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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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I am nervous about talking;
how will I come across? |
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What should I talk about? |
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Do I need to learn 'lines'
for the camera? |
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Our living room is small;
how much space is needed? |
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Why is additional lighting
necessary? |
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How many visits will
be needed? |
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How many people will
be in the crew? |
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How long will a DVD
or Blu Ray video disc last? |
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I
am nervous about talking; how will I come across? |
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Most people
are nervous initially but it rarely shows on camera and after
a few minutes, when engrossed in describing an event or explaining
a photograph etc, the nervousness disappears. We understand
the problem and do our best to put people at ease; it is not
uncommon, especially after seeing a replay of the first few
clips, for nervousness to turn rapidly into enthusiasm! |
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What
should I talk about? |
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Anything you want to! We
have an extensive list of potential topics, covering most
aspects of life, to help you decide what you want to talk
about. Whilst actually telling a story, however, additional
points/tracks/subjects may come to mind and we encourage 'going
with the flow' rather than keeping to the letter of a particular
plan. |
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Do
I need to learn 'lines’ for the camera? |
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No, not unless you particularly
want to. The aim is to record you speaking naturally and,
unless you are a trained actor, the use of written or memorised
lines is very difficult and doesn't usually look or sound
natural. There would be a lot of lines to learn too! For example,
try describing one of your family photographs: With the photo
to hand, this is quite easy - but then imagine memorising
the words and repeating them! Much harder and not worth it.
The only exception can be at the begining of the video; where
someone is going to introduce themselves it is usually best
to decide beforehand on the first few words to use. Whilst recording, don't
worry about forgetting what to say, changing your mind about
how to describe something or making mistakes - these things
happen all the time. Just relax and, if you want to, say it
again. It's quite usual to record some clips more than once
and remember - the mistakes, along with 'um's and 'err's will
be edited out of the final product! |
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Our
living room is quite small; how much space is needed? |
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Ideally we need space
for two cameras and three lights (which means five tripods),
a monitor, a few black boxes and some microphones
(plus people of course!). This may sound quite a lot but the
apparatus is surprisingly compact and we have managed to work
well in some very small spaces. |
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Why
is additional lighting necessary? |
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To improve the quality
of the picture. Although some modern cameras can operate in
very dim lighting conditions the results from properly illuminated
scenes are far better. |
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Who
owns copyright of the final product? |
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You will own the copyright. |
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How
many visits will be necessary? |
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It is possible to record
all the necessary clips in a single one-day session. Experience
shows, however, that after the first session most people are
keen to record more stories so we normally schedule two visits. |
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How
many people will be in the crew? |
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At least two. |
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How long will
a DVD or Blu Ray video disc last? |
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Digital recordings can
be made to survive indefinitely without degradation of picture
or sound quality. This is not the case for the DVD or Blu Ray discs themselves,
however, and to ensure indefinite survival recordings will
need periodic transfer to other storage media. (The recording
on a video disc is in digital form and copies will perfectly replicate
the original, not degraded by the copying process as happens,
for example, when copying conventional film.)
Some of the latest video discs
are said to last up to 100 years but this claim needs to be
interpreted with caution. Provided the blanks from which they
are made are properly manufactured under the strictest quality
control, the equipment used to transfer data to them operates
flawlessly and they are stored in ideal archival environmental
conditions, some modern DVD or Blu Ray discs might last a century or so. Even
then, however, the timescale is only an estimate as it is
not possible to prove the point in less than 100 years!
Unfortunately, many video discs
are made under less rigorous conditions and industry-wide
sub-contracting and badge-engineering practices make it impossible
to know if a particular batch of blank video discs, including those
sold under well-known brand labels, are likely to have the
highest longevity potential. Also, normal domestic storage
practices are often far from ideal and, all told, video discs can
fail after much shorter periods. Typical video disc life expectancy
is possibly a decade or two but in extreme circumstances it
can literally be just a day or so. The uncertainty in the
life expectancy of data held on such discs has lead the United States
Government to fund a Digital Data Preservation
Program at its National Institute
for Standards and Technology — to study the problem.
(See for example Care
and Handling of CDs and DVDs: A Guide for Librarians and Archivists.)
Your Stories supplies its customers with at least four copies of the video disc(s),
two for use and two for archiving. To ensure that video recordings
lasts indefinately we recommend the following for the archived
copies: |
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Storage: Store each video disc in a separate opaque box (ie not translucent),
away from bright light, in cool and dry conditions.
Avoid plastic or paper sleeves, sudden changes in temperature
or humidity, finger prints or other marks/dirt on either
side. If possible store each disc in a different location.
During first
10 years: Play both archive copies at least every
2 years. In the event of either recording having degraded
to the extent that it will not play on a properly functioning
player have a duplicate made from the other archive
copy. (As said above, the recording on a video disc is in digital
form and duplicates will be perfect copies of the original,
not degraded by the copying process as happens, for
example, when copying conventional film.)
After 10 years: Transfer both archive discs to new discs, DVD or Blu Ray, or whatever media
happens to be in use then!
In subsequent
decades: review the recordings and copy/transfer
them, as above, at a timescale extended to accommomdate
the doubtless increased lifespan of the recording medium
then in use.
In summary: keep more than one copy, store in cool dry pace, play
regularly, periodically copy to new media and preferably keep a
log of what you have done.
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