Filming with Family
Here at Starlife, filming with family doesn't mean making family films.
And filming on your holidays doesn't mean making holiday films...
We Starlifes are storytellers. Whether it's based on fiction or facts, storytelling can be a great inspiration. But around us, the art of storytelling is fading away. Hollywood just focus on special effects, while YouTubers and TikTokers keep uploading ever shorter clips. Both lacking deeper narratives.
We went the other direction. We wanted to inspire everyone to become storytellers, regardless of skills and budgets. Being an international family, we Starlifes travel near and far. Both on holidays, business trips, or to meet friends and family. Often a bit of all.
So we decided to use these occasions to film. But NOT holiday or family films. We wanted to make real fiction, action and mystery films! A kind of family-friendly underground films. Kids and parents interchanging as cast and crew, sometimes with a little help from friends and locals in the places we visit. But no paid actors or crew.
We also opted to use only low-budget equipment. If you google the smallest budget you'll need to make a short film, you will probably get a 5-digit number of euros, pounds or dollars. It's not true. We have nearly no budget, using whatever we already got. Good smartphones or small camcorders are just fine.
Naturally, this approach will influence the technical quality. So will our lack of expertise in some areas, like editing & special effects. But again, we like to focus on the story. If you can enjoy reading a book without any pictures at all, or an old black & white Chaplin film, this will certainly work as well!
If you have kids, they are probably already creative. Making real movies in exciting locations will help them grow further. They will become used to make plans, carry out different tasks, organizing their thoughts and taking responsibility. In the end, they will be very proud of themselves.
- Just remember to have fun, laugh at the bloopers and take lots of ice cream breaks!
We would also like to give you some advices:
If you are filming in the public, please don't film individual strangers closeup. A square with more distant people is Ok. Also, some locations (like museums and palaces) don't really allow random filming. This can be a bit of a challenge. We don't encourage anyone to break the rules. However, if you are a bit sensitive and discreet, you'll probably find a solution here as well. Use your common sense!
Also, remember that when you film in high resolution, both smartphones and camcorders will run out of power faster than you think. Don't forget the chargers or extra battery power! For smartphones, also clean your lenses now and then. Some greasy fingers after a lunch break could ruin your day!
That's it! Filming in this way during your family trips creates many benefits. It helps connecting the world in a more real physical sense than the Web does. You learn more about the places you visit. You connect more with the locals, and sometimes they help you out. You and your kids may get friends for life!
That is our Starlife Stories. Wherever we go, we hope to inspire a new generation of low-budget storytellers to create longer and smarter content. Stories that make you think and feel something. Stories you remember. And at the same time, we have a lot of fun.
- Why not give it a try? If you have any ideas, don't hesitate to email us. Good luck!
