The holidays are approaching quickly and Christmas is almost a month way believe it or not. You may enter into stores and see the decorations and probably thinking of gifts for your beloved ones. Let's say you are on a tight budget this year but want to make a gift that really hits home. Something that is unique and leaves a long-lasting impression.

Well, one of my recommendations for you is to make a home video. Now some of you may ask what is a home video? Well to me a home video is basically a video that has people who are personally close to your in life and you share all the best memories in one video. Now, this is an excellent gift for your family in general or if you got a significant other this gift will definitely cause some tears of joy.

So if you are interested in knowing the steps on how to make a home video, here are my steps/ recommendations to make the content.

1.) Find out who you are going to dedicate the video to...

What do I mean by this you may ask? You got to know who your audience is and start from there.

2.) Find content: time to go back to memory lane

After you have figured out who your audience it is now time to go back to memory lane. Nowadays, it is easier to find content because everyone has a smart device and we create content by the click of a button. So go on your hard drive, camera, desktop, photo library, and try to find clips that YOU THINK WILL MATTER TO THE PERSON YOU ARE GIVING THE VIDEO TO. You got remember the video is not for yourself, it's for your beloved one, so try to stay in focus.

TIP: The clips you chose doesn't have to be all fancy with great lightening or nice views. Chose a clip that shows more raw emotion such as smiling and laughter.

Finding a clip that says, " I LOVE YOU" or simple laugh or smile is like hitting the jackpot.

3.) For people who have footage that uses VHS ('90s and back), go to Best Buy to find an adapter that will burn and transfer the footage onto your laptop.

For people who have footage from 90's the old vintage way. I would recommend going to best buy and trying to find this an adapter that will burn the footage you have on a cassette to your laptop. It may be hard to find that I would try to also look at Amazon or old stores that sell vintage electric devices.

4.) Once you have all of your clips, make a library of those clips and use iMovie or other Final Cut Pro etc.

If you are trying to go cheap I would recommend iMovie, Final Cut Pro is better and advanced. However, if you are a beginner I would say just do IMovie or any other software that works for your computer.

5.) Look on Youtube for inspiration.

You want this video to be good right? So why not study from the best, which is youtube. There are millions of people each day uploading videos and I will provide links to videos that I think may inspire you.

- Kanye's home video to Kim for her bday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh3jIngaoaw

This video is great for that push or an idea of what you may want to include in your video. A lot of people may have seen this video but its touching and heartwarming to see. It is a very thoughtful video and as you can see it all focuses on Kim. It focuses on something that touches her, which is her father and you want to get that reaction.

- How to make a video for your boyfriend/girlfriend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiy58V0N4Dk&t=400s

This is a nice tutorial from a cute couple from Alyssa and Trey. They use final cut pro and provide nice tips on to how a video now using footage of the modern day. It is nice and cute and funny.

6.) Time For Nitty Gritty: Transitions, trimming and music

The hardest or the funniest part is putting everything together in a storyline and pick out a song that means the most to your beloved one. It could be an anniversary song.

7.) Critiques From Friends

After you made the final cut, you can show it to your friends and ask for critiques. Is the sound, quality, or transitions too fast or something you have not have understood?

8.) Flash drive or Google Photos

A flash drive or google photos is the best way to save and share this significant video. I hope you enjoyed it and hope this helps!