Video birthday card advice
November 16, 2010 8:10 AM Subscribe
Planning on making a "video birthday card" for my BF's 30th - looking for input on how to get the best possible final product.
I actually tried to do this for my best friend a few years ago. It failed miserably, mostly because our friends are scattered all over the country and email pleas to get them to send me their videos just didn't go anywhere. This time, I will have physical access to the people and I'll record with my own camera, I just need to ask them to participate. I want this one to get much more input, so I am turning to you for help! I'd like to know:
- If someone asked you to do this (record a short video of yourself saying "happy birthday"), would you do it? If no, why not? What might change your mind?
- I'm sure one of the responses I will get is "I don't know what to say." (I would say this!) Any suggestions on how I can prompt a slightly more lengthy response than just "happy birthday"? Something like "tell me your favorite memory of BF," but better.
- Any other comments/suggestions/thoughts. I think this is something he would really appreciate - he's pretty sentimental, and his 30th is a big deal to him, but if you see some reason he wouldn't like it, go ahead and tell me.
I actually tried to do this for my best friend a few years ago. It failed miserably, mostly because our friends are scattered all over the country and email pleas to get them to send me their videos just didn't go anywhere. This time, I will have physical access to the people and I'll record with my own camera, I just need to ask them to participate. I want this one to get much more input, so I am turning to you for help! I'd like to know:
- If someone asked you to do this (record a short video of yourself saying "happy birthday"), would you do it? If no, why not? What might change your mind?
- I'm sure one of the responses I will get is "I don't know what to say." (I would say this!) Any suggestions on how I can prompt a slightly more lengthy response than just "happy birthday"? Something like "tell me your favorite memory of BF," but better.
- Any other comments/suggestions/thoughts. I think this is something he would really appreciate - he's pretty sentimental, and his 30th is a big deal to him, but if you see some reason he wouldn't like it, go ahead and tell me.
I have been part of a video like this, organized by a friend for her boyfriend, who was living a million (ok, many thousand, but it felt like a million) miles away from her at the time. It was awesome, but I do know that it was hard for her to get people to participate, mostly because a lot of her friends are slackers.
Things she did that helped: kept bugging us, encouraged each of us to be really creative in a way that was true to our personalities and our relationships with the birthday boy (mine was in the form of me reading aloud a silly sticker book about how much i missed him; my boyfriend-at-the-time's consisted entirely of him doing voiceover over a long shot of his cats; another friend of ours made one that was half of her trying to figure out if it was already recording or not and then ended with her failing to turn it off properly, and a note from our curatress explaining how she had to edit it... you get the idea), recorded videos at places around town that he loved and missed, recorded videos at places that he didn't miss at all but would laugh about (the worst campus coffee shop), and included lots of video of herself, because she was the one he wanted most to hear from.
This might be less relevant for you, but one thing she did that was unexpectedly neat was instead of giving it to him in private, she posted it on his facebook wall. The reason this was so great was that it prompted responses from other people, which made the whole thing snowball into even more awesomeness.
posted by dizziest at 9:43 AM on November 16, 2010
Things she did that helped: kept bugging us, encouraged each of us to be really creative in a way that was true to our personalities and our relationships with the birthday boy (mine was in the form of me reading aloud a silly sticker book about how much i missed him; my boyfriend-at-the-time's consisted entirely of him doing voiceover over a long shot of his cats; another friend of ours made one that was half of her trying to figure out if it was already recording or not and then ended with her failing to turn it off properly, and a note from our curatress explaining how she had to edit it... you get the idea), recorded videos at places around town that he loved and missed, recorded videos at places that he didn't miss at all but would laugh about (the worst campus coffee shop), and included lots of video of herself, because she was the one he wanted most to hear from.
This might be less relevant for you, but one thing she did that was unexpectedly neat was instead of giving it to him in private, she posted it on his facebook wall. The reason this was so great was that it prompted responses from other people, which made the whole thing snowball into even more awesomeness.
posted by dizziest at 9:43 AM on November 16, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for your responses. I guess I am just worried that I will undertake this and then have his friends and family (vs our mutual friends - I know I can bug them with no problem) think I'm annoying/it's a stupid idea/etc. So it's nice to hear that at least 2 people out there think it's a good idea.
posted by coupdefoudre at 10:59 AM on November 16, 2010
posted by coupdefoudre at 10:59 AM on November 16, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Re: your second question - I like "tell me your favorite memory" - I think it's a great question, and fun for someone who has known him a long time. You could also ask for their funniest memory of him, or what they hope for his next 30 years. You could ask everyone the same 3-4 questions and then pick&choose/edit responses together, choosing at least one from each person. Do make sure you include everyone saying their version of "Happy Birthday" though.
posted by AlisonM at 8:46 AM on November 16, 2010