High Definition Video

Please CONTACT us to view sample video interviews!

During this time of COVID-19, all of our video interviews are conducted remotely, using high-definition, digital Skype recordings with local audio feeds. By summer 2010 (post-vaccine), we hope to return to in-person videography services at a location of your choosing. These interviews are shot in broadcast quality, high-definition digital video (1920 x 1080p) using one or two cameras at a location of your choosing.

Videotaped oral history interviews can be stand alone projects, or enhanced with lightly edited transcripts, short biographies, memoirs, genealogies or other print materials. If you wish, videos can also incorporate photographs, additional narrators, pets, performances (song, music, movement), genealogy, heirlooms, and maps. Video editing is as limited or extensive as you desire, but all video programs are professionally mastered and delivered as archival, high-definition MOV files (for Mac), AVI files (for PC), and mp4 files (for viewing on devices). We also offer standard or blu-ray DVDs and cloud storage. Whatever the final output is, you will receive the entire archive on a project hard drive for your safekeeping and sharing.

After an initial conversation with you, we will design a personally tailored project proposal that meets your wishes for a project’s video format, scope, schedule, and budget.

I was pleased beyond any expectations. Anita has the technique and ability to make the interviewee feel comfortable.

Myer

Attorney, California

I thank you very much for the interest you placed in this work, based on your intelligent and skillful questions that did not interrupt the flow of the conversation, but were inserted at the appropriate places.

Rina

Daughter, Mexico

All we can say is that we were overwhelmed! The videos and print biographies were beautifully done, the music was most appropriate and, according to our three children, we looked great! Seeing ourselves on the video and sharing many experiences that we had never shared with our children was beautiful. We wouldn’t want to change anything.

Katy & Shawki Ibrahim

Educator & Engineer, Parents & Grandparents, Indiana

Being videotaped was so much easier than I had anticipated. Many of my concerns were eliminated at our first preliminary meeting.

Raymond Marks

Banker, California

So many gave time and thought to our oral history project, but the key to its success is the work of Anita Hecht, the oral historian who conducted all the interviews. I found she was totally qualified to handle the broad range of topics pursued and the broad variety of people interviewed.

Ellen Proxmire

US Senator William Proxmire Oral History Project of the Wisconsin Historical Society

You conduct the interviews with insight, being inquisitive enough to make it interesting and yet with the discretion to make the person feel comfortable

Ariel Cojuc

Grandmother, Mexico

Your skills as an oral historian are impressive — from start to finish — from researching a hell of a lot of information to careful interviewing to a beautiful final presentation. You were not only informed, but you asked intelligent questions and listened thoughtfully and carefully. I applaud your efforts and I recommend you and your services without hesitation.

Congressman David R. Obey

Thank you for sending me my oral history. You certainly do exceedingly professional and interesting work, and I hope your services can continue to be put to good use with respect to many subjects and people!

Judge Richard Cudahy

United States Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit

My siblings and I used your services 16 years ago to record my parents’ life histories as a gift for their 60^th anniversary; however, I have found, particularly in the 4 years since my mother’s death that having this recorded hour with her where she blossoms back to life has been a treasure that I value more than words could adequately express. As a ritual that I now hold sacred, I watch the video twice a year.

Margot Keen

As the Archivist of Temple Emanu-El, an historic San Francisco congregation founded in 1850, my association with Ms. Hecht began in 2004 when she and I embarked on a project to digitize a series of decade-old oral histories she conducted in the 1990s. I cannot emphasize enough my respect for Ms. Hecht’s professionalism and for the initiative, creativity, and practicality she brought to our project. Furthermore, as I watched each of the interviews she conducted on behalf of Temple Emanu-El, I was especially struck by the sensitivity with which she guided her subjects. It was readily apparent that her preparation for each interview was extensive and that her ability to gain the trust of each subject and engage him or her in a lively, meaningful conversation was impressive. In addition, the supplementary written materials, which accompanied each interview could not have been more expertly produced.

Paula Freedman

Archivist, Edith S. Green Oral History Project of Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco, CA