Mother's Day project - capture memories live
HOLLYWOOD - For years, one of the biggest requests from readers has been ways to help them shoot and share video memories with their parents, kids and friends. They know how to record it on their phones--but then what? The video files are huge, and hard to e-mail. How do they get the video out to everyone to watch?
I’ve got the perfect answer, and it’s just in time for Mother’s Day. Sit down Sunday with Mom and have her tell her story via live mobile video. There’s no simpler way to capture memories and share it. And it's a great Mother's Day project.
Broadcasting live via mobile phones have taken off in a big way recently. Apple named Twitter's Periscope "App of the Year" in 2015 for popularizing live video, and recently Facebook joined the fray. After a few weeks, Facebook says the "Live" feature has become its fastest growing new product ever.
To go live, just open the smartphone app and get ready. With Periscope you're already there, but in Facebook, you'll need to go to your Status area. Title the video, press record, and start broadcasting to your feed. When it’s done, the broadcast shows up in your Facebook or Twitter timeline, you can save it to your Camera Roll as well, and you can share it afterwards with family members.
(You can also try some of the other streaming apps out there, like Stre.am or YouNow.)
With Mom, you may have a battle on your hands--"no one wants to hear from me," "this is boring," Mom might say, --but trust me, she’s wrong. Everyone has a story, period. And going live is fun--once you start, comments and questions start appearing on the screen from your circle--what mother wouldn’t love that?
When I did the first Facebook Live with my Mom recently, she dragged her feet initially, then turned the tables on me and threw questions until it became a true back and forth--which I loved. We started getting comments and a large crowd watching--nearly 500. Then after it ran, she heard from an old grade school friend from Indianapolis who saw the video--and now Mom thinks it wasn’t such a stupid idea after all. (She is a little wary about getting "personal" live. She prefers having a version that can be edited. My bottom line is that for most families, going live means it will actually get done, and out there, so I'm all for it.)
Tips on live mobile broadcasting:
--Find a good spot you can place the camera. You’ll need to hold it steady, so better is to place it on a table, against a book, upright, since you probably don’t have a tripod, right? Don’t forget to pick Selfie mode on the smartphone.
--Record in a quiet room so you’re not competing with background noise.
--Be in a well-lit room. I like to face the window and have the window light expose the image. What you don’t want to do is sit in front of the window--the camera will expose for the window, and turn you and Mom into a silhouette.
--Write a description of your talk, so your followers know what to tune in for. For instance, “Mom talks growing up in Indiana,” or better, “Mom’s advice to next generation” is more descriptive than “Interview with Mom.”
--Be sure to check for the comments coming in, and offer shoutouts to viewers once the broadcast begins. It makes the broadcast more interactive.
--Be prepared to go for at least 10 minutes. It takes time for people to notice that you’re live and join the show. Or as Facebook puts it, “The longer you broadcast, the more likely your friends are to discover your video.”
Remember that once you’re finished, if you don’t like what you recorded, you can always delete it from your Facebook timeline. If you do Periscope, the broadcast will automatically delete after 24 hours.
Both offer the option of saving to your Camera Roll, which you should definitely do. Why not? You know have the file of mom memories and from there, can share the file privately, if you prefer, via YouTube and Facebook and other outlets.
Talk to your Mom this weekend. Sitting down and asking questions in a one-on-one setting is way more effective than throwing out a question at a dinner table. You get a more thoughtful answer, and you’re preserving the moment forever when it’s on video. Isn’t that the greatest Mother’s Day gift of all?
And it’s free!
Have questions about how to interview Mom? I’d love to hear from you. E-mail me jgraham@usatoday.com, look for me on Twitter @jeffersongraham or Facebook where I have a public page.