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Birthday Party Videos
Scripting the Birthday
Party Video
Goals of the Shoot
Creating Flow
Shot List
The Art of the Single Camera
Shoot
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DVD Main Menu, Whatley 1/2004
No doubt, Stephen Covey has it right. Whether
it's principle centered leadership or planning a good birthday party
video, you should always adhere to the second habit of Highly Effective
People (whoever they are) , and Begin With the End in Mind.
For most people, this means shooting about
30-60 minutes of tape and editing it down to about 15 to 30 minutes, perhaps written back to tape for playing on your VHS
recorder or burned to DVD. Sounds like a lot, but it goes fast,
especially when you consider your goals for the video.
When you're shooting a birthday party video, there
are several key "ends" to keep in mind. First, you're there to
capture a point in time of all relative friends and family of the birthday
child.
 This means you have to capture footage of all of
them, hopefully relevant footage with them hugging, kissing or otherwise
interacting with the star of the show. If you're doing the shooting,
don't cheat yourself from the experience; remember to hand the camera over
to a spouse or friend, and get yourself in the video. Hey, if it was
good enough for Hitchcock, it's good enough for us.
You're also there to record the fact that a
good time was had by all, which is especially easy to forget if you've bowed to
the current rage and hired a clown, magician, string quartet or other
entertainment for the children. We did this for our last birthday,
hired a clown/magician, so I set up my tripod at a strategic location and
shot most of the show from start to finish.
I was quite proud of myself till I later asked my six
year old what she wanted to remember from the party, and she answered
"that my friends had a good time." Ooops! Fortunately, out of habit, I had
taken enough "cutaway" shots of children laughing and parents smiling to
meet a good part of her wish.
Next time, however, during the entertainment I'll
split it about 50/50, half the time on the paid help, enough to provide
structure for that portion of the video, and half the time of the
audience, the folks my daughter really wanted to remember.
 If you're a political animal, another goal is to
capture how hard you and your spouse worked in preparation for the
wonderful event. This works wonders if your spouse did most of the
work, which is often the case in my household, and also reminds the
ungrateful child that a lot of work went into the event. Not that
they'll care until they have their own children, but you can hope.
Anyway, at the very least, this means shots of the
relevant party rooms in the house before the locusts arrive and pictures
of the cake and other prepared foodstuffs. If you're particularly
energetic, this could also mean videos of the actual preparations, mixing
the ingredients, baking and decorating the cake.
Then there are the de rigueur, wouldn't be a birthday
party video without these shots, shots. These include singing happy
birthday, cutting the cake, people eating said foodstuffs, presents being
given and opened and promptly tossed aside for the next. Mommy
furiously writing down who gave what for "Thank You" cards that she'll
worry over for the next two months and ultimately forget. You know
the drill.
Then there are the shots that help set the stage for
the party, and move the viewers through the flow from start to merciful
finish. Usually, this starts with an Establishing Shot of the
outside of the house, or school, or church, or hall, or wherever the party
takes place. This lets the viewer know where the event took place,
and a little about the weather and time of day.
Then you have to work through the various stages of
the birthday party. The fretting that no one will arrive, then the tumult
of guests. Normally, there will be some meeting and greeting time,
kids playing, parents chatting.
Then, if there is a main event, it will begin.
You'll film that, and then the rush to the food. The candles light,
the people sing, folks eat, presents are given and opened, more playing
and chatting, and then folks depart, children bouncing off the walls from
too much sugar, and parents wondering how much you spent on the
entertainment and food.
Many of these transitional shots - the guests
arriving, sitting down for entertainment, walking to the dining room, are
shots that help the viewer "get" the separate stages and flow of the
party. They can be short, but they are definitely necessary.
Piecing this altogether, here's a list of shots
for you to sift through and choose the ones relevant to your event, with
duration suggestions. Note that suggested durations include raw material
and the suggested duration that you'll edit the video down to during
editing.
Basically, if you shoot all these, you'll win some
kind of award for parent of the year, but it may be posthumous due to the
workload. This is just a suggestion of shots to keep in mind,
◊ Establishing shot - outside of the event
(1 minute, about 15 - 20 seconds final).
◊ Pre-party shot - preparations (3-4
minutes, about 1-2 minutes final)
◊ Pre-party shot - food, decorations in
all relevant rooms (3-4 minutes, about 1-2 minutes, final)
◊ Guests arriving shot - cars pulling up,
folks walking in the door and into the room where the meeting and
greeting takes place. Try to include the arrival of all major parties,
if possible (3-4 minutes, about 1-2 minutes, final).
◊ Parking lot shot showing all the cars
- man there's a lot of people at the party (one minute, about 15-20
seconds, final)
◊ Meeting and greeting shot - pre-main
event - kids playing, parents chatting (boy is everyone having a great
time). At some point, slowly shoot the room so the viewer
gets a feel for the size, shape and decorations, as well as the number
and identify of folks in the room. Try to shoot videos of all key
relatives and friends (5-10 minutes, about 2-4 minutes, final).
◊ Transitional shot - (if necessary) folks
moving to the location of the entertainment (1-2 minutes, about 30
seconds to 1 minute, final).
◊ Shooting the Entertainment -
see the
Art of the Single Camera Shoot, below (30-60 minutes total, about 10 -15
minutes final).
◊ Transitional shot - (if necessary) folks
moving to the location of the food (1-2 minutes, about 30 seconds to 1
minute, final).
◊ Lighting the candles
- (1-2 minutes, about
30 seconds final).
◊ Singing happy birthday
- (film it all).
◊ Blowing out the candles
-(film it all).
◊ Eating cake and being happy - another
great time to shoot key friends and relatives (3-5 minutes, about 1-2
minutes, final).
◊ Transitional shot - (if necessary) to
where presents will be distributed (1-2 minutes, about 30 seconds to 1
minute, final).
◊ Giving and opening presents
- (5-10
minutes, about 2-3 minutes final).
◊ Giving away party favors
- you did
remember, party favors, didn't you? (3-5 minutes, about 1-2 final).
◊ Final goodbyes, hugs and kisses
- last chance for all key relatives and friends (4-6 minutes, about 1-2
minutes, final).
◊ Survey the wreckage
- must have had a good time (60 seconds, about 30 seconds final)
◊ Quiet time with parents and
family, hugs and kisses - last chance for these shots (2-3 minutes,
about 1 minute final)
◊ Final words from
birthday child - (2-3 minutes, about 1-2 minutes, final).
◊ Closing shot - house at night, leaving
the school, hall or church (1 minute, about 15 - 20 seconds final).
As a final word, note that his list is
not intended to be either comprehensive or required. I kind of do
this for a living, so you can expect that I would shoot more than most
parents. Besides, for me, surrounded by hyperactive, sugar filled
6 year olds, shooting too much video is often the most enjoyable way to experience the event.
Hopefully, it will be useful for those
of you who don't want to miss any critical shots, and if I've missed any
obvious ones, please e-mail me at
jan@doceo.com and let me know.
A brief note about the books on the
right. When it comes to video, there's a big difference between
knowing what to shoot and how to shoot. Here we talk
about the former, any of the listed books address the latter.
While I humbly think that my own PC Magazine Guide to Digital Video
is the best, the The Little Digital Video Book is probably better
for Mac users, and is from my favorite publisher, while the Dummies
Guide is simply the latest edition of the best selling book on
digital video ever.
You would be shocked at how much a
difference proper framing, shot composition and effective camera
management can make in the perceived quality of your videos. Pick
up any of the books, and you and your audiences will be glad that you
did.
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PC Magazine Guide to Digital Video
The Little Digital Video Book
Digital Video for Dummies
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