Family Video – Baby 0 to 3 months

The first 3 months, family videomaking is not the priority. Baby is most of the time  sleeping, drinking milk or crying every 2 to 3 hours or sometimes more often. Parents will generally be overwhelmed and extremely tired due to the lack of sleep. The parents' priority number one is taking care of baby and get some sleep whenever possible. In these conditions, if family videotaping cannot be done by one of the parents, a good idea is to request the help from a family member or friend  that will have a fresh eye on the situation. Of course, try to choose someone that has some minimum videotaping skills and that is willing to follow your instructions. Focus on baby... and the family Of course, the focus is baby and whoever is videotaping will spend most of the shooting time on baby with wide, medium and especially close shots to take advantage of the fact that baby is not moving a lot. The temptation is to film baby in calm situations only. However, at that stage, baby is changing every day and his/her life is already full of events and discoveries. Baby's open eyes and feeding times are of course the most obvious situations to record. Think also about baby's cries, bath and care as well as all development steps baby is going through for example their first eyes and limbs movements. Don't forget to videotape Mommy and Daddy in their new roles of parents... only when they are and look rested and available for exchanges with baby. Their expressive faces, words and sounds are very much worth to be captured. At the editing stage, alternating baby shots and parents shots will help communicate the first exchanges between the two generations. Videotape also all other members of the family present next to baby. One of the most unique shots you can make is the contrasting face to face between baby and grand-parents. Look for unexpected images like close shots of baby's body parts (hands, feet, ear, mouth...) that will help communicate baby's tinyness. Don't forget to also take some steady transition shots (Plan B shots) of surrounding objects (bedroom, crib, clothes, toys...). They will help at the editing stage create variety for the final family video.

HOW TO VIDEOTAPE? Kids Steps: Baby Shower New Baby Baby 0-3 months Baby 3-6 months Baby 6-12 months Baby First Steps Kids 1-2 years Kids 3-6 years Kids 7-10 years Teenagers Kids Events and Ideas: Kids Sporting Events Kids Birthday Party Day at the Zoo Pool Day The Beach Biking Rollers Poney Riding Visit the Farm Kids Bath Theme Parks Make them laugh Graduation Baptism Bar and Bat Mitsvah Carnivals and Parades

Baby Bath The first baby bath generally happens one week to 10 days after birth as the ombilical cord must be taken care of during the first few days. Baby will probably not express a lot of emotions during this first session but the whole episode is much worth being recorded. Again, alternate wide and close shots from different angles. Use your camcorder's swiveling screen to position the video camera vertically on top of the bathtub, inside the bathtub at baby's feet level. Videotape Mommy's hands cleaning baby's body and face. Take long shots of baby's face that sometimes will reveal appreciation of these relaxing moments. Capture the exit from the bathtub and the contact with the towel and Mommy's arms for the drying episode. You should now have everything you need for your family video. Baby Care Extend baby bath family videoclip with the care session that generally happens just after with refreshing and moisturing cream applied on baby's whole body and face. Babies like that and are most often very calm and appreciate being pampered. Again, look for multiple different angles and include in your family video close shots of baby's specific body areas like ears, hands, feet, mouth as well as Mommy's hands in action.

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