Fun New Year Video Ideas! Easy-to-Make New Year’s Greeting Movie
When sending New Year’s greetings, many people probably want to deliver their message in a different way this year.
Paper postcards are nice, but with video you can convey your feelings through voice, movement, and even music—so it’s sure to resonate more with the recipient! From the classic style of greeting as a family to unique ideas using hand-drawn illustrations or voiceovers, there’s actually a lot of freedom in how you create a New Year’s video.
In this article, we’ll share plenty of ideas for New Year’s videos that anyone can try with ease—and that are sure to make the recipient smile.
This year, why not send a New Year’s greeting that’s uniquely you, in video form?
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Fun New Year Video Ideas! Easy-to-Make New Year's Greeting Movies (31–40)
Minecraft
A New Year’s greeting movie made with Minecraft—that’s a fresh idea.
There’s a unique fun in stacking blocks and creating a world of your own.
How about building New Year–themed structures and landscapes and turning them into a video? You could spell out “Happy New Year” in blocks, or depict the first sunrise of the year, Mount Fuji, or plum blossoms—those would be interesting, too.
Once it’s finished, get creative with your camera work when filming.
If you share it on YouTube, you can send it to relatives and friends who live far away.
It also sounds fun to collaborate with other players.
Why not create a richly flavored New Year’s greeting movie that only Minecraft can offer?
New Year’s greeting movie with animals
Here’s a suggestion to film a New Year’s greeting movie together with the zodiac animal of the year! Come to think of it, most of the animals in the zodiac seem like you could actually film with them…
It could be even more fun if visiting different animals each year for the shoot became an annual tradition! It would likely become a hot topic among the recipients, too.
Family greetings
An essential element of a New Year’s greeting movie—and probably what most people include—is the New Year’s greeting itself.
A simple “Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu” (Happy New Year) works well, or you could go with a more formal phrase like “Tsutsushinde shinshun o oiwai mōshiagemasu.” Saying “Happy New Year” in English can be fun, too.
The mood will also change depending on whether everyone greets together or each person speaks in turn.
Choose whichever fits your taste.
Interview with the man of the year
An interview with people of the zodiac year! That said, of course it can be women of the zodiac year too! At first glance, it looks like a group with nothing in common, but the interview goes ahead, and naturally each person has their own life and feelings.
It’s also fun to see it become an annual tradition that everyone looks forward to, wondering, “Who was chosen this year?”
hand-drawn illustration
Let me share some ideas for New Year’s greeting videos using hand-drawn illustrations.
No drawing skills? No problem.
Try sketching relaxed, simple characters and giving them a bit of motion.
For example, a scene where the zodiac animal offers New Year’s greetings, or an animation where family-drawn portraits appear one after another—your ideas can turn into delightful creations.
With smartphone apps, you can edit videos easily.
Send a heartfelt New Year’s greeting to your loved ones with a New Year’s video that combines the warmth of hand-drawn art with the unique fun of moving images.
ASCII art
Handwritten New Year’s cards really are more delightful than printed ones, aren’t they? That said, writing all 100 cards by hand would be quite the effort…
So how about sending New Year’s greetings with a “congratulatory hand-drawn video” that records you writing the message? That way, you only have to film it once, and it could save a lot of time for busy people.
I bet people would love it if you imitate a popular calligrapher’s style or use anime-like lettering, too.
Even if you’re not confident in your handwriting, there’s no need to worry.
What matters to the recipient is the heartfelt feeling that comes through in something handwritten.
A movie-style parody
With the rise of social media and video platforms, more people have started editing videos, haven’t they? There are now plenty of apps that let you edit on a single smartphone without a computer, and the momentum just keeps growing.
As the saying goes, “Good fortune comes to a cheerful home,” so why not create a parody of a movie and send everyone a video New Year’s card? For something well-known, you could mimic the opening of Star Wars or Harry Potter.
If you can shoot something more active, you might try a parody of Jaws or Jurassic Park.
You’ll surely become the life of the party right from New Year’s Day!
Live performance video
If you can play a musical instrument, filming a live performance to show off your skills at the start of the New Year is a great idea! Whether it’s background music, a full performance of one song, an original piece just for your New Year’s greeting video, or even a new release, any kind of performance is likely to be appreciated.
It’s especially appealing that video can convey music—something photos can’t.
Greeting in a kimono
If you’re filming a New Year’s-style movie, what you wear matters too.
One idea I recommend is greeting people in a kimono.
Kimonos are strongly associated with the New Year in Japan.
In fact, wearing a kimono during the New Year comes from a custom called “chakui-hajime.” This tradition involves wearing newly made kimono during the first three days of the year (the sanganichi) as a way to begin the new year with something new.
By the way, the most suitable kimono for the New Year is called komon, which features fine, intricate patterns.
Text-to-speech software
For those experiencing the world of text-to-speech software for the first time, you might feel a bit bewildered, wondering what kind of world it is.
But as you listen repeatedly, it really grows on you.
Even trivial conversations, when spoken by a speech synthesizer, take on a distinctly surreal vibe.
There’s a unique kind of enjoyment to it, so it’s also recommended to create something aimed at people who you think would like this sort of thing!