By seventy, a life has an audience that spans four generations, and half of them have never heard the good stories. A 70th birthday film is a chance to record them while the people who were there can still tell them — and to show the grandchildren that the person in the armchair once hitchhiked across a continent.
Find the old friends first
The people who knew them at twenty are the hardest to reach and the most valuable. Ask the family who they still exchange Christmas cards with, then write to those people directly with the invitation link. A two-minute story from an old friend is often the part of the film the family plays again.
Label the photographs while someone still can
Older prints need names and approximate years, and the knowledge sits with a sibling, a cousin or the birthday person’s partner. Sit with them for an afternoon, photograph the prints, and write down who is in each one and roughly when it was. Even “the 1970s” is enough to place a picture in the story.
Ask the grandchildren for a message
Short, unscripted messages from children and grandchildren are the warmest part of a 70th film. One question — “what is your favourite thing to do with Grandpa?” — is all they need. Keep the recordings brief and the sound clear.
This is their life so far, not a eulogy
Include the trip last year, the bowls club, the new puppy. Finish with what they are doing now and what everyone is looking forward to doing with them next.
Bring the collection into Videmory
Invite friends and family to add photos, real video and messages from one link. Add the years or ages you know, review the collection — from your phone or, for the tidying, a computer, since the same birthday opens on either — and let Videmory build the film in the order it happened. Making the film and watching the complete watermarked preview are free; you pay only if you want to download the finished film without the mark. Introductory launch offer: AU$49 for your first finished film, AU$15 for each additional version. Introductory pricing is available for a limited time and may increase in the future.
See a life fall into order · Collecting and dating photos · How many photos you need
Your questions, answered
Most of our photos are prints from the 1950s to the 1980s. Can the film handle them?
Yes. Scan or photograph each print and add the year or the decade. Videmory sorts by the dates you give it, so a decade is enough to put a picture in its place, and the film still plays a photograph nobody can date rather than leaving it out. The collecting guide explains scanning and dating.
How do we make sure everyone can hear it at the party?
Ask contributors to record somewhere quiet with the phone close to them, and to watch the recording back before sending it. On the day, plug the screen into a speaker rather than relying on a television’s own sound, and test the actual film file on the device you will use.
Can we add more messages after the film is made?
Yes. The collection stays open until the organiser closes it, and another version of the film can be built again from it, so a late message from an old friend still makes it in. Under the introductory launch offer each additional version is AU$15.