Feedback on Memorial Video needed

All,

This is a re-post of what was made available on MovingOn.org.

Since serveral FGA's came as well, I need to seek input from anyone who may have attended as well.

Below is a re-post of what is available on MovingOn, under the "events" section.

You can email me directly if you have further questions, or post your comments on this board.

Thanks!

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RE-POST FROM MOVINGON.ORG, EVENTS SECTION
http://www.movingon.org/article.asp?sID=6&Cat=23&ID=2887

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Memorial video is available and digitized. However, we need feedback from attendees before deciding if and how to make it available.

We've received raw footage from two of the filming crews at the memorial, the third batch is on its way.

The footage is beautiful, none of it has been edited, it's raw, but the audio is all there and it's great, it really captures the event well.

In our last few tasks related to the memorial, we would like to make the footage of the service available via the web.

Many people would have liked to have been able to attend the memorial but were not able to do so for one reason or the other. Many of these same people contributed towards the memorial, and I think it would be wonderful to make this footage available.

Most of the footage just focuses on the speakers. However, there are some pans of the audience and some brief close-ups on people in the audience as the eulogies were being read.

The organizers very much respect people's privacy and do not want for anyone's likeness to be available without the approval of those persons.

As mentioned, not much of the footage shows audience members, but some faces are visible.

This leaves us with a few options:

1. Privately distribute the footage to attendees:

We could simply make the video available upon request, or email a link to attendees who attended or RSVP’d to the event.

The problem with this is that once it’s out there, it’s out there. We’ll have no control over where the footage ends up, who shows it to who, etc. …

2. Distribute the footage to close friends and family members:

Since family and close friends are receiving copies of this footage anyway, people can go through the “telephone network” or the personal network and obtain copies or view the footage that way.

3. Edit the footage:

We can edit the footage so that we “cube-out” distort, or otherwise hide the faces of audience members, while at the same time keeping the audio track intact so that people can still hear what is being said.

This option is more work, and will delay the release of the footage. However, if necessary, we can definitely do this with our little amateur computer-based video edit kits, or try our best. The result may be some simply “black screens” while audio continues for those shots where the audience is panned.

4. Make the footage available “As-Is”:

We could simply make the raw footage available.

We have an obligation to our friends, and attendees to do the right thing as far as protecting people, their futures and their families. We take this responsibility and the trust of our friends and attendees very seriously.

Footage is always a tricky thing because security or family concerns aside sometimes people are concerned about the way that they look and come across, etc., on camera. A memorial is an emotional event and many people were crying, and not looking their Hollywood best, so to speak. This is a real concern to some people, and we also take it seriously.

My personal feeling is that this memorial was a watershed event. An event like this is an once-in-a-lifetime event. It was very bittersweet for me personally because, while I was happy that everyone made the event so wonderful through their attendance and contribution, we were all saying goodbye to a dear friend who cannot be replaced in our hearts. The sadness and loss aside, it was a beautiful day, filed with so much beauty, so much love, so much respect, and I believe, a lot of healing and some closure.

I walked on the beach that night after everything was said and done, the reception hall was closed, all I could see was the sand, stars, and a distant bonfire where friends were talking through the night. I breathed a big sigh of relief, and I shed a tear or two of sadness and joy, sadness that I had lost a brother, joy that we had done right by our friend. We stood together for that one day, we held our heads up, we sent off our friend with dignity, we remembered all our fallen friends, not just Richard, we showed compassion, we showed dignity, we showed honesty, we shared hope and we showed solidarity.

It would be nice to share this event through the footage with those who could not attend. However, we want to make sure that if we do, we do it with the goodwill and approval of those who may be in the footage.

As written above, most of the footage does not focus on the audience, but there are some pans of the audience and a few close-ups of attendees

Any input, comments, objections, concerns, questions or suggestions anyone has on the best way to go about this, is very much appreciated. You may email me through this site, if you have questions, or just post below.

Don

http://www.movingon.org/article.asp?sID=6&Cat=23&ID=2887