How to Prepare Photos, Videos and Information for a Memorial Video

A practical, low-stress checklist for gathering photos, videos, audio, music preferences and family messages for a memorial video, plus what you genuinely don't need to have ready before you start.

By Kathleen G, reviewed by Scott G

Getting ready to put together a memorial video doesn't require perfect organisation. It just helps to have a clear working folder, some basic notes, and one person coordinating decisions. This guide walks through what's genuinely useful to gather, in a simple, low-stress order, so you can get started without needing everything sorted first.

The Quick Preparation Checklist

• Decide the purpose and audience
• Choose a family coordinator
• Gather photographs
• Gather videos and audio
• Record names, dates and captions
• Note music preferences
• Identify material requiring permission
• Mark preferred and excluded items
• Confirm the deadline
• Keep backups
• Confirm venue requirements
• Plan final approval

The steps below go through each of these in more detail.

Step 1: Decide the Purpose and Audience

What you gather, and how you handle privacy, can depend on where and how the video will be shown:

• Funeral or memorial service. Often the primary driver of the deadline and required format.
• Wake or visitation. May play in the background, so pacing matters more than detailed narration.
• Celebration of life. May allow more personal or informal material.
• Private family sharing. Can include more detailed or sensitive material, since the audience is smaller and closer.
• Online memorial. Needs more careful privacy consideration, since the audience is harder to control.
• Anniversary or remembrance event. May reuse or update material gathered for an earlier version.

Public and private audiences call for different privacy decisions. Material that's fine for a small family viewing isn't necessarily right for something shared online, so decide this early.

Step 2: Choose One Family Coordinator

Having one person coordinate the process tends to make things considerably smoother. This person can manage:

• Collecting files from different relatives
• Answering questions about what's needed
• Consolidating family feedback into a single, clear response
• Approving material on the family's behalf, where appropriate
• Communicating the deadline to everyone involved

This person doesn't need to make every creative decision alone. Their role is coordination, not sole authorship.

A few things worth thinking through in advance:

• Multiple contributors. Agree on where everyone should send material, so it doesn't end up scattered across several people's phones and inboxes.
• Conflicting preferences. It helps to have one person who can make a final call when family members disagree, rather than leaving it unresolved.
• Unclear instructions. If a relative sends material without context, follow up early rather than guessing later.
• Late submissions. Agree on a cut-off, and communicate it clearly, so the process doesn't stall waiting for one more contribution.
• Material without context. Photos or recordings that arrive without any explanation may need a quick follow-up question before they can be used confidently.

(This is practical guidance on coordination, not legal advice about ownership or authority over shared family material. If there's uncertainty about who has the right to decide on specific material, that's worth resolving within the family directly.)

Step 3: Gather Photographs

A few practical points on collecting photos:

• Printed photographs. Can be scanned or carefully photographed (see our guide on working with limited or older material for more detail).
• Digital photographs. Gather from phones, cloud storage, social media and email, wherever they're stored.
• Scanned images. A reasonable resolution scan generally gives better results than a photo of a photo.
• Screenshots as a last resort. Usable if nothing else is available, but generally lower quality than the original file.
• Portraits and candid images. Both are worth including; candid photos often feel more true to how people remember someone.
• Different life stages. Childhood through to more recent years, where available.
• Family, work, hobbies and community. A mix helps reflect the breadth of the person's life.
• Recent images. Helpful for anyone less familiar with older photos.
• Duplicate images. No need to send every near-identical version of the same moment; the strongest one is usually enough.
• Image quality. Check resolution where possible, particularly for anything that might be shown on a large screen.

Keep the original files. Send or share copies where possible, rather than the only version you have, particularly for physical prints or irreplaceable digital files.

For more on what to include, see: What to Include in a Memorial or Funeral Video

For guidance on how many photos you might need, see: How Many Photos Do You Need for a Funeral Slideshow?

If you're working with a small collection, see: How to Create a Memorial Video When You Only Have a Few Photos

Step 4: Gather Video Clips and Audio

If you have any video or audio material, it's worth gathering:

• Short home videos
• Phone recordings
• Voice messages or voicemails
• Interviews or spoken memories, if any exist
• Existing recordings from any source (old tapes, digital files, social media)

A few practical notes:

• Audio quality varies a lot with older or informal recordings. Not every recording will be clear enough to use, and that's worth expecting rather than assuming everything can be salvaged.
• File naming. A short, clear filename (who, what, roughly when) makes it much easier to keep track of material as it's gathered.
• Permission. If a recording includes other people speaking or appearing, particularly outside the immediate family, check that they're comfortable being included, especially if the video may be shared beyond a private audience.

Step 5: Record Names, Dates and Captions

Simple written notes alongside your material make a real difference later. Try to capture:

• Full names
• Relationships (e.g. "grandson," "cousin," "childhood friend")
• Approximate dates, where known
• Locations
• Events (a wedding, a holiday, a family gathering)
• Hobbies or achievements connected to a specific photo or clip
• Uncertain information, clearly marked as such

A few rules of thumb:

• Do not guess. An incorrect caption is often more noticeable than no caption at all.
• Mark uncertainty clearly in your notes (e.g. "possibly 1987?") rather than presenting a guess as fact.
• Ask relatives where necessary, particularly older family members who may recognise people or context you don't.
• Avoid disputed claims. If family members disagree about a detail, it's often safer to leave it out or use more neutral wording.
• Keep captions short. A few words is usually enough; you don't need a full sentence for every image.

