The Shift in Home Video Making

Much like everyone else, I have my phone with me at all times. I often check emails, scroll through social media, and call my wife to see if she needs anything when I return home.

I also take countless photos and clips of everything. Whether it’s the lake, seagulls, mountains, flowers, or my family—my life unfolds in snippets. Typically, these videos are all short, often less than 10 seconds each.

It’s surprising how the iPhone has largely replaced what we once termed “home movies.”

I have recordings of a deer in the backyard and kids playing with Wiffle balls, all stored on my phone. It’s a different approach from that of my parents, who didn’t capture hundreds of quick clips but rather recorded extended videos on a bulky camcorder. Do you remember those days?

Capturing Family Moments

They documented special occasions like birthday parties and family vacations with lengthy recordings that often included gentle back-and-forth conversations. My mom interviewed us like little adults while we answered her questions in a kind of Zoom-like event during those memorable moments.

Comparing this to my brief clips, those older videos exhibit a slower pace and depth. The short segments I have on my iPhone almost fragment my life, making it seem like an ongoing performance or, maybe, that everything is occurring at a quicker pace. It’s like, without context, we’re left only with these eight-second snippets and questions about the memories they were supposed to capture.

In those earlier videos, Mom and Dad narrated events with a documentary tone—often setting the scene. “It’s August 17, 1996, we’re at Grandma’s cabin, and this is our last summer trip. How is everyone doing? Are you having fun?” they would ask.

My parents would roam the home with their cameras, capturing us in various moments—perhaps reading or playing independently. My father often captured my mother preparing meals, while she took long shots of him enjoying a book outside.

The Essence of Video

Those long shots provided a genuine feel for time and place, evoking vivid memories of rooms and moments that simply can’t be depicted in a mere short clip. I realized this and decided to buy an old video camera.

I found a Sony Handycam for $50 online—certainly a throwback but still functional. One of the annoyances about older cameras, though, was converting analog footage for modern use. Transferring tapes could take ages, especially if you had hours of material.

Fortunately, this Sony model records directly to an internal hard drive, making it easy to transfer videos just like photos from a digital camera. So, you essentially get long-form family videos with the convenience of modern digital speed.

From Filming to Consuming

Theoretically, recording longer videos on my iPhone should work, but the reality is different. The technology pushes us toward shorter forms. Our consumption habits are changing, as we increasingly prefer quick snippets on platforms like Instagram.

It’s fascinating how the technology we interact with fundamentally shapes our lives. Who could’ve predicted that the iPhone would lead to the demise of traditional home movies?

Recently, I took my Sony Handycam to the beach, recording my kids enjoying snacks and playing. I even zoomed in on a yacht and prompted them with questions similar to what my mom would have asked us years ago.

“So, it’s September 30, 2025, and we’re at the beach. How’s the food? Can you believe we’re swimming in September? Did you jump in the water? What was it like?”