How to create a home movie protagonist

WHAT YOU NEED

  • a home (or any object that could be used as a shelter or any object that could be interpreted as a shelter from the right angles)

  • furniture, to taste

  • a light source (the softer, predictable lights of lamps is recommended but overhead lights or sunlight from a window will do)

  • a camcorder or other device that records video

  • a memory card

  • an extra memory card

  • a charger

  • an extra battery pack

  • a beloved of any age

  • a resonant moment

TIPS!

  • To determine whether a moment is resonant or not, ask yourself these three questions:

    • Is my beloved crying?

    • Is my beloved smiling?

    • Is my beloved transitioning in some way?

If your answer is no to all three, wait until you can honestly say yes. 

  • Please note that phone camera is not listed amongst equipment needs. That is because videos recorded on phones have a natural trajectory toward social media & that genre is totally different. Even with other cameras, you must be honest about your intended audience.

STEP ONE

Choose the protagonist. Your beloved may be the only one in the room. Perhaps they are living out a resonant moment like taking their first steps or sewing a gown for their niece’s prom. Focus on them. However, don’t completely disregard additional figures moving in & out of the frame. They layer complexity into the narrative & provide other personas for your audience to fall in love with.

STEP TWO

Turn on the camera. Be discreet. You don’t want to disturb the resonant moment, not from the beginning. Be swift. Second to second, beloveds change.

STEP THREE

Capture the scene. Document the setting as it is. Do not pick up the pile of clothes in the corner or wipe the unidentifiable smudge off the wall. If the camera unintentionally focuses on non-aesthetic elements, understand that they reveal just as much if not more as actions & words do.

STEP FOUR

Call your beloved’s name. They will look to you, notice the camera, & become a protagonist. They may reject it with a hand in the air to obscure their face. They may blush or preen or straighten their posture to enhance their image. They may squint & ask directly, “Are you recording?” As long as you do not receive threats, keep rolling.

STEP FIVE

Ask questions. Start with, “What are you doing?” Simply narrating what they are doing warms the protagonist up to the camera. Respond to their answers conversationally, keep the question & answer going for as long as they allow. The audience will hear the sound of their voice, the rhythm of it, & will experience the depth of their intellect / passion / charm.

STEP SIX

Zoom in on the action. You want to capture a close-up of the cake batter or the plants being pruned or the decor as its gingerly placed. Those details will end up feeling so real to the audience that they are mistakenly filed away as their own memories.

STEP SEVEN

Fade into the background. Make it seem as if you’ve stopped recording & left the room so the protagonist relaxes back into the task of their resonant moment. There is beauty in a beloved who has let go of self-consciousness & performance.

STEP EIGHT

Check your camera. Ensure that you have sufficient space on your memory card & sufficient battery life. The last thing you want is the screen to go black before you’ve finished recording.

STEP NINE

Note the shift. If you properly identified a resonant moment & wisely selected your protagonist, something will have changed in the room around them. It may be the mood of the others, it may be a physical thing they have managed to create or fix, it may be their own state of mind or status in the world. Capture whatever evidence you can of this shift while you’re still faded into the background. Evidence of the shift occurs after the resonant moment transitions back into mundane moments so be careful to not stop recording too soon. As mentioned, beloveds change from second to second. 

STEP TEN

Back up the footage. How many copies do you want & where do you want them saved?

STEP ELEVEN

Wait. The appeal of home movies is 1000% temporal. Allow a year or a decade or two pass before you show anyone. Do be sure your beloved sees it before they die. This is a crucial step in the creation of a home movie protagonist; they must witness their past-self on screen.