shout Out" segement where the students can give a shout-out to other classmates.

I also had the teacher hand out a questionnaire for the students to fill-out. One of the questions I asked was who they would pick to be their class spokesperson. I thought I could use that person as well as the teacher for the announcer.

Thanks for helping me get started.

Rick Foye · November 30th, 2007, 01:08 PM

I'm currently producing my 3rd video yearbook for a local high school band. It's for the competitive marching band season from August to mid November. In the 3 seasons I've done this I've ended up with an average of 60 hours of video. I was there for about half the rehearsal time and I attended every competition.

Like Chris, I didn't want it to be a collection of segments. I really tried to make it as cinematic as possible. I record a lot of the interaction between the staff and students, as well as the student interaction amongst themselves. For my first season I never used any footage that involved anybody looking and or speaking into the camera. For this past season I had a lot more of that, so I'll probably be using it.

I took a few screen writing books I have and used the script outlines to make a rough outline for my footage. For example, I decided on 110 minutes for the approximate length, and I tried to follow the 3 act structure.

The package I was selling to them is actually 2 DVDs. One is the cinematic feature, and the other is simply every competition fieldshow.

This season I recorded short interviews with small groups of the graduating seniors the night before the last competition. I think I ended up with no more of 3 students at a time. They just introduced themselves, how long they've been with the band, talked about what they'll remember from their time there, and what they'd like to say to the 2008 version of the band.

During the credits I used stills of each student with their name and instrument section under the picture. At the same time I used a small video window to the side and played the outtakes.

I also check out the Wedding / Event Videography Techniques section of this forum from time to time.

Is this the type of info you were looking for?

Jenna Klingensmith · December 2nd, 2007, 09:53 PM

When I was in highschool, the seniors had Video Productions class, and all worked on a "video yearbook" together, that we called the "Senior Movie" Basically it highlighted all of the sports, separately, with video from each of them, but each segment was only about 2 minutes (people who watch the video and weren't in basketball, will get bored quickly watching it lol)
We also highlighted art classes and art projects, home ec, choir, marching band, and at the very end, each of the seniors photos were shown in alphabetical order. All of these segments were put to music.

Another good idea that we used was putting clips from popular movies that were relevant to the clip that followed, for example, a scene from "Waterboy" before the football segment, etc.. Everyone enjoyed it.

Dave Anderson · December 3rd, 2007, 09:25 AM

Rick, Jenna

Thank you. This gives me some really good ideas. It's stuff like this that always helps me get that creative blood flowing.

Now Rick, when you made yours in a cinematic format, did you use titles for describing the different scenes?

I was thinking of using a chronological style bringing the viewer through all of the events from beginning to end. This would include things like concerts, musicals and contests. But I also have 3 choirs, community theatre and an extracurricular group to fit in. Also 2 of the choirs have their own concerts aside from the concerts with all choirs.

So I was just trying to envision how I might let the viewer know what they were watching. So I thought maybe I could get the teacher to introduce the segments, but last year I wanted to do that and he was too busy. So it never happened. So I wanted a backup plan and thought about titles.

Would titles be ok? I was thinking of the overlay titles, showing over the actual video like they do on the news.

Any thoughts?

November 20th, 2007, 08:22 AM	#1
Dave Anderson New Boot Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Mt Vernon, IN Posts: 16	Making a video yearbook I've been recording my daughter's high school plays and choir concerts to sell on DVD as a fundraiser for the school. Last year I made a quick simple video yearbook of the choir. This year I wanted to do better so I'm posting a question here. Has anyone produced a video yearbook that can share some ideas for the layout and format of the content? The yearbook I made last year had a menu with segments of each choir. There are 3 choirs. So I took a few of the popular songs they did and while showing the concert clip, I cut-away to each student saying 'Hi, my name is ...' Then I just took random short clips of them in the classroom in a montage format. While this was ok and the students who purchased a copy liked it, I was wondering what others have done. I'm looking for ideas. And if anyone has any examples to view. Thanks

