ABOUT SITAWHILE FOREVER
At SitAwhile360, we love telling stories. We believe that stories are at the heart of our humanity. They help us understand the world around us. They help us understand each other.
They also help us remember. And that’s where the idea for SitAwhile Forever was born because there’s one type of story that is most important to us but they’re fragile and rarely recorded. Our own family stories.
In time, family faces fade, voices become forgotten and family stories slip from the memory – or worse, are never told in the first place.
Fortunately, now, more than ever before, there are ways to capture these stories before they’re lost. There are apps and storybook services, you can even use your own smart phone. But, at SitAwhile360, we believe there’s a way that is immensely more powerful than those options – using 360/180 3D video with spatial audio. Why? Because when viewed in a VR headset, a VR stereoscopic video story, with spatial audio, is so immersive it’s as if you’re sitting in the room with the person telling the story. And that person could be you, telling your stories for your current and future family members to experience whenever and wherever they like, through the magic of VR video.
We believe these SitAwhile Forever VR video stories will be an amazing legacy and gift for any family – a moment with a family member captured in time.
FAMILY LEGACY VR VIDEOS - THE Process
At SitAwhile360, this is a new service offering that we are still developing and finessing. We appreciate that this service is very sensitive and important to the families we work with so we need to get it right. To that end, we are currently looking for three clients to trial the service at a very heavily discounted rate (see below).
360 VR video is a lot more complex and time-consuming to produce than linear video as it needs a specialist 360 stereoscopic camera, spatial audio microphones, etc. The post production process is also incredibly laborious as it requires 6 video files to be stitched together into a single very large (6 or 8K) file that is then time-consuming and cumbersome to edit. Consequently, the equipment and labour costs mean it is significantly more expensive to produce a 360 VR video than a linear video. That’s why we anticipate that SitAwhile Forever videos will be a very niche product due to its necessarily high price point.
In addition, SitAwhile Forever is offering more than just a filming and editing service. We want to ensure you tell your stories in as engaging and memorable a way as possible. To that end, we will use the Storybuilder approach we use with our corporate clients to ensure we unearth and structure stories in the most powerful way. Storybuilder is a structured process that helps us better understand you, and what’s important to you, before we begin the recording process. It also helps us ensure we capture the most important messages and stories during the recording session.
The Storybuilder process will consist of some pre-production virtual meetings where we help you collate your thoughts and memories into the stories and messages that are most important to you. During this process, we will also determine if there are key photos and family videos that will help to illustrate your stories. We will then build a series of questions and prompt points to use in the recording session to drive the story capture.
The video recording session will be about four hours long at the location we will have determined during the Storybuilder process. This will allow us time to set up the equipment and then record the stories in a series of short sessions so as not to overwhelm and tire you out. At the end of this session, we will then collect/digitise the photos and videos we identified during the Storybuilder process that will need to be incorporated into the final videos.
Every client’s needs will be different but, at this stage, we are anticipating that, in the basic package, we will deliver a series of five to ten minute short structured stories totalling between 30 minutes and one hour of finished video content.
We will deliver the master files either on a hard drive or as downloadable files that you can archive however you feel best suits your needs. Additionally, we will offer the option of receiving the videos pre-loaded on a VR headset, such as the Oculus Quest, with the files optimised for viewing on the chosen device.
VR technology changes fast so we will also offer the option of having your files optimised and preloaded onto the technology that is available at the point in time you’d like it delivered to your family.
Be amongst the first to tell your SitAwhile Forever stories
We are currently fine tuning our SitAwhile Forever offering and are looking for some participants to record their stories. For the first three successful applicants, we will deliver their SitAwhile Forever recording free of charge (file only, no VR headset). In return, we just ask that you provide us continual feedback throughout the production process and, ideally, a testimonial once you’ve received your final SitAwhile Forever 360 3D video.
