With the holiday season here, we at MHAT-19 suggest making
connecting with friends and loved ones extra special by sharing
your season’s greetings by taking advantage of easy-to-use digital
video technology.
With the holiday season here, we at MHAT-19 suggest making connecting with friends and loved ones extra special by sharing your season’s greetings by taking advantage of easy-to-use digital video technology.
A new holiday trend has been emerging where families are editing video footage and photos taken of family activities, and turning them into DVD or online videos they can send to special people.
You can make these “video holiday greetings” as simple or as elaborate as you have time to do. For something simple, gather your family together around a holiday setting – such as the Christmas tree or a Hanukah menorah – and have someone point a video-camera or smart phone at everyone.
Perhaps everyone can sing a Christmas song or have one of the children read a favorite poem such as “The Night Before Christmas” or a passage from the Torah. You can then upload this straight to YouTube and put the video’s website link on your Facebook page or send out the link to people you want to share your special greetings with.
If you want to take this project up to the next level, you can purchase commercial video editing software that will let you take your raw video footage and give it more of a polished look. Many systems let you add family photos and incorporate music into the video to give it more pizzazz. And definitely get your kids involved in helping out with this venture. Seeing how tech-savvy a lot of youngsters are these days, you might find that your kids will have a jolly holiday time by being a part of this project.
For the ultimate holiday video, we recommend taking footage of family events – weddings, birthday parties, vacation trips and others – throughout the course of the year. When next year’s holiday season comes around, incorporate this footage into a special edition DVD you can give your friends and family that they can cherish for years to come.
The South Valley region has plenty of fun – and often free – activities during the holiday season that will provide great opportunities to shoot video. Downtown San Juan Bautista is hosting its annual Holiday in Lights Parade as well as an open house of many of the merchants on Dec. 3. Also on that evening, downtown Hollister will hold a special Tree of Lights Lighting Ceremony and Community Christmas Concert at 5:30 p.m. at the Veterans Building. At 7 p.m. Dec. 3, there will be a free holiday concert at Hollister’s San Benito High School auditorium.
St. Benedict Catholic Church in Hollister will hold a Christmas Around the World concert performed by the San Benito County Oriana Chorale on Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hollister will hold the same concert on Dec. 11 at 3 p.m. The choir will also perform on Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mission San Juan Bautista. Tickets for each of these concerts cost $15 for adults, $10 for teens and are free for kids 12 and under.
Downtown Gilroy and downtown Morgan Hill will hold their annual holiday parades and arrival of Santa Claus on the evening of Dec. 3. And on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m., the South Valley Symphony will perform traditional seasonal music at Gavilan Community College. General admission is $20 and youth 18 or under get in free, as well as students with identification.
The holiday season is a magic time here in the South Valley. We have plenty of opportunities to enjoy festive fun – and also record them with video technology to relive all the magical moments later. We at MHAT-19 wish you and your loved ones many warm and happy memories as you celebrate with your family and friends.
