It all depends on your energy level. Most people can easily complete 3-4 questions per day. Some complete the entire 10-question chapter in one day. Each question arrives by email, one at a time, so take whatever time feels comfortable for you to complete the 10 questions. There is no time limit on completing the 10-question process.

Here are our current life chapter offerings:

· My Family and Early Life

· My Teenage Years

· My Military Service

· My University Years

· My Graduate School Years

· How We Met

· Marriage, Kids, and Family Life

· Partnerships Past (regarding ex-spouses or partners)

· My Career Story

· The Business I Built

· The Life I Built: Career, Travel, Hobbies

· My Travel Adventures

· The Golden Years and Thoughts for the Future

· My Faith Journey

There are many chapters that will apply to the vast majority of people, such as “My Teenage Years” or “My Family and Early Life.” Certain chapters will only apply to select people, such as “My Military Service” or “The Business I Built.” Currently, we have a total of 14 life “chapters” available to choose from. When you log in, you’ll be able to choose from all the available life chapters. When you click on one, you’ll see the bank of questions available to choose from for that chapter (choose 10 questions). If you don’t feel comfortable with the questions you see, you can go back a page and choose a different chapter. If you purchase an individual access or gift access, you can complete only one chapter. If you have a Community Code from an organization, you can return as many times as you like and complete unlimited chapters.

VividMemoirs is the first service to make it fast and affordable to create video biography movies. Part of what makes VividMemoirs so affordable is the use of our open-ended question bank. You can tell every story imaginable in response to our questions. We have yet to encounter a unique life memory that our questions did not allow the user to fully discuss, including military service, homemaking, musical careers, and entrepreneurial leadership, to name a few. But if there is a story you want to tell which our available questions don’t quite cover, there is always an option to write a question of your own. Each chapter allows the user to compose one custom question to complement nine selected from the question bank.

Yes. After you record your answer, you can watch a replay and you’ll be asked if you’re “Ready to Send?” If you hit “Yes,” you’re answer will be submitted to our system. If you hit “No,” that answer will be scrapped and you’ll be given the opportunity to re-record it.

If you think of a better answer to a question—and you have not yet completed all ten questions—you can go back to the email where you received that question and re-record the answer. The new answer that you submit will override your old answer. If, however, you have already received the movie chapter, you cannot change your answers at that point. You can of course re-do the entire chapter if you start over from the beginning and make a new movie chapter.

Yes, if there is a chapter that suits you both, such as “How We Met” or “My Travel Adventures,” feel free to answer it together. Position yourselves so you’re both visible in the camera shot and have a fun conversation about the topic.

Think of the five-minute story timer like a good book editor – helping you keep your stories moving along efficiently. We recommend sticking to our five-minute story timer, which is usually *plenty* of time to tell a rich story. But if you have a special story that needs a little longer, there is another option: You can pre-record your story—using any video recorder or phone or tablet—and then upload that movie file using the “Upload” function visible on the “Record your response” screen. There is no time limit on uploaded movie files. They should be .mov or .mp4 files.

If you encounter a problem along the way, just email info@vividmemoirs.com and we’ll respond as quickly as possible to help you.

Whatever you would normally wear when visiting with your friends and loved ones! That’s what people will expect to see you in. Don't overthink your appearance too much. Just brush your hair and wear a decent shirt. You don’t need to wear the same outfit every time you record - it's perfectly normal to wear different clothes in different scenes, and you can even change locations. Once you get started with the first question or two, you'll feel more relaxed and comfortable with your appearance on camera.

We don’t recommend this. People use a different—more robotic—tone when reading rather than when speaking naturally. Part of the charm of recording your memoirs on video is that people can hear your voice and see your emotions as you tell the story naturally. And if you make a slight verbal slip and correct yourself – that’s what will make your loved ones smile! They want to see you tell the story just as you would across your kitchen table. While it’s not necessary, some users find it helpful to jot down a few notes ahead of time, to remember the main points they want to cover.

In general, we recommend having some “depth” behind you such as a room with furniture – this can be a little more engaging for the viewer than having a blank wall behind you. But in the modern era of video calling, we’re all used to seeing people with all sorts of different backgrounds and spaces. Generally we encourage you not to worry about the perfect image or the perfect setting. Future generations will simply want to see your face and hear your voice talking about your life journey.

There is a small countdown on the screen when you’re recording, so glance at it from time to time. But five minutes is longer than you may think in story telling time! We encourage you to tell the “long version” of your story and if you happen to run out of time, you’ll be asked if you’d like to submit your response; simply click “No” and that version of your answer will be scrapped. You’ll be able to re-record your response, being a little more concise the second time around. We find that people rarely overrun the timer the second time around, because they are more certain of what they want to say.

Including photos is optional. After you complete a 10-question chapter, you’ll receive an emailed form giving you the opportunity to upload one photo per question. The photos will be overlaid on your video responses. So if you’ve answered a question about your teenage years, and you submit a photo of you and your teenage friends, in your finished movie, it will display while you’re speaking about that topic, adding color and visuals to your verbal response. The photo upload form is clear and easy to navigate, with simple instructions on the page.

Your 10-question movie will have professional editing throughout. This includes stylized chapter headers and question slides (displaying the question you’re answering), background music, photo fade-ins and -outs, floating photo captions, and graceful transitions. Your verbal answers are not edited – the video answer you give to each question is the answer that will be included in your movie.

When you complete a 10-question movie chapter, you’ll receive an emailed link to view and download the movie. You can play it as many times as you like, but make sure to download it (save it to your computer) within 30 days. The link will not work anymore after 30 days. VividMemoirs stores a backup copy of each movie, available upon request, for one year, in case a user’s copy is lost or corrupted. After one year, all copies of your movie are deleted. If you prefer your movie to be deleted sooner than one year, just email us at info@vividmemoirs.com with your request, and we’re happy to accommodate.

Most of the major video software companies have decommissioned their support of DVD-making technology. It is therefore difficult for VividMemoirs to create custom DVDs at a reasonable cost. Also, fewer and fewer homes have DVD players in recent decades, so it is not the ideal media on which to store video any longer.

VividMemoirs is actively working on this. At this moment, your digital download of your movie chapter (such as “My Teenage Years” or “My Career Story”) is the final product. You can share the email link with your loved ones to view and download it for themselves. Stay tuned as we work on ways to produce a keepsake edition which can store your movie on your shelf with other media. You can always save your movie onto a boxed USB Flash Drive like this one, which you can label and giveaway to your friends and loved ones.

Our system is equipped to receive your high-quality HD video signal. The most important factor affecting the finished quality will be the level of lighting in your room. If the lighting is dim, or if your camera lens has smudges on it, it may affect the final appearance of your movie somewhat. You’ll be able to see your video on the replay screen, and adjust your lighting and sound if desired.

Our process is easy and user friendly; everything you need to know will be explained along the way. If you or your loved one is someone who enjoys shopping online or using a smartphone, then you will probably do just fine with our online interview model. If you are someone who has frequent difficulty with computers, we encourage you to have a technologically-savvy friend or family member present while you move through the first interview question or two, to help you pick up the rhythm of how it all works.

Yes! For those who have purchased individual access, we offer a 14-day money back guarantee, assuming the user has not completed the interview process by then. Once the interview has been completed and the production of your movie has begun, we can no longer offer a refund at that point. Your satisfaction with your finished movie is guaranteed - if you have a concern about your finished product, contact us and we'll make it right!