Ten Tips for Making Great Video Stories

Ten Tips for Making Great Video Stories

These days, buying multimedia is hard to do. What do you ask for when you want a sight-and-sound program to promote your business in person or online? Most likely a "Flash" or a "PowerPoint." The problem is that you're placing the wagon before the horse.

There are a lot of options in today's audiovisual world. Some are in the way shows are made, and others are in the manner they are exhibited. One thing is for sure: if you want to make a big impression, your presentation will have to include video.

This article talks about how to buy multimedia, video, or presentations and gives you ten things to think about before you hire someone or build your next big audiovisual communication. I hope you will take them on.


1. Flash? PowerPoint? Video? Don't Jump to Conclusions.

If you have a narrative to tell that needs both sight and sound, don't rush to give the answer. These days, one man's PowerPoint is another woman's video. People who need something to run on their computer quickly ask for "a PowerPoint show" or "one of those 'FLASH' things."

Good idea, but not the correct spec.

People think Flash is cool and PowerPoint is a must-have. PowerPoint and Flash are often merely places to put video, just like a VHS tape and a DVD are places to put video.

So, just because you want your project to be on the web or on a computer CD-ROM doesn't imply it shouldn't have video or be video. The big guys use video a lot, especially in big movies and documentaries.

Don't choose the way to make something based only on how it will be sold.


2. The secret weapon is sound.

What do you remember most about "Star Wars"? Dah-dah, da-da-da dahhhh-dahhh!

Yes, the music. And the sound effects, like the hum of the lightsabers and the drone of the Death Star. Do you think Star Wars would be good without music?

Music is a very significant aspect of corporate videos, too. But you'd be shocked at how few producers know that. They'll let a narrator talk and talk, and to make matters worse, you'll hear the same song over and over again throughout the presentation! (Flash presentations are famous for this.)

Sound tells your audience how to feel, what to pay attention to, when to respond, and how to do it.

A picture is worth a thousand words? Music is worth a thousand feelings, such as loyalty, belief, trust, and passion, all of which are strong indicators of how productive someone will be.


3. Make things for the environment.

Have you ever watched an IMAX movie at home? Is it the same as it is in an IMAX theater? Have you ever watched your favorite movie on a 4-inch LCD screen? Was it the same as in your living room?

No, of course not. People make IMAX movies and big movies (particularly science fiction and thrillers) for big screens in quiet rooms where the sound has an effect.

Most of the time, the commercials that play on the enormous jumbotrons in sporting arenas don't have much talking. Who would hear it? You can hardly hear the music.

The place where a video communications project will be played is a crucial aspect of selecting how it will be made and how much work will go into it. If your CD-ROM is never going to work on anything other than a laptop, you may not need to go out and take wide vistas of the countryside. However, you will need to take a lot of close-ups.

Play for the room.


4. How Long Should It Be?

People don't have long attention spans! Shouldn't all videos be short? There are different kinds of short. There is real time and time that people think they have.

A boring video never ends. An fascinating video always appears shorter than it is, and you might want to watch it again!

People in the audience aren't dumb. They don't have short attention spans; they just don't like being bored. A excellent story will last through the ages. It will seem shorter yet last longer in their minds.


5. A Minute Costs $1,000? $200 for each slide? $3.99 per pound?

Prices are usually quite subjective, thus individuals have sought to "quantify" the making of multimedia content over the years. Since the late 1960s, many have said that movies cost $1,000 per minute.

But let's break some myths. You can't judge video production (or any other creative activity) just by how long it takes. It costs $2 million and takes nine months to make one 24-minute episode of The Simpsons. I saw industrial training tapes that were 90 minutes long and made the producer $2,000.

Shouldn't he have gotten $90,000? Not for setting up a camera on a podium, hitting record, then cutting out awkward pauses!

Making a great five-minute film that will get people excited and obtain the desired results is a lot harder. To keep up a broadcast-quality speed, have the correct music, shoot in different places, and make high-quality 3-D and other animations, it will cost more than $5,000, I promise. Sometimes not much more, but other times ten times that amount. Your producer should be willing to make a proposal, explain you what she plans to do, and provide you a clear quote for that work.


