See how amazing the "Story Booth" can be for you and your family at the St. George FamilySearch Library, and then read more of how to use the "Story Booth" after the video.
The video above demonstrates the technology and gives a little insight to “what” this one-of-a-kind recording studio can be used for, but I want to share the why and give a little background on what the Story Booth is.
The Lord knows what He wants, and it is an amazing experience to be a part of the process when He reveals it to us. The Spirit confirms to us and guides us, so the end result is what the Lord wants if we just listen and obey. In turn our testimony is strengthened, and we are blessed with increased capacity and willingness to listen the next time. These experiences don’t happen every day, but when they do they are noteworthy and need to be shared to strengthen testimonies and further the work. The St George FamilySearch Library’s new “Story Booth” is one of those experiences I am glad to be a part of and wanted to share.
Our Story Booth was originally known as the “Oral History Room”and there are actually four others in operation in the world at this time—but the only one that has this Green Screen technology is in St George (Go to YouTube and search for “Green Screen” or “Chromakey” to learn more about this technology.). The other Story Booths have a plain wall for a background and are a very static environment. They have the same lighting systems, cameras, microphones, hardware and software to capture those memories and preserve them for future generations. As I looked at them, I realized there are really two sides of this whole Story Booth experience if you think about it:
1-The Patron Experience: This is the person who actually comes in and records their memories. Up to this point, it has been marketed as a way to get “grandma or grandpa” in to tell their story before they can no longer tell it themselves anymore. They came into a room with four white walls, bright lights and a camera/microphone to record them talking. It honestly felt something like a police interrogation room. While sitting there, we were expecting grandma/grandpa to share their life's’most spiritual and/or special personal stories and really open up in this awkward room. We really felt it needed to be more like their home livingroom with furniture and décor that would make them feel more at home and comfortable as they are sharing those experiences uninhibited.
2-The Future Viewer Experience: Fast forward 20 years and imagine that your grandma/grandpa recorded dozens of hours of videos at our Story Booth talking about their lives, and you had copies of those to watch at your leisure. All those hours of videos would have the same background. Now imagine that you want to share one of those recordings for a family night or just to reminisce. Good luck finding the time when they talked about the their childhood, the war, their mission, wedding, baptism, etc. On the flip-side, imagine that each story they told about the wedding had pictures of them in the background as they talked about it. It would be more interesting, more captivating, and easier to skip through and find those stories based on what you saw and heard.
This new Story Booth improves both experiences. We now have 3 options and ways you can use it:
1- The Traditional Way: the way it has been all along with a nice, clean, plain back-ground. This means no major preparation needed. Just show up and record your memories, life experiences, stories, and/or testimony. You can however bring "things" to show as you talk like the favorite doll, toy, vase, necklace, photograph, etc.
2- The Live Green Screen: If you choose to add pictures to your presentation, there will be a green screen placed behind you while you talk about pictures shown on a monitor in front of you (like a weather man) and you can point to things in the pictures which is more interactive, but requires you to put together your photos on a USB thumb drive before you come to record the video. Then you would just click through each photo. As the photos show on the background, you can talk about each one. On a side note, we do have digital slide and photo scanners at the library to help you prepare those pictures, but still requires a little work before you get a finished video like the one I created above.
3- The Post Production Green Screen: This is an option you can use if you do NOT have all your pictures ready yet. Just show up and record your memories. You can come in and record the video without any pictures or preparation. Then once it is recorded and saved, you can add your background photos/videos and re-save your video with the new additions any time in the future (Free software is available and/or included for Windows and Mac computers.). This gives you the option to just talk openly and then put pictures/videos in later if you wish to create the finished video.
Regardless of which option you choose, we want you to use the "Story Booth" and record your personal history because it is a priceless gift you are creating for yourself, your family members and some day for your posterity. Don’t wait until you are older and then hope to remember all the special details. We took my wife’s 86 year old grandma into the Story Booth last week, and she shared some great experiences and testimonies. We have read some of her 50 year old journals where she had written some of the same stories, but there are a lot more details in the journals than she was able to share the other night. I will admit that I don’t remember my baptism as well today as I did when I was 8, my mission today as well as I did the day I came home, or all the details of my wedding only nine years ago. But I remember them better now than I will when I am 86 if I’m still alive then The point is this, we have the Story Booth available now. What special memories do you want to save into the future. Imagine seeing and hearing your loved ones telling their most important experiences that you will have preserved for them and for your posterity?
In closing, the Story Booth isn't just for grandma and grandpa. It is for EVERYONE. If you are alive, you have a story to tell, and you should tell it now while you still can. If you are reading this, you have already thought of at-least one thing you would like to record and save. Let me add a few more to your list. Below are some ideas that would be great for you to record:
1- New baby, sibling, etc.- Share your feelings of being a parent, or big brother, sister,
etc.
2- Baptism: convert or not, this is a time to share and remember
3- Receiving the Priesthood, Scouting, Young Women’s experiences, school, sports,
music or accomplishments that are mile-stones in your life.
4- College decisions, programs, applications, etc.
5- Missions, calls, experiences, testimonies, etc.
6- Military service, experiences, etc.
7- Marriage and dating experiences, stories, etc.
8- Marriage, health, financial trials and experiences
9- Church service experiences and testimony building experiences
10- Birth, mothers messages to their child they place in adoption and/or adoptive parents
sharing their testimony, love and experiences
11- Memories of loved ones who have already died.
12- Completing a goal, first events, surviving/meeting a challenge
13- Other notable accomplishments, trials, or experiences that you want to record and
save.