So, if you’re based in Sydney, the Central Coast or Newcastle, and are keen to be one of the first three clients to record your SitAwhile Forever stories and family 360 VR messages, then please contact us below to find out more.
SitAwhile Forever - three quick stories about the idea
1. It wasn't my idea!
Watching people experience VR video through a VR headset for the first time is always great fun. I absolutely love watching their jaws drop open in amazement and then seeing the broad smile that appears below the headset as they look around and witness the virtual environment for the first time. It’s the level of immersion they experience that always blows them away.
With many of my friends, it also seems to trigger their imagination to think about how VR can be used. “Wow, imagine if…”, “This would be great for…”, etc. are common phrases I hear during discussions after their first VR immersion.
It’s obviously not a unique experience and helps to explain why so many people in companies such as Meta are investing their time and billions of dollars into the technology!
Just after I’d launched this SitAwhile360 website, I was showing a friend of mine some of the SitAwhile videos and she said “Wow, this would be amazing for the Aged Care sector!”
It’s not a sector I know much about so I asked why?
She explained that depression and anxiety are common issues for long term residents and believed that the SitAwhile360 experiences would be a great way for them to relive experiences that were now too difficult for them, such as sitting on a beach watching a sunrise or sunset, sitting in the middle of a nature reserve listening to the birds and insects, etc. She felt it would stimulate their memories and entertain them at the same time.
Interesting, I thought.
And then she became really excited! “Wow, imagine if you used this technology to record their stories for their families!”
My friend had recently had a health scare which had made her face her mortality. She explained that, for her, if she was to pass, she would love to be able to leave behind some stories and messages of love for her young child.
I personally found the idea a bit morbid but she was passionate about it. So passionate, that she recorded a version of what she was thinking on her iPhone and sent it through to me, explaining how powerful she’d found the experience as she now knew there was a file out there that contained everything she wanted to say to her child in the event that she was to suddenly pass.
When I watched the video, the emotional power of her stories and messages was amazing so it got me thinking: “Would I have appreciated being given a SitAwhile Forever video that allowed me to virtually sit with a loved one and hear their stories?” The answer was yes.
Let me explain…
2. "And then we won the BAFTA...
...and it inspired Paul McCartney to write a song!"
“What! You won a BAFTA?! How come I didn’t know about that?!”
It was about two weeks before my father died and I was sitting with him in his lounge in England, drinking our favourite Macallan whisky and chatting about his life. He was suffering from late-stage cancer and knew his time was now very limited. I was due to return to Australia a few days later so this would be our last ever evening together.
During that evening, he’d been telling me about being a child growing up during the war years and the childhood japes he got up to with his older brother. He then told me about his journey to becoming a BBC documentary film editor and about working with David Attenborough on his first “zoo” series. I then learned about favourite documentary series that he worked on and how he eventually left the BBC to start his own editing business to produce his own film productions with a director friend of his, Adrian Cowell.
Together, they produced a film that became a slice of anthropological history called “The Tribe That Hides From Man” about an Indianist in Brazil who goes deep into the Amazon jungle to try and make contact with the elusive and hostile Kreen-Akrore tribe.
Now, I was intimately aware of the film as I’d spent many hours as a young child sitting in my dad’s edit suite during school holidays and on weekends being allowed to pull the offcuts of film out of the edit suite bins and cutting them together into my own sequences. I’d loved it.
When “The Tribe That Hides From Man” went to air in 1970, it caused a sensation. I remember it won lots of awards and I also remember that my father was given an honorary doctorate by a Brazilian university as we used to joke about him now being “Dr Miller”!
But when he said “…and when we won the BAFTA for best documentary in 1971” and then shortly followed it up with “…the film inspired Paul McCartney to write a song!” I felt these were two parts of my dad’s history that I really should have already known about!
Now, in my defence, I do remember my mum and dad getting dressed up in very fancy outfits for a big awards night in London. I also remember them both being very hung-over and excited the next morning at having won an award.
