This is me… Your Story

This is me… Your Story – captured on film for all time: a legacy for generations to come…

This is me… Your Story is a biographical film featuring an individual or couple, produced in broadcast quality and style by award winning production company Viewpoint Productions. It’s your life story captured on film for all time, and you don’t have to be a pop sensation or Oscar winning actor to feature!

Viewpoint has a great track record of making history-related documentaries for television which have earned multiple Royal Television Society (RTS) awards. Like many good ideas the concept of This is me… came about by chance over a coffee! Says producer David Ellery: ‘It’s my firm belief that everyone has an interesting story to tell about their life and how they got to where they are today. That story is of even greater interest to their family and friends. It’s our job to help tell it in a fluid and engaging way for now and future generations.’

Viewpoint takes care of the whole process, form an initial meeting to discuss what will be included in the film, the recording itself using broadcast equipment and editing of all the material into a documentary-style film. ‘We can include family home movie footage, personal still pictures and generic archive footage to bring the story to life and add music into the mix, which always takes a production to the next level,’ Says David Ellery. The finished film is then uploaded to a secure server for invited viewers to watch and copies can be provided on a USB stick and DVD if required. 

“Clients are not paying simply for a person to turn up with a camera. There’s an art to getting the very best from someone being interviewed and telling a story really well and that comes from experience – I’ve been doing this for many years and have lost count of the number of interviews for television, books and magazines I’ve recorded…”  [David Ellery]                    

In essence, two packages are offered: Standard and Bespoke…

Standard includes a fully-lit interview using broadcast quality camera, sound and lighting equipment at your home or selected venue. This is preceded by a preparatory research meeting and development of themes, questions and prompts for the interview.

This package also includes scanning and sizing/ trimming personal still pictures for inclusion in the film, and editing the interview footage using a broadcast quality edit suite, including clients’ own still pictures, which are enhanced by subtle, dynamic ‘camera moves’.

The Standard Package also includes basic titles and end credits, sound mix and music (using one piece of music selected from our associated, extensive sound library [inc music licence]), as well as  a review output for checking and uploading of the finished film to a secure server for your selected audience to watch. A personal copy on a USB drive is also provided. Average length of a Standard Package film is approximately 30-40 minutes, but this can be less, depending on the amount of footage recorded. [Please call or email for an estimated price calculated on your content. Link details are at the bottom of the page.]

The Bespoke Package is totally customisable to suit your needs. It includes everything in the Standard Package as well as many additional features to achieve polished, full-broadcast-style results: A full pre-production service to map-out your film in detail and additional filming at further locations as required (this might be to include simple illustrative scenes with children and/ or grandchildren or other family members or friends  or significant locations in your personal story).

We also provide narration to link sections and tell parts of your story as well as include your personal home-movie footage (which we can arrange to have digitised if required). This can dramatically bring your story to life. In addition, we can include generic archive footage to help illustrate your personal story. For example, for a client who described being an evacuee as a child during the Second World War, we sourced archive footage of child evacuees waving to their mothers as they boarded a train bound for the countryside in the 1940s.

We can also broaden the film to include multi-generations and help record your family genealogy – an invaluable and unique gift for the whole family for generations to come.

Other additions as part of the Bespoke Package include: animated captions and additional music behind narrative links, pictures and archive. Average length of a Bespoke Package film is 45-60 minutes (this will vary according to the amount of footage recorded). 

For more information and a friendly chat about This is me… call David Ellery on 023 8084 1113 or email here

Now, if you’re ready, it’s lights, camera action!