We all see stories play out in our heads before we turn them into something that we can communicate. Some of us spend a lot of our time turning those ideas into something that translates into images or even film. [OPEN TO A WIDE SHOT OF THE OFFICE]. You get the picture.
It’s called imagination. But if you’re trying to share your idea, how do you know that the way you are expressing it relates to the audience you want to connect with? How do you know that your idea will work? Well it’s simple, you don’t.
What you do know is that we are all subject to many of the same universal anxieties, hopes and fears; and the fact is that very few people think differently. On the whole, most people are watching the same news channels, playing the same games on their Xbox, playing the same sports on a Sunday morning and watching the same movies. That’s a good thing; it all feeds into a certain kind of literacy and universal understanding that’s called culture.
For the most part, the cinema industry knows that only a very specific style of storytelling works and it’s based on some pretty old solid story structure components. If you want to get a film financed in Hollywood and your script doesn’t have the right elements in the right places it won’t get funded. It’s that simple. Story is everything. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to say or what medium you’re trying to say it with.
Unfortunately many people making film content and often those writing in PR or working in advertising don’t get this basic fact. Very few have done their homework and know how a good story works on the page or on the screen. Without a few basic components in play it’s inevitable that you are going to get a big disconnect from your readers or viewers. That said, if you get it right the world is yours.
At this stage I could break it down and give you those much needed elements and insights to make your work perfect; but where’s the fun in that? Isn’t it something you should find out for yourself? I will say this much – without some kind of catharsis in your corporate film, ad or newsletter it’s dead in the water.
By the way, catharsis is the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions. It happens at the end of every good movie you have ever seen – you know, the bit where you get choked up or want to stand up and clap. That’s it! It’s also the bit where you think you’ve learned something and you want to share it with the ocean of people out there and add a little to the sea of culture.
If you would like to hear more about how video can help bring your brand to life, get in touch with the Liberty team at info@libertycomms.com. In the meantime, here’s some of my recent work.
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