Family moments caught in motion

Lesley Condon is a Surf Coast mum, filmmaker and photographer with a passion for capturing moments of family love in motion.

Lesley has loved filmmaking and photography for as long as she can remember, but never had the chance to pursue the craft before having her three kids.

“When I was going through school and off to university, it was back in the film days, so it was super expensive to get into, so I went into a career in primary teaching,” Lesley said.

“But when I had my three kids, I picked up the camera again and started an online photography course while the kids were napping.

Then Lesley came across a filmmaking course through the Filming Life Academy and fell in love with the ability to capture movement and moments that came alive on the screen.

In July, Lesley opened her small business doing just that, capturing precious moments of family in short films to look back on and relive through film.

“It’s about filming family in real life environment, in their own homes, at their favourite beaches, just taking little snippets of them,” Lesley said.

“Instead of family photos, I take lots of little snippets of video and craft it with some music so they can have that movie forever.

“It’s not just a photograph, it’s a film that they can go back and relive that time together as their family.”

Lesley said when she is filming a family, it usually takes about three to four hours to capture all the footage.

“We go somewhere where they can just play and be themselves and just hang out together and I can just document that.

“It’s really important for them to kind of pretend I’m not there and they can just be themselves in their happy raw real environment, and then that makes the films so authentic.”

Lesley takes the footage and spends hours and hours crafting the perfect three-to-four-minute video that captures the family in their moment in time, a fleeting life stage.

“It’s just awesome seeing their responses when they get the videos back,” Lesley said.

Starting her business, Lesley said the whole process has been incredibly challenging, but it is seeing the families’ reactions to the films that makes it all worth it.

“I’m a busy mum of three kids but it’s been such a passion of mine that I’ve been working long hours to get it done.

“I had a film of a family just recently, it was a family of four and the mum was turning 40 and deciding whether or not to have a third kid, and it was kind of like now or never. So I got to film them as a family of four, and then film them after when their little girl was in their family.

“It was just such a beautiful moment and so precious to watch and now they’ve got this amazing footage they can go back and watch, of their family in different stages.”

At a personal level, Lesley said her inspiration has always been her own children, Bondi, Banjo and Clancy.

“I just wanted to document our family as they grew up, and so that was a real inspiration.

“I’ve got so much footage of my kids growing up and they’ll be able to go back and watch it, over and over again.

“And listening to them! My son used to have a lisp in his voice, and just to go back to that moment is so special.

Now Lesley’s daughter is 12, and her sons are 10 and 6, and still growing up quickly.

“I feel like for me I’m so lucky because I take a lot of footage of my kids, but it’s so special to have a film in a certain time in your life.

“If I could go back and have my family filmed when they were toddlers and in kindergarten!

“I would give anything to go back and watch us that way.

“So, I kind of feel like everyone deserves to have that.”

Lesley said that is why she has decided to make two free videos each year for families who otherwise couldn’t afford it.

“There’s a page on my website called nominate and it’s for anyone, so a family can nominate themselves or another family and I’ll gift a film to two families a year.

“I know there are families out there that can’t afford it, and I want anyone to be able to get a film, so if people put in nominations hopefully down the track, I’ll be able to get through a few at least, and that’s my way of giving back.”

At the end of the day that’s why Lesley loves filmmaking: it gives families something more valuable than material things, a memory.

“Just really bringing the love and connection of families together, in motion, that are in a film to be treasured forever.

“I don’t have that many photos, and zero films of myself as a little kid, and it just takes you back into that moment and that’s such a special place to visit as you get older.

“I just turned 40 and I think it’s more and more important to me as I get older because material things don’t really mean anything to me, it’s just the memories we make together.”

To find out more about Lesley’s work, head to lesleycondon-filmmaker.com.