THE TRUTH ABOUT VIDEO "STORYTELLING".

I play no favourites when it comes to video content solutions for clients, potential clients and those amongst you whom I work hard to provide with relevant information about video and video marketing.

I like to offer as un-biased an opinion as possible on how you can use any of the myriad of options available to you so that all of you can reach my key goal for you and your brand, business, organisation or institution which is this:

to make more relevant and engaging video content that drives action, more often.

But I am going to be up front...

Some video solution providers are probably not going to like this article and what it has to say.

I can't help that...

I won't apologise for it either.

I'd rather you had the truth on video storytelling and what it really means...

So where did the idea for this article come from?

I watched an incredibly amusing video recently (amusing to me anyway) where someone with an agenda (to sell a post-production solution cleverly marketed as innovative all encompassing solution for brands, businesses, organisations and institutions of all sizes and scales to make video quickly and easily) tried to make the argument that not every needs a story.

You don't need a story to tell people how to fix your toaster...

I say this video was amusing because what it really demonstrated was how little its creators actually understand what a "story" really is and how far their solution really needs to come if it is going to really solve the global communication challenges of their clients.

Let's get one thing very clear about stories...

A story does not have to be once upon a time...

Many things are stories.

An IKEA guide to assembling a piece of furniture can be a story...

The title and promise on a packet of 2 minute noodles can be a story...

The allocated seating ticket you get at the cinema can be a story...

A story is a construct.

Construct: an idea or theory containing various conceptual elements, typically one considered to be subjective and not necessarily based on empirical evidence.

In fact, stories are one of the oldest (if not the oldest) constructs we have that we still use to this day to communicate our ideas in a way in which they are easily remembered and easily passed on to others so that they can retain the essential information and recall it just as easily...

At its most basic level...

That's it folks...

That is what a story is.

It doesn't mean that the story is necessarily interesting - by and large (based on percentages alone) most of the stories we tell are not.

It doesn't mean that the story is necessarily emotional - by and large most of them are not...

It doesn't even mean the story is necessarily creative...

Stories we use in our every day lives are more often than not rational exchanges to pass on relevant information that we don't want our audience to forget.

Let's go back to IKEA for a moment...

Using my earlier example about IKEA.

If the IKEA instructions on how to put together your furniture are well told and written by someone who understands the story that you need told (how to put the Billy bookcase together)...

You end up with a piece of furniture.

If the IKEA instructions are written by someone who has little care, concern or understanding for whether you end up with a piece of furniture or not...

You end up with a wasted weekend and personal relationships in tatters without even a piece of furniture as compensation.

I know what I would personally prefer...

In conclusion

When you are thinking about your next video (and who you work with in creating it) just think about this:

Do you want your audience to be able to remember what it was you wanted to tell them and be able to communicate that idea quickly and succinctly to others? Or do you want them to just have information without context or consequence?

I still know what I would prefer...

STILL NEED MORE HELP?

Reach out to me and the team at APV!

We’d love to talk to you about how we can help you understand more about how develop, create and distribute effective video and animation content of any duration that connects your story to your audience!

Thomas J Elliott is the Senior Producer/Director for APV an advertising agency specialising in video and animation with offices in Wan Chai Hong Kong. 

He is a winner of numerous international awards for video and animation and the author of five books on visual content.

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