The Biograph: Memorialization that does justice to the life lived.
True West: The Life of Lee R. West
There is an infectious sameness to funerals and memorial services.
Most of us just do like our parents did – and like their parents did. Lay the eulogy burden on the family’s best orator or biggest extrovert. Leave the obit and slideshow to the funeral home or the introverted cousin. And what do we get? What we should expect when assigning a storytelling job to overwhelmed, exhausted, grieving people and an industry whose expertise was never anywhere close to creative – the same old obligatorily musty, somber, forgettable affair.
The typical funeral is the ultimate example of our tardiness & clumsiness in showing people how much we care for them.
But it’s not your fault.
No one has ever shown us a better way.
Until now.
Introducing the Biograph:
As close to immortality as it gets
Oden Thinking will compose a documentary style video – a biograph – that paints an undeniably true-to-life picture of your loved one.
It will contain the essence of their life – the people they touched, the mischief they got into, their true, unfiltered character … all the scrapes, mistakes, luck, triumph and love stories that color a person and make life worth getting out of bed for.
You’ve never seen a memorial like this…
Be warned: You’re about to encounter profanity, jokes, mischievous stories and irreverence. Because that was right for this man’s biograph.
In fact, it was perfect for this man.
And yours will be perfect for you.
Believe it or not
You already have nearly everything you need to begin:
Boxes of old photos. 8, 16 and 35mm filmstrips, VHS tapes and probably iphone videos too. You and others know the stories. Those are your interviewees – who become an instrumental part of the narrative of your video.
You just need someone who knows how to take it all, preserve it all and weave it into a compelling, fascinating video that encapsulates the essence of this person. A video you simply can’t ignore.
Do it right. Do it now.
I encourage you to do it right and do it at the right time. At best, you can do it during the final autumn weeks or months of this person’s life – let them tell their favorite stories and be the star of the show.
Give them the unrivaled joy and thrill of being in the room to feel the warmth, love, humor and appreciation that one can only earn from living an entire life through to the end. And give them the privilege they deserve of facing that end feeling loved and worthwhile – with their mission accomplished.
Maybe you’re the subject of your own video. That allows you to tell the stories and make sure it’s all done flawlessly. I can hardly think of a better inheritance.
Often though, death surprises us with its lack of concern for our schedule. Even so, we can still tell their story in such a way that someone who never truly knew them – like the younger members of the family – will understand precisely who they were. And that story can last forever, for all future family members.
An absolutely priceless heirloom.
What you receive
Biograph
You become the owner of your own memorial video, which can be shared via social media, placed on YouTube, or simply kept on a hard drive. It’s up to you.
Changes as Needed
Before video editing occurs, you will receive a script to review, revise and/or approve. Once you view the final video, you may have a round of revisions to this too.
Secure Storage
When the project is completed, you will receive a USB 3.0 hard drive with your video and all digitized materials, such as videos, scanned photography and letters – to keep for posterity.
Pricing
Documenting, celebrating and preserving a life is a time-intensive and painstaking process. Therefore, it is not inexpensive, but it is worth every penny.
Biograph pricing hinges on a number of variables:
anticipated video length
number of interviewees
custom shooting
volume of material needing review/digitization
turnaround time
Ballpark figures begin around $10,000, but it can range greatly. A shorter, simple video could be much less. Custom shooting and interviews can increase that amount ten-fold. Let’s talk about getting you what you need at the budget you can afford.
After all, everyone deserves to have their life properly remembered.
Let’s Talk
tuckoden@duck.com