Matthew's Story
Each family has a unique story. It is my job to capture and convey that story in a way that best represents the family. Most of the family videos I get to create are happy stories. So when Kyla and Dave approached me with their story I knew immediately that very special care must be used in telling the story of their son, Matthew.
You see, Matthew was born several weeks early. He weighed a bit over 2 lbs when he was born and he spent the first months of his life in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Matthew eventually grew into a strong healthy boy, but the first months of his life were a trying time for his family. It was also a time of hope.
Objective
My objective for this video was to tell Matthew’s story in a way that evoked feelings of hope. Matthew’s parents, Kyla and Dave, had amazing video footage and photos from their baby’s time in the NICU. I wanted to use as much of this as possible while also showing the happy ending of Matthew’s story.
Challenges
Kyla and Dave picked the most stunning song for their baby boy’s video. The song is so moving that it took me several days before I could start editing, because I couldn’t get through the song without crying! I knew it would be a very powerful movie with this song behind it. However, the song had one big problem… it is a very sad song. I knew I didn’t want this family to view their movie and feel sad. So my biggest challenge was finding a way to fill the video with hope and happiness yet not betray the words of the song which touched Kyla and Dave so deeply.
Solution
This family gave me video footage spanning several years. So I had a lot to work with. I decided it would be best to intersperse footage of the baby in the NICU with footage of him three years later, showing how much he has grown and changed. This would give the video a feeling of hope and clearly show that although little Matthew had a very difficult beginning, he eventually becomes healthy and strong. There was priceless video of “older Matthew” with his dad. Since this song is told from a father’s point of view, I also knew these shots of father and son would be very beautiful and work perfectly to complete this amazing story of hope.
