Photo Collage Instructions

Length

The first step to a successful photo collage is figuring out the intended audience and organizing your collage to the needs of that audience. If, for instance, your collage is for celebrating the life or lives of specific people and it will be presented to a large audience, then it is advisable that the length be between 10 and 20 minutes. If the intent is to document the entire history of your family, you could create a project that would be similar to a feature length film (up to 2 hours). A two-hour production could have as many as 1000 pictures! Each picture is generally on the screen for 6 to 8 seconds (8 to 10 pictures a minute). So a 10 minute collage = 100 pictures, 20 minute collage = 200 pictures, 1 1/2 hour collage is 90 minutes = 900 pictures(more or less). Photos are the backbone of most collages. Other media such as video are best used as accents to the main photo idea of the collage. Each unit of time should have at least 15 pictures. It is best if they have about 30 - 45. Most music is about 3-4 minutes long and we will be trying to fit these pictures to your musical selections.

Photo Selection

A few things to keep in mind when you are choosing pictures:

1. The transfer process does not enhance the existing picture.

2. TV screens are wider than tall, so horizontal pictures fit naturally to the size of a television screen. Vertical pictures may have to be cropped or have black bars on each side of the photo to fill the screen.

3. Pictures need to be removed from any type of frame.

4. Do not scan old photos. If you have digital pictures, you can burn them to a CD. The higher the resolution the better. Please do not e-mail them.

5. Pay close attention to the pictures you are selecting for the beginning and ending of the project. These may be on the screen the longest and you may want to add titling to them.

6. Very small pictures are fine.

Music Selection Guidelines

There are no rules for selecting music. Some people choose music that matches the genre of the pictures; others try to match the theme of the pictures to the theme of the music and others just select music they like. Your music should be on a CD (original or burned and please, no MP3 files). Your music will be returned to you along with your photos. Please make sure to include enough music for your entire collage.
Remember, there are approximately 8 photos per minute. Please be aware that titling can add an additional 8 - 10 seconds per title page. We can cut out part of the introduction if there is a long lead in or fade the song out early, but we cannot make a song longer so do not try to squeeze in too many photos into one song.

Labeling Photos

Numbered post-its on the back of the photos work the best. You can also number them with a pencil or pen but be sure to press lightly so as not to damage the front of the photo.

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