Step 6: Choose and Document Music Preferences

Music preferences are worth recording clearly, including:

• Favourite songs, and why they matter (if relevant context helps explain the choice)
• Instrumental preferences, if lyrics aren't wanted
• Religious or cultural music requirements, if applicable to the service
• Any songs to specifically avoid
• Whether the music is intended for private use only, or might also be used in a version shared more publicly
• Who in the family has approved the final choice

For more detail on choosing music, see: Best Songs for a Funeral Slideshow or Memorial Video

(This article doesn't provide definitive copyright advice. If the video may be shared online, it's worth checking current music licensing requirements separately, as these can vary depending on the platform and how the video is used.)

Step 7: Gather Personal Messages and Stories

If you'd like to include contributions from family and friends, consider gathering:

• Short written memories
• Voice recordings
• Family messages
• Favourite sayings associated with the person
• Stories, kept brief
• Readings, if relevant to the service
• A closing message from the family

To keep this manageable, it helps to set a rough guideline early, for example a suggested length or a submission deadline, so contributions don't arrive in an unpredictable volume close to the deadline.

Step 8: Organise the Working Files

A simple folder structure can help keep everything in order. This is a suggested starting point, not a required system. Adapt it to whatever makes sense for your situation:

• 01 Photos
• 02 Videos
• 03 Audio
• 04 Music
• 05 Captions and Notes
• 06 Family Messages
• 07 Approved Material
• 08 Excluded or Uncertain Material
• 09 Final Delivery

A few practical habits worth keeping:

• Keep originals. Don't overwrite or delete the source files once you've made copies.
• Use clear filenames where practical, rather than generic camera-generated names.
• Avoid repeatedly compressing files. Each time a photo or video is compressed and re-saved, quality can degrade further.
• Keep a backup, ideally in more than one location (for example, a cloud folder and a local copy).
• Do not delete material until the family has agreed the video is finished. It's easier to keep something you don't end up using than to try to recover something deleted too early.

Step 9: Mark Permissions and Privacy Concerns

As you gather material, it's worth identifying anything that needs a little extra thought:

• Images involving other people, particularly those outside the immediate family
• Photos or footage involving children
• Private correspondence, such as personal letters
• Sensitive medical or personal information
• Material intended only for a private, small audience
• Material that should not be published online, even if it's appropriate for a private service

This article doesn't set out definitive legal requirements. Privacy, consent and copyright obligations can vary depending on your specific circumstances, so check current Australian guidance if you're unsure, particularly for anything that may be shared online.

Step 10: Confirm the Deadline and Review Process

Before you finish preparing, it helps to have clarity on:

• The service date and time
• The deadline for submitting material
• The date the family will review a draft
• One person responsible for consolidating feedback into a single response
• Who gives final approval
• Whether the video will be tested at the venue beforehand
• Backup copies of the finished file

For a full technical checklist covering the finished video itself, see: Funeral and Memorial Video Technical Checklist

What You Do Not Need to Have Ready

It's worth being reassured that you don't need:

• A perfect folder structure
• Every photograph you own
• A finished script
• A final music decision before you start
• Professionally restored scans
• A complete life history
• Agreement from every relative before making a first selection

A clear starting collection and some basic context is usually more useful than waiting until everything feels perfectly organised. The process can absolutely start before every detail is settled.

Still Frames' Role

Gathering and organising material can feel like one of the more overwhelming parts of the process, particularly under time pressure. You don't need any editing experience to use Still Frames: once you've gathered what you have, choose from purpose-built templates, add your photos and videos, and pick from our curated music library. No editing skills needed, just simple guided steps from start to finished video.

Ready to start? Create your memorial video once your material is together.

Frequently Asked Questions

What files do I need for a memorial video? Generally, photographs are the essential starting point, with video clips, audio recordings, music preferences and basic notes (names, dates, captions) as valuable additions where available. You don't need every type of material to get started.

Can I use printed photographs? Yes. Printed photos can be scanned or carefully photographed. Keep the original prints where possible, since a well-lit scan generally gives better results than a photo of a photo.

Do I need to organise the photos in order? No, not before you start. A rough grouping is helpful, but the final sequence can be worked out once material is gathered.

Who should approve the final memorial video? This is a family decision, but it generally helps to have one coordinator manage feedback and give final sign-off, rather than requiring separate approval from every family member individually.

How do I safely share photos and videos? This depends on the specific method being used to share material, so check directly with whoever is receiving it about how files are transferred and looked after.

Conclusion

Preparing for a memorial video doesn't need to start with perfect organisation. Begin with the purpose and audience, gather what's genuinely available, keep original files and backups, record names and context as you go, and identify one person to coordinate decisions. Confirm privacy considerations, the approval process and venue requirements along the way, but don't wait for everything to be perfectly sorted before you begin. A clear starting point is enough.

For the process this preparation feeds into, see How to Create a Memorial Video: The Complete Guide. If you have not yet decided who will assemble the video, DIY Funeral Slideshow or Professional Tribute Video? works through that choice.

About the author

Kathleen G Kathleen G writes and edits Still Frames' guides on planning and personalising a memorial video, with a focus on the family-facing side of the process, what to include, working with limited material, and what comes after the service. Her aim is always the same: practical, calm guidance that doesn't add to an already difficult week.

Reviewed by Scott G.