Video your life's highlights, told by you, for your family and friends.
Have I got a story to tell?
You bet you do! Many stories. We all do as we get older.
Stories about our careers, our travels, our sporting experiences, and our families. Stories about our rich tapestry of life lessons and how different life was when we were younger.
We would love to pass these stories on to our families, our friends or the wider community. Yet so often with everyone's busy lives the opportunity just doesn't arise. And we want to be remembered as we are today – energetic, kind, communicative, smart, good humored and loving.
The risk is that we get past the stage where we can do that passing on. The bits we really want to share get lost.
So what a great idea to make a story on video about aspects of your life. A kind of eulogy, but given by you, in your own words, made for posterity while you are still in the prime of your communications skills.
That’s what Legacy - My Story offers. Our standard product is a 15-20 minute video of you talking to the camera about some of the experiences and lessons that have been important in your life.
Why leave it to a family member, or a remote celebrant, under the emotional pressure of a bereavement, to tell your life story? You yourself can do it so much better? Legacy - My Story can help you.
What we do
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First, we talk with you at length to narrow down the really important things you want to focus on. These might include your career, family, travels, life lessons, sporting accomplishments or a hobby. Don't try to cover all of those elements - it can't be done. Settle on one or two that you are passionate about.
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You then go through your photo collection and select some that illustrate the tale you want to tell.
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Then together, we design a plan for the video that will draw out the story as you want it told, balanced according to your wishes. You will probably want to include some mention of family but these should not dominate - this is a story predominately about you, not them.
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We then coach you in how to give your best. You don’t need to memorise anything; we will ask you the questions.
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Next we interview you. This will normally be a “piece to camera” in which the editor asks you the questions but is not seen or heard in the video – the video is all about you. You can repeat anything you muck up as many times as you like - there is no time pressure.
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We then work with a specialist video editor make the story into a video, including your photos, mementos, places, old news clippings, or whatever else we agree.
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We will deliver your completed video 1-2 weeks later.
Legacy-My Story are committed to a high quality product - while we hesitate to say "television quality" we come pretty close. We achieve that by using high quality equipment (modern Canon XA55 or equivalent camera and lavalier microphones for recording and sophisticated Apple computing power for editing). Your completed video will be delivered on a USB stick which when used on a modern Smart Television or computer will amaze you with its resolution.
How you use your video is entirely up to you. You can give copies to grandkids, post it on social media, give it to workmates, or show it at your next family party, Or you might want to keep it under wraps until you die so it can be revealed at the funeral or the after-function cup of tea.
It’s your video and your call. And we'll make it fun to do.
About us
Legacy - My Story is run by Cheryl and Ernie Newman based in a lifestyle village in Cambridge.
Since moving into a community of seniors in 2019, we have realised that inside every older person is a unique and fascinating life story with a lot of fun and wisdom to impart.
Sadly, many never get told. We want to change that.
Cheryl is a creative person with a lifetime involvement in design and craft. Ernie has worked professionally in many forms of communication including video – he made training videos in a government department as far back as the 1970s (that's one of his life stories) and has more recently produced corporate video profiles for commercial clients.
However, neither we nor the technology are the heroes in Legacy. You, the story teller are the hero - the My in My Story. Our job is to draw out your story and guide you to tell it in a compelling, concise and positive way.
Cheryl and Ernie Newman
