Sentiment - Video and photo montage production

 It’s been a month since the National Funeral Exhibition 2011 but the ripples that Sentiment made at the show are still making themselves felt! It looks like our offering made a real impression on Rev George Callander, who saw us at the exhibition and has written an excellent article in this month’s Funeral Service Times:

“Among the many new services springing up is funeral photography and videography, which I believe to be splendid adjuncts in bereavement support. For some years I have offered to record funeral and memorial services for families. This allows them to either send the CD recording to family members or friends unable to attend in person, but who may wish to share in the service, or allows those present to listen again to the service at a time when they feel more emotionally able to do so. Increasingly, crematoria are offering recording as part of their customer service – and all credit to them for doing so”

It’s really interesting that the Reverend has also been offering to record his services; it goes to show that there is a real growing demand for a souvenir of the day, something that people can keep, look back on and treasure. (Ironically it sounds like I would have met the Reverend in person on the BBC Breakfast sofa back in November 2010.  If he’d been able to travel at short notice!)

Funeral videography is still relatively new and unusual and some people may have reservations about it. The Reverend makes the point well:

“For some, the concern about filming/photographing funerals is intrusion into what is a solemn occasion: a lessening, perhaps, of the dignity of the service. While this might be so in some poorly prepared cases, I believe if the photographer and camera person liaise with the family, funeral director, officiant and cemetery/crematorium staff regarding boundaries then this should not be a problem.” This is where we come into our own; at Sentiment we use highly professional photographers and camera operators who blend in unobtrusively and are extremely respectful of the mourners and their emotions.

“I realise it is not for everyone, but as part of a wider freedom of choice for the bereaved, the availability of these services should be more widely known. For some grieving people, having the opportunity to listen to the funeral, watch the service on video or simply reflect by browsing through high quality photographs, can offer just the cathartic experience they need.”

We’re really pleased that what we do here is starting to filter in to the wider consciousness and we’re confident that in time what we offer will be no more unusual than hiring a wedding photographer or videographer. Increasingly there are more and more ways to document and remember each significant stage in our lives, and the acceptance of death as something that can be embraced as the end of a remarkable journey can only have positive repercussions for those left behind.