My earliest experience with an amateur vacation presentation must have been watching slideshows projected onto a screen from a Kodak Carousel Slide Projector.
These projectors had an automatic mode that changed slides every few seconds, or the presenter could narrate using a wired remote control to move forward or backward. Entertainment value was directly proportional to the presenter's sense of humor.
My cousins pointed their camcorder at a projection screen to create this video. Watching the clip is very similar to a watching a live 35mm slideshow. Sometimes there's an empty slot in the slide tray, or a photo is sideways or reversed. As the picture changes, there's a brief flash of brightness, then a moment of confusion while the projector auto-focuses.
Digital slideshows would have astonished my uncle! His editing creativity was limited to the "forward" and "reverse" buttons on the remote control!
Lesson Learned: Regardless of the technology used, "preserving memories" might be the most important result of our hobby.
The last time I saw a Carousel Projector was several years ago at a memorial service. That gathering was extraordinarily grateful for the efforts of the family's amateur photographer. It doesn't that we're not professionals; our efforts will someday find a very appreciative audience!
Suggestion: Scan your old slides and prints to preserve them and provide source material for future video editing projects.
Prints are easy to scan at home; slides are more difficult. But there are numerous reputable companies who offer to clean your slides and negatives, scan them at high resolution, and deliver a DVD of the scanned images.
George
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