Happy 100th birthday: wishes and a century in one video

Around three photos per decade, thirty in all, makes a calm five-minute video. A simple order that works:

• Childhood: their parents, their first home, school photos.
• Youth and work: first jobs, friends, service or travel.
• Marriage and family: the wedding, the children growing up.
• Later life: grandchildren, holidays, the garden.
• Today: a recent photo with the youngest generation.

A card such as “Born the year…”, in your own words, can open it. Photograph old prints in daylight, straight on and without flash.

In the UK, people turning 100 can receive a card from the King. If they get a State Pension, the Palace is normally told automatically; otherwise the family can apply through GOV.UK a few weeks before the birthday.

A photo of the card, opened on the day, makes a lovely final scene for the copy of the video you send round the family afterwards.

A big screen and a quiet room

Play it on a television with the sound up, sit beside them and pause on the faces they want to talk about. If the party is in a care home, ask the staff in advance about connecting a laptop or USB stick.

Messages from everyone

Ask relatives who can’t be there to film a short clip, close to the phone, saying who they are. They send it to you and you add it with Add photos and clips; the birthday montage page has more on gathering them.