6. What kind of style should it have?

It seems like communication styles change all the time. People prefer what's new and cool to them, after all. But various people come from different places, ages, and economic backgrounds. For example, what is cool to a 22-year-old web designer in Atlanta would not be cool to a 45-year-old engineer in Dallas.

Your producer needs to be able to change colors like a chameleon. We all have our own abilities and styles, but we are here to help you. You also have a corporate style and a certain audience. The pace is too slow, the hip animation isn't good enough, and the twenty-somethings might fall asleep. Too much movement, too much flash, too much noise, and maybe the board chair will fire you.

You might not have seen American Idol, but that doesn't mean a lot of people don't like it. If you don't know what kind of audience you want, ask someone who does, like your producer or that DJ-wannabe who can name every song Jay-Z has ever made.

Uh, who?


7. Can I have that on Tuesday?

Yes, if it's your dry cleaning.

No, if the multimedia effort or film is intended to convince 5,000 people that downsizing is good for them.
It takes time to make a good video.

How long? A project that is well-designed, strategized, outlined, planned, written, and produced (it already sounds long) takes time. Here's a guide for planning a normal 10-minute video:

Write the proposal in one week.
Script—2 to 3 weeks
Planning for production: 2 weeks
Shooting time: 2 weeks
One week to log and digitize tapes
Choosing music and voice tracking—1 week
1–2 weeks for a rough cut
One week for review time (script, rough cut) is up to you.
1.5 weeks for the final cut and effects
Two weeks for duplication

Maybe we can reduce that down or work on some things at the same time if we talk to the hard-working personnel and give them some time off. But don't shoot the messenger. Give the project enough time, and you'll obtain a great program. things shows in the long term when you do things well. And the benefits that come from it are huge.


8. Use interviews to make things believable

Interviews with your customers, staff, suppliers, or even you can have a big effect on how credible your film is.

This is especially true for "softer" topics like seeking money, public opinion, introducing a new HRD company, giving accolades, and so on.

Interviews aren't what they seem. They look honest (and are); they look unscripted (and are); they look easy to do and a way to sidestep writing scripts (they ARE NOT).

You need to do research before interviews to find out who has the finest story, attitude, and presence. Interviews need to be tested first, like a pre-interview. And they need to be scripted, even if it's just to help the interviewer ask the appropriate questions.

Never let your producer put words in people's mouths, like a pet phrase, an endorsement, or a rah-rah statement, unless the person being interviewed came up with it on their own. You all look dumb in no time at all.

And I don't think that was the point of the video.


9. The Hidden Value of Video

People make a lot of "big" movies and presentations for meetings. They reveal the concept, set the scene, show off a new product, or whatever.

But when management finds out that they will only be utilized once, they typically become "unnecessary." That's a lot of money for 500 salespeople for staging, projectors, and production expenditures. Isn't it possible to have a second main course at the awards dinner?

I agree with your boss that everything should have a purpose. And the footage from today does. If you plan it well and compose it well, your video—or at least parts of it—can be utilized on the web, on CDs and DVDs, and in PowerPoint presentations by your salesmen in no time.

Now you can feel better about the purchase and get some sleep.

Even if you don't plan to use it again, a rousing video introduction at a big meeting is a great way to establish the tone, redefine a firm, start the change process, and get your sales staff fired up. In sales, you can notice the difference. They have the energy and new video tools to take with them. The extra money more than covers the expense of the video.


10. A Good Video Producer Knows How to Sell

And not simply because he sold you a job.

When done well, video can be a way to convince others. With a few exceptions, it follows all the best sales guidelines.

First and foremost, videos must elicit affirmative responses from viewers. We need to find some common ground first and then make our case.

Video has logic in it. "If, then, and after that, then..."

And video helps people connect with each other on an emotional level. Now that you've added the emotional punch, you've made a sale.

A video producer who doesn't know this is not a producer; they are a craftsman working on some part of our trade. That's okay.

But there aren't many people who can sell to audiences.

The effort and thought that goes into making your company's video overview, sales pitch, or fundraising request is just as significant as the words you use in a direct mail piece, the design of your ad campaign, or the creation of a corporate identity. A video presentation does become your company's identity.

If you follow these ten suggestions, you might be on your way to the best communications project you've ever done. That could mean a raise, a corner office, or at least a pat on the back. And that's all good.

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