Fair warning: you may never send paper greeting cards ever again!
Video is an incredible medium for sentimental messages with an emotional punch. Put pictures of you and your loved one to music, and you’ve already got a winning formula. Then take it one step further with a few easy tricks that I’ll show you, and I guarantee some action on the 14th!
It’s super simple to make a great video for your loved one:
1. Photos. First step, round up some pictures of the two of you. They don’t have to be perfect (the emotion will come through no matter what), but if you’ve got a particularly good one set it aside to use at the end/climax of your video.
2. Style & soundtrack. Next, choose your favorite style on Animoto.com. We’ve got three for Valentine’s Day, or go with a more basic one if that’s your…ehem, style. (I really like our new one, Through the Blossoms, so maybe try that one!) The styles include their own soundtracks, and I’m a fan of them all.
3. Story. This is always the hard part of the video, but in this case it doesn’t have to be. Here are some typical narratives that people use for their Valentine’s videos:
- Traditional greeting card (more on this below)
- Year retrospective (“It’s been a wonderful year with you…to more and many more!”)
- Cute story (“Once upon a time there was a boy…”)
- Simple slideshow (after showing your photos, “I love us together! Love, me”)
A Valentine’s Day video using our new style
Think like a greeting card
If you’re stuck, just pretend you’re making a greeting card! Here’s why:
What’s nice about the classic greeting card format is that it works so well in video. Physical greeting cards are built on suspense: you read the first half of the message on the front cover, and then you open it up to get the rest of the message. Likewise, good video productions are built on suspense: you have to make your audience (in this case, your loved one) want to get to the end of the video, where you put the payoff.
So use a title card early in your video to create suspense, then make your loved one wait through few pictures, and only then give the final resolution. Here are three ideas:
- There’s something I don’t tell you enough… [show photos here, then] …I love you!
- You + me + lots of years = [show photos here, then] Wrinkly you + wrinkly me + happy memories!
- We met, we fell, we loved, time flew… [show photos here, then] …and I wouldn’t change a thing.
That should get you started. And if you’re still not feeling creative, we now have super-simple helpers to help you make a great video. Just look for the button under Valentine’s Day when you start your video.
Wishing you a very happy Valentine’s Day!