But at the age of seven, I don’t think the word “BAFTA” meant a thing to me. However, Paul McCartney and Wings I did know about, even at that age, so how come I never knew before this moment that my dad’s film had inspired a Beatle to write a song?! Now that would have been bragging rights in any school playground!
At the end of a fascinating night, my dad finished the evening with the comment “I hope you can remember everything we’ve talked about as I’d love you to include some of it in my eulogy!”
Well, I wish he’d mentioned that little detail earlier in the evening!
And, now, I wish I’d had my 360 camera to hand to formally record the evening and archive all I learnt that night about our family history so that my daughter, who was only seven months at the time, could now enjoy a fascinating evening with her Grandpa listening to his stories as if she were there in the room with us!
So, am I now more self-convinced about the value of SitAwhile Forever. You bet!
3. Fast forwarding the good memories
Another really important man in my childhood was my grandpa “Nunky”.
He was the gentlest, kindest man I ever knew. As a small boy, I remember sitting excitedly on the stairs by the front door, most Friday nights, waiting for him to return from work and join our family for dinner. It might have been the bottle of Tizer that he’d bring each week that helped with the excitement but we always loved running up to him and being thrown in the air and tossed around. We knew he’d do anything for us – which he certainly did when my brother and I turned into teenagers.
By then, my grandma and grandpa lived next door to us in a quiet village in southern England where my brother, in particular, seemed to find more than his fair share of trouble. My grandpa was always there to bail him out without our parents ever finding out what had gone on!
Sadly, in my early twenties, he was diagnosed with cancer. His illness was slow and long. My mum and aunt nursed him through the latter stages of his illness so that he could remain at home. However, some nights near the end, I would volunteer to sit up and take care of him so they could have a break.
At points he was lucid and we’d have some lovely conversations. At other times, he was just a suffering, drug-dazed husk. I have to be honest, it was traumatic. So much so that after he’d passed, it took me quite a few years to get over the trauma of those memories and remember him as the amazing man I had experienced throughout my childhood.
And that’s where I believe a SitAwhile Forever video would have been useful to me, if such things had existed in those days. The idea we could have recorded a session with him, talking about his life, before he became too ill, would have been very appealing. It would have allowed me to virtually sit with him after he’d passed and remember him again as the man who was so strong and vibrant. I’m convinced that being immersed with him again in that state, soon after he’d passed, would have helped me bring back the good memories much quicker.
What are your thoughts?
Over the last year or so, I’ve had a number of conversations with friends about SitAwhile Forever, seeking feedback on what they think of the idea. Some find it too morbid or unnecessary as they believe we should just let people fade from memory after they’ve passed and that there’s too much focus on “capturing” everything. Others can see where they would benefit from the service. It’s definitely polarising.
My personal passion is for capturing stories. Most of the video stories I tell are for companies and charities but I appreciate that we all have powerful stories to tell. And for many families, the telling of those stories may be the most powerful stories we ever capture.
I’d love to know your thoughts…
Nigel Miller, March 2024
Ready to Preserve Your Legacy? Let's Start the Conversation
Your stories are the heartbeats of your legacy, echoing love, wisdom, and laughter across generations. At SitAwhile Forever, we’re here to capture those heartbeats in the most vivid and immersive way imaginable. If you’re ready to take the first step towards preserving your unique journey for posterity, we’re here to guide you through every moment of the process.
Please use the form below to request more information or to share a bit about yourself and how you envision your legacy video. Whether you prefer a direct video session to dive deeper into your story or a phone call to discuss your concerns or aspirations, simply let us know your preference, and we will accommodate your journey.
If opting for a video session, we’ll send you a Calendly link to schedule our meeting at a time that suits you best.
Your legacy deserves to be told with care, precision, and love. Fill out the form now, and let’s embark on this beautiful journey together. Your story is waiting to be told, and we can’t wait to help you tell it.