I remember the day I decided I wanted to try my hand at making a video. It was back in February 2010. I made a video slide show made up of a bunch of photos I had taken of a horrific fire at Hampton Beach. It was terrible.
Not the fire; my video.
I mean, the fire was indeed terrible, but my video was a disaster, too.
But it was a learning experience, and I knew I found a new passion. I started making slide shows covering any topic I could think of just so I could learn the video editing software. I made videos that featured vanity license plates, and one that featured every year of the Corvette, past Red Sox heroes, and numerous other frivolous topics… anything I could think of to make another video so I could learn the software.
Then I started running out of ideas.
It was my dad who one day suggested I make a slide show using old photos of Manchester “like the Keystone calendars.”
BOOM. Genius.
Why didn’t I think of that.
I always had a passion for the history of this city; even as a young child. So, I went online, found some beautiful old photos of Manchester, and made my first Manchester video in May 2010. Again, it was terrible.
In fact, it was so terrible, I never included it as part of my Manchester series. I was still learning. But, it got a really good response when I posted it.
A year and a half after that, in September 2011, I came across another set of old Manchester photos online and decided to make another video. This time, after a year and about 30 or so videos later, this Manchester video was produced much better. Not the greatest… but not terrible.
And because of its response from the public, it would turn out to be part 1 in a series of 10 Manchester videos that I would end up producing over the next five years.
Part 11 was released on October 28th, and it is a bit different from the first 10 segments. Unlike the first 10 parts, part 11 features not only beautifully, restored old photos of the city, courtesy of John Clayton and the Manchester Historic Association, but it also contains video footage and facts about the Queen City even I didn’t realize until I was producing the video.
And, after over 150 videos, and six years of practice, I’d like to add that THIS video is NOT terrible ; )
Paul Cormier is a videographer, DJ, radio personality and lifelong resident of Manchester, NH. You can reach him at paul.mpts@gmail.com
