PRE EDITING YOUR

XMAS MEMORIESTips for creating fantastic holiday keepsakes with your Mac

Pre-Editing is Key• Have you ever captured hours of video and hundreds of

photographs only to find that you are overwhelmed and don’t know what to do with them once the Christmas is over and you hardly have the time too look at the pictures, let alone organize them?

Pre-Editing is Key

• The digital age has facilitated overshooting and over filming resulting in overwhelming memories that stay “un-managed”.

• Editing is most successful when you plan from the beginning.

• Set out on a clear path knowing what you want the end result to look like.

Less is More

• Capturing every detail of is not necessary

• Focus on the Essence:

• the people,

• the activities,

• The feeling

• the special things that happened

Chose a Medium• Who will see these memories

• How will you share them?

Apple offers a variety of ways in which you can

share your memories, each with its own set of

advantages

Chose a MediumMedium Advantages Disadvantages

Facebook - Upload quickly- one or several pictures

- Pictures posted as they are. Cannot be made into a project

Photo Album

- pictures can be assembled to “tell a story” or enhance a mood

- Several copies can be made as gifts- Memories can sit at a coffee table for frequent revisiting by friends and

family

- some work required- no music to embellish mood

Slide Show

- pictures can be assembled to “tell a story” while mood is enhanced by

music- can be shared digitally with friends

and family

- requires electronic devices to be enjoyed

Movie- creates long lasting fun memories that family and friends will want to

share over and over again- slightly more work required

Choose a Theme/Feeling

• Who is the target audience?

• This should affect “Feel” or Theme:

• Families with young children: childish

• Families with Older grandparents: retro, more old fashioned

• Adults mostly - elegant

Photo Book & Theme/Feeling

• Apple offers many themes that set the right tone to the project.

Kid friendly Traditional Modern Elegant

Movie Theme/Feeling

• Apple offers many themes that set the right tone to the project.

Kid friendly Traditional Modern Travel

Chose a Song/Feeling

• The song chosen must compliment the pictures/clips.

• Setting a Caribbean December holiday to the tune of “Im dreaming of a white Christmas” just won’t add to the mood.

• For Slideshows and Movies, choosing a song is the key to setting the right feel

Kid friendly:Elmos’ Feliz Navidad

Traditional:Jingle Bells

Modern:Jingle Bell Rock

Elegant:White Christmas

Selective Shooting/Filming

• It is very easy to get trigger happy in the digital age.

• Yet no one, really, no one, wants to see all your photos and clips

• Be selective!

Selective Shooting/Filming

• Here’s all you need: rules of thumb

• Photo books: no more than 50 pages (100-150 pictures)

• some pages can have up to 4 pictures

• some pages can have a double page layout

• Slide shows/movies: Keep to less than 5 minutes (45 - 75 pictures)

• 5 seconds a clip + 1.5 for transitions

Selective Shots Examples• Decorating for Christmas Check List:

• Family in the act of decorating the Christmas tree *

• Lighting the Christmas Tree

• Christmas Tree Light Up

• Family In front of the Christmas tree

* If preparing a video, then many successive pictures of decorating the tree may be taken and then placed in fast motion. Otherwise, 2 or 3 pictures should suffice for

a book or slide show.

Selective Shots Examples• Cooking for Christmas Dinner:

• Special details about the meal

• turkey

• candy canes

• Family preparing dinner

• Family eating dinner

• Family In front of the Christmas tree

• Portraits of family around table, around tree, etc

Let us Do it For You

• Come in and attend one of our many imovie/iphoto seminars

• Purchase personal trainer: One Full Years’ worth of lessons

Cost $199

With purchase of a Mac $99

• Let us do it for you

Cost $75/hour in labor (materials purchased separately)