In 2022, our eldest was in Year 6. Everything was last minute, as it always is. A group of mums rallied together and organised a leavers party and even more last minute I decided to film it.
Nothing fancy , just capturing what was happening. When I made the final film, everyone loved it.

Two years later, our youngest reached Year 6. This time, I had new ideas and was out ahead of things.
The school yearbook was coming together… and honestly, the photos were terrible (togs can say that right?).

So I approached the school. I offered to come in and help photograph the children for teh year book playing, choosing friendship groups, just being themselves. It waas post-exam they were happy for me to come and help kill some time!

I asked if I could also film short interviews with the children. And I had a bigger idea… could we turn this into a surprise for parents at the leavers’ assembly? The school agreed.

We told the children we were making something special for their parents. And asked them not to say anything. And somehow… they didn’t. It stayed a complete surprise.

On the day, I kept everything as simple as possible.

• One camera on a tripod
• A basic microphone on the camera (the audio wasn’t great!)
• A single marked spot on the floor

Lined the kids up in a row, walked in turns, stood on the mark, and spoke into camera.

This is subtle but makes a big difference on something like this! 
I asked each child to repeat the question in their answer.

So instead of:

“A pilot.”

They would say:

“When I grow up, I would like to be a pilot.”

It sounds small, but it completely changes the emotional feel of the film. It adds no end of personality.

Some started speaking before they reached the mark, becaue they were a but shy and wanted it done quickly. So make sure you gently (but firmly) ask them to stand on the mark and look at the camera before they give their answer 😉

Some answers were unexpected, funny, or a tad awkward – but all full of personality!!!! 

I asked these questions, but you can make up any:

“What’s your favorite memory about primary school?”

“What are you most looking forward to at secondary school?”

“What would you like to do when you grow up?”

At the end, I added one more question:

“What do you love most about your mum?”

Because I knew this was a questions the mums would never expect to hear and I loved how we gave them that moment!

I combined footage from:

• The last school day
• The interviews
• The assembly
• The singing and awards
• Afternoon tea outside
• The leavers party
• Even behind-the-scenes moments of mums setting things up

Something for families to keep.

I edited this in Davinci REsolve, but use any program you like. You can use your phone only if you prefer! The song is the one their teacher choose for her leavers speach and presentation, and I love her choice! (She also chose a brillaint song for the previous year that I used). No, I do not have a lisence for the song, hence this never made it out into any wider world, like social media. 

You don’t have to do it the way I did but just do something, you will love it. Video is a delicious extra layer of memories on top of stills.
I made a point of doing a portrait of each child with their mum, because most of them didn;t have any!

If you try it, I’d absolutely love to hear from you! Good luck. It can be rough and ready, no one casres about polished! 

I don;t feel I can share the entire interviews but this will give you a feel for wha they looked like and how I put it together for the assembly. Not polished, but loved by everyone!

If you are curious about learning how to add video to your photography I run various training from in-person 1-2-1 to tiny online intros or ever-green courses. Do get in touch if you have any questions. 

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