The Story Behind A Story: Storytelling And Connections In Videos
by
Johnie Odell
Empathy, feelings, triggers, etc. that were the focus of university studies lead the team to think about ways to embody this knowledge in accessible ways to tell emotional stories that would rely on normal human reactions, not just pretty shots or sentimental sound. These accessible ways were then put into Veedeem project that is a study guide to professional – and emotionally rich – filmmaking.
Now the team clearly sees – and teaches others – that whatever type of a video is created, it is a valid and meaningful story that drives it forwards and engages viewers. So if a customer does not understand what he or she wants, it is a task of a team member to push the process in the necessary direction. otherwise, the whole film will be the set of disconnected moments no one really cares about (like hour-long cocktail party shoot on the wedding).
It was the psychology that helped to understand that human desires and conflicts are the true basis of any good narrative. Video works by the same rules.
The main point of crafting a really good video is to find a person whose desires and actions will propel the story, and then to build narration about this character. A story is a journey that is impossible without a person that undertakes the journey for some good reason. How to choose that person? Well, it is not the matter of ranks or status. It is someone who captivates your attention and imagination – and will captivate the audience in the same manner. How to find the right character? Just visualize a person you would like to tell other people about after you meet him or her. Something like that.
A story behind the video defines its success, so if a customer has no clue what to ask, a team member should come up with a draft of a plotline.
As mentioned, the driving force of this person is desire or passion for the things done. If this character does not like what he or she has to do, how can the audience be interested in that stuff? For example, imagine tea ads in which a teller confesses that he prefers coffee. He must display the love for tea and everything connected to it – and even the greater joy of sharing this passion with those on the other side of the screen. Only then the audience will emotionally connect and take the message close to the heart.
Emotion is the key to creating a good selling video, actually. Humans are far less reasonable that they like to think. Many small details influence important decisions, and we might not even know that we were influenced that way. Emotional connections are projected onto products and services in description or explainer videos, which usually happens in the last few seconds. If the connection is right, the conversion will occur and people will take the action you need them to take, whether to buy or to donate.
Emotions are important, yet they should align with the purpose of the video. Veedeem helps in that it organizes the purpose into 5 keywords. As soon as these benchmarks are superimposed, the work can begin.
Business is coming through the fashion of storytelling in everything right now. But everyone seems to have their own concepts of a story. So while launching a project it is necessary to align benchmarks and agree on the common definition of a story for this very project. When clear vision is present, it is easier to understand how this story can be used for your business purposes.
Veedeem helps a lot with this. It is a tool helping to put the purpose of the story into 5 keywords. They define what should be achieved with this video, and they help to be laconic without losing important details. they help to strike the balance, in other words.
I’d like to end the talk with a pun: even statistics say that a story is better accepted than statistics. Two teams of people were asked to donate to some charitable NGO, but one group was shown a story of a single volunteer and his goal, and the other was shown detailed statistics on achievements of this NGO. You can bet that the first group donated almost twice as a much as the second one. I think this fact needs no further explanation.
