What’s you’re subject? I’ve seen many videos where it’s hard to tell. I’ve seen the “subject” taking up a small portion of the frame while other unimportant and distracting people, objects, and scenery are taking up a majority of the picture. Choose you’re subject and make sure you’re subject takes up a majority of the screen.

If you’re interviewing your son after his soccer game, don’t do it in front of the half-empty parking lot and the road beyond. The cars driving in and out of the lot are noisy and visually distracting. A better choice would be to use the goalposts and net as a backdrop. The background should be relevant to you subject, but should not distract from your subject.

Although DVD players are in most homes (especially the homes of anyone reading this), there are still question about playing their discs. Here are some answers to some common questions:

• Keep disc stored in this container.  Scratches will damage this disc. Handle by edges only.
• On your remote press “DVD Menu” button to view contents of disc.
• For “repeat plays,” press the “repeat” button on your remote. Pressing this button more than once will give you choices between repeating the whole disc, repeating a “title” (which is a whole video program track number), or selecting “chapter repeat” which will only repeat a 3 minute segment of a video that you are currently viewing. Use “title repeat” to continuously repeat a single video program. 

Sometimes a DVD disc won’t play in your DVD player. This is usually because the DVD disc is burned, instead of stamped. A burned disc is made in small quantities, one at a time. A stamped disc is usually replicated with a minimum order of 1000. Hollywood movies are stamped (replicated). Personal, or small quantity productions are burned (duplicated). It’s rare; but once in a while, duplicated discs can be incompatible with your player. If this happens, don’t throw out the disc - try a new player.

Here is some information Once Upon a Time Video Productions usually includes with discs we create:

• We create DVD’s for our customers using the DVD-R (recordable) format.  DVD-R is not the same as DVD used by the motion picture industry for rental or purchased movies.
• Store purchased or movie rental DVDs are “pressed discs” that are stamped recordings made in massive quantities by specialized machines designed for (and only for) the motion picture industry.  These discs contain layers of information that can accommodate several hours of programming.
• DVD-R (recordable) discs are the current industry standard for commercial and consumer DVD creation, and it is the most widely used and accepted format.  However, not all DVD players will play DVD-R discs.
• DVD players made before the year 2000 and/or players tat are inexpensive off-brand department store models may not have included the new software or firmware to play the new recordable DVD-R discs.
• Examples of some (but not all) poor performing DVD players would include several models with names like:
  • Go-Video
  • Daewoo
  • Certain models of Magnavox
  • Certain models of Toshiba
  • Certain models of other brand names
• Examples of some (but not all) better quality DVD player brand names would include:
  • Sony
  • Pioneer
  • Phillips
  • Panasonic
  • Mitsubishi
  • JVC
  • Hitachi
  • As well as computers and lap-tops with DVD drives and Sony Play Station 2 also work well with DVD-R
• Some (but not all) combination units do not play DVD-Rs either:
  • TV/DVD units
  • DVD/VHS dual units
  • Etc.
• When looking through your owners manual, or shopping for a DVD player, check to see what other types of media will play in the DVD player.  Better models will easily play DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD Music, MP3 Music, VCDs, some CD-Rs, JPEGs, and Kodak Photo CDs.  Models that play more than just rental or purchased movies are better equipped to play our DVD-Rs.  If you are not sure of your DVD player, you can also look up your make and model number at this web site and it will let you know if your unit is compatible:  www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php.      

Once Upon a Time Video Productions is now proud to offer Memorial/Funeral videos. A Memorial Video is a loving tribute that pays homage to your loved one. Future generations will thank you for creating this treasured family heirloom.Created from still photos, slides and even home movies of your loved one, this video is set to appropriate music and enhanced with subtle motion. These memorials can be shown at wakes, viewing or funerals.Please visit our website for more details.