ChrisYates11

If you want to tell a great story using video then these basic guidelines will give you a solid starting point.

• Find Tight Story Focus: This is probably the hardest one. It seems like the more information you get into a story the better it will come out. The opposite is true. When you’re all over the place the viewer gets confused. If you believe your story has four great angles then do four different stories. Keep one theme with the video and interviews supporting that.

• Developing Strong Characters: This lets the viewer feel attached to your story. You also make it a better story if characters are memorable.

• Shoot for the Eye: Look for interesting or emotional shots that relate to your focus. Try to also get a variety of shots so the story doesn’t look like you filmed it in just one room. The use of natural sound is crucial. Natural sound breaks up the story and gives it the feel of being there in person without a camera. The key is to make the characters feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts with each other without them noticing you are there.

• Interviews: The best storytellers ask specific questions that produce enlightening answers. Sometimes the answers will also help you with your tight focus. When asking questions think of the following.

* Cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.
* Do not lead, control or try to manipulate the other person.
* Enable dialoging.
* Begin with the words “when,” “what,” “how,” “why” or “where.”
* Require thought to be answered.
* Encourage the other person to reveal feelings.
* Build rapport.

We did a video production for a retirement community and wanted to give you specific examples of these guidelines being used.

1) Tight Focus: We could have talked about the amenities, food, service, activities, and so much more but we focused on “Friends”. We thought the key to a great retirement community was the friendships that are being built.

2) Develop Strong Characters: You will notice that our character was funny and memorable. This was important when picking her as the feature. She had a dynamic personality that gives the story some energy.

3) Shoot for the Eye: Since the focus was on friends we wanted to get video of seniors having fun together. We captured that with smiles, talking and dancing. The natural sound examples are the seniors laughing and talking about Halloween. The music is another use of natural sound.

4) Interviews: We wanted them to feel comfortable and the best way to do that is just listen. Some of the best questions are the follow up to answers they have given. When we started hearing everyone talk about the friendships we knew this would be a perfect theme.

Licensed under a creative commons share-alike. Use freely and link to huddleproductions.com