November 30th, 2007, 01:08 PM	#4
Rick Foye Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 30	I'm currently producing my 3rd video yearbook for a local high school band. It's for the competitive marching band season from August to mid November. In the 3 seasons I've done this I've ended up with an average of 60 hours of video. I was there for about half the rehearsal time and I attended every competition. Like Chris, I didn't want it to be a collection of segments. I really tried to make it as cinematic as possible. I record a lot of the interaction between the staff and students, as well as the student interaction amongst themselves. For my first season I never used any footage that involved anybody looking and or speaking into the camera. For this past season I had a lot more of that, so I'll probably be using it. I took a few screen writing books I have and used the script outlines to make a rough outline for my footage. For example, I decided on 110 minutes for the approximate length, and I tried to follow the 3 act structure. The package I was selling to them is actually 2 DVDs. One is the cinematic feature, and the other is simply every competition fieldshow. This season I recorded short interviews with small groups of the graduating seniors the night before the last competition. I think I ended up with no more of 3 students at a time. They just introduced themselves, how long they've been with the band, talked about what they'll remember from their time there, and what they'd like to say to the 2008 version of the band. During the credits I used stills of each student with their name and instrument section under the picture. At the same time I used a small video window to the side and played the outtakes. I also check out the Wedding / Event Videography Techniques section of this forum from time to time. Is this the type of info you were looking for? Last edited by Rick Foye; November 30th, 2007 at 02:18 PM. Reason: additional info

November 20th, 2007, 10:39 PM	#2
Chris Harris Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 487	Last year, we did a video yearbook in a TV show format, to break up the monotony of having just a menu with a bunch of segments. For example, you have a host who is well-known in the school, could be a student or teacher. They introduce themselves, say something about the year, and then they start introducing each piece. Think "compilation shows", like America's Funniest Home Videos, etc. Hopefully this gives you some ideas.

November 26th, 2007, 09:33 AM	#3
Dave Anderson New Boot Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Mt Vernon, IN Posts: 16	I like that idea. Thanks. I think I will make my segments and have the teacher introduce and talk about the segments. Then I think I will also make a menu so the viewers can select to watch the "main feature" or the student introductions. I also came up with the idea to have a "Shout Out" segement where the students can give a shout-out to other classmates. I also had the teacher hand out a questionnaire for the students to fill-out. One of the questions I asked was who they would pick to be their class spokesperson. I thought I could use that person as well as the teacher for the announcer. Thanks for helping me get started.

December 2nd, 2007, 09:53 PM	#5
Jenna Klingensmith Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Near Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 112	When I was in highschool, the seniors had Video Productions class, and all worked on a "video yearbook" together, that we called the "Senior Movie" Basically it highlighted all of the sports, separately, with video from each of them, but each segment was only about 2 minutes (people who watch the video and weren't in basketball, will get bored quickly watching it lol) We also highlighted art classes and art projects, home ec, choir, marching band, and at the very end, each of the seniors photos were shown in alphabetical order. All of these segments were put to music. Another good idea that we used was putting clips from popular movies that were relevant to the clip that followed, for example, a scene from "Waterboy" before the football segment, etc.. Everyone enjoyed it.

December 3rd, 2007, 09:25 AM	#6
Dave Anderson New Boot Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Mt Vernon, IN Posts: 16	Rick, Jenna Thank you. This gives me some really good ideas. It's stuff like this that always helps me get that creative blood flowing. Now Rick, when you made yours in a cinematic format, did you use titles for describing the different scenes? I was thinking of using a chronological style bringing the viewer through all of the events from beginning to end. This would include things like concerts, musicals and contests. But I also have 3 choirs, community theatre and an extracurricular group to fit in. Also 2 of the choirs have their own concerts aside from the concerts with all choirs. So I was just trying to envision how I might let the viewer know what they were watching. So I thought maybe I could get the teacher to introduce the segments, but last year I wanted to do that and he was too busy. So it never happened. So I wanted a backup plan and thought about titles. Would titles be ok? I was thinking of the overlay titles, showing over the actual video like they do on the news. Any thoughts?