Despite the convenience and accessibility of the video camera that I carry around in my pocket, I’ve never been that good at taking many videos. And while still images are great, videos add that extra dimension to the memories they capture. The sound of someone’s voice, the curious way they walk, the sound of laughter. But videos have always fallen into the too hard pile. Easy to shoot, but a pain to edit and do anything with. So they sit collecting dust on my hard drive, defeating the whole purpose.
But years from now, I want to look back with nostalgia at a collection of home movies. And with the help of Xanthe Berkeley and her Make Films course, I feel like I may have finally cracked the code.
15 Seconds.
That’s the code.
Short, 15 second mini movies. Why 15 seconds? Because that’s the maximum length you can upload to Instagram, simple as that. And once I let go of the idea that the videos I made needed to be full-length feature films, it was like a weight had been lifted and was free to go forth and create. And so I have, sharing a mini movie every Monday.
Fifteen seconds doesn’t seem like a long time, but you can actually tell a lot of story in 15 seconds and you can capture a lot of lovely memories. All without spending hours in iMovie. Fifteen seconds is doable.
Memories of a day out in Oxford.
Memories of a birthday party spent learning about reptiles.
Memories of what it’s like to commute into London.
Memories of rainy days spent building Lego.
Memories of doing our math homework.
All in just 15 seconds.
+++++