Now you have a decision to make. Are you going to schedule a time to come use the Story Booth? Click on “Schedule a Group” on the home page of this website or Facebook page and get started now. I bear testimony to you that the Lord has prepared it for this purpose, and you won’t regret it.
The Lord knows what He wants, and it is an amazing experience to be a part of the process when He reveals it to us. The Spirit confirms to us and guides us, so the end result is what the Lord wants if we just listen and obey. In turn our testimony is strengthened, and we are blessed with increased capacity and willingness to listen the next time. These experiences don’t happen every day, but when they do they are noteworthy and need to be shared to strengthen testimonies and further the work. The St George FamilySearch Library’s new “Story Booth” is one of those experiences I am glad to be a part of and wanted to share.
Our Story Booth was originally known as the “Oral History Room”and there are actually four others in operation in the world at this time—but the only one that has this Green Screen technology is in St George (Go to YouTube and search for “Green Screen” or “Chromakey” to learn more about this technology.). The other Story Booths have a plain wall for a background and are a very static environment. They have the same lighting systems, cameras, microphones, hardware and software to capture those memories and preserve them for future generations. As I looked at them, I realized there are really two sides of this whole Story Booth experience if you think about it:
1-The Patron Experience: This is the person who actually comes in and records their memories. Up to this point, it has been marketed as a way to get “grandma or grandpa” in to tell their story before they can no longer tell it themselves anymore. They came into a room with four white walls, bright lights and a camera/microphone to record them talking. It honestly felt something like a police interrogation room. While sitting there, we were expecting grandma/grandpa to share their life's’most spiritual and/or special personal stories and really open up in this awkward room. We really felt it needed to be more like their home livingroom with furniture and décor that would make them feel more at home and comfortable as they are sharing those experiences uninhibited.
2-The Future Viewer Experience: Fast forward 20 years and imagine that your grandma/grandpa recorded dozens of hours of videos at our Story Booth talking about their lives, and you had copies of those to watch at your leisure. All those hours of videos would have the same background. Now imagine that you want to share one of those recordings for a family night or just to reminisce. Good luck finding the time when they talked about the their childhood, the war, their mission, wedding, baptism, etc. On the flip-side, imagine that each story they told about the wedding had pictures of them in the background as they talked about it. It would be more interesting, more captivating, and easier to skip through and find those stories based on what you saw and heard.
This new Story Booth improves both experiences. We now have 3 options and ways you can use it:
1- The Traditional Way: the way it has been all along with a nice, clean, plain back-ground. This means no major preparation needed. Just show up and record your memories, life experiences, stories, and/or testimony. You can however bring "things" to show as you talk like the favorite doll, toy, vase, necklace, photograph, etc.
2- The Live Green Screen: If you choose to add pictures to your presentation, there will be a green screen placed behind you while you talk about pictures shown on a monitor in front of you (like a weather man) and you can point to things in the pictures which is more interactive, but requires you to put together your photos on a USB thumb drive before you come to record the video. Then you would just click through each photo. As the photos show on the background, you can talk about each one. On a side note, we do have digital slide and photo scanners at the library to help you prepare those pictures, but still requires a little work before you get a finished video like the one I created above.
3- The Post Production Green Screen: This is an option you can use if you do NOT have all your pictures ready yet. Just show up and record your memories. You can come in and record the video without any pictures or preparation. Then once it is recorded and saved, you can add your background photos/videos and re-save your video with the new additions any time in the future (Free software is available and/or included for Windows and Mac computers.). This gives you the option to just talk openly and then put pictures/videos in later if you wish to create the finished video.
Regardless of which option you choose, we want you to use the "Story Booth" and record your personal history because it is a priceless gift you are creating for yourself, your family members and some day for your posterity. Don’t wait until you are older and then hope to remember all the special details. We took my wife’s 86 year old grandma into the Story Booth last week, and she shared some great experiences and testimonies. We have read some of her 50 year old journals where she had written some of the same stories, but there are a lot more details in the journals than she was able to share the other night. I will admit that I don’t remember my baptism as well today as I did when I was 8, my mission today as well as I did the day I came home, or all the details of my wedding only nine years ago. But I remember them better now than I will when I am 86 if I’m still alive then The point is this, we have the Story Booth available now. What special memories do you want to save into the future. Imagine seeing and hearing your loved ones telling their most important experiences that you will have preserved for them and for your posterity?
In closing, the Story Booth isn't just for grandma and grandpa. It is for EVERYONE. If you are alive, you have a story to tell, and you should tell it now while you still can. If you are reading this, you have already thought of at-least one thing you would like to record and save. Let me add a few more to your list. Below are some ideas that would be great for you to record:
1- New baby, sibling, etc.- Share your feelings of being a parent, or big brother, sister,
etc.
2- Baptism: convert or not, this is a time to share and remember
3- Receiving the Priesthood, Scouting, Young Women’s experiences, school, sports,
music or accomplishments that are mile-stones in your life.
4- College decisions, programs, applications, etc.
5- Missions, calls, experiences, testimonies, etc.
6- Military service, experiences, etc.
7- Marriage and dating experiences, stories, etc.
8- Marriage, health, financial trials and experiences
9- Church service experiences and testimony building experiences
10- Birth, mothers messages to their child they place in adoption and/or adoptive parents
sharing their testimony, love and experiences
11- Memories of loved ones who have already died.
12- Completing a goal, first events, surviving/meeting a challenge
13- Other notable accomplishments, trials, or experiences that you want to record and
save.
Now you have a decision to make. Are you going to schedule a time to come use the Story Booth? Click on “Schedule a Group” on the home page of this website or Facebook page and get started now. I bear testimony to you that the Lord has prepared it for this purpose, and you won’t regret it.
