Start the tape before the doorbell
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Name it Friendsgiving
Tap New Tape before the first guest arrives. Starting a tape needs an account; joining one doesn't.
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Invite the friends who'll film
Tap Collab, then Invite, and text the link. A tape holds eight people, including you, so pick the ones who'll actually film. They need the VideoBro iPhone app. The link works for 7 days, so send it that week. What to text them.
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REC, then the Camera app
Each filmer taps REC and shoots with the iPhone Camera app, held sideways. Every horizontal clip lands on the tape by itself and uploads in the background. Vertical clips don't get added.
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Catch up with +
Somebody filmed the pie on the way over? They tap + and pick it from their camera roll. It lands at the moment it was recorded, not at the end.
What to film at Friendsgiving
- Arrivals, dish first. Everyone walks in holding something under foil and explains it before their coat is off.
- The table before anyone eats. One slow pass down the whole table while it still looks like the plan.
- The thankful round. One phone on whoever's talking, another across the table on the people listening.
- Cleanup. The sink, the stack of plates, and the negotiation over who takes the leftover pie.
Let the takes run. Thirty seconds of plates being passed is the part you'll want next year.
The morning after, one film
Over coffee the next day, anyone on the tape with an account taps Develop. What Develop does.
Everyone on the tape gets it in their own Tape Cabinet. For the friends who couldn't come, share the link: it plays in any browser, with no app and no account.
Everything on the tape counts toward its owner's 2 GB, about an hour of footage, until it's developed. After that only the finished film does, which is usually smaller. What counts toward 2 GB.
Questions people ask first
Does everyone need the app?
To add clips, yes: the VideoBro app on an iPhone. Joining from your invite doesn't need an account. Watching the finished film needs nothing but the link, in any browser.
A friend is on Android. Can they still be in it?
They can't film into the tape, since that takes the iPhone app. They can send their videos to someone on it, who adds them with +, and they watch the film from the link.
Can we watch it before it's developed?
Yes. Every clip shows up on everyone's phone as it lands, and the tape plays any time. Develop is what turns it into one finished film.