If you weren’t in New York last week, you missed a great Video Conference and Festival thrown by Vimeo.
Lots of great seminars and workshops at the sold-out event. I spoke on Saturday– if you couldn’t make it, here are the cliff notes– plus a whole bunch of links for further reading on story:
How to Use Story: 10 Points from Steve Stockman’s Workshop @VIMEO Festival
June 9, 2012
1. Entertain or Die: Nobody watches bad video. There are too many instantly available alternatives. Remember the Entertainment Transaction: The audience pays (with time or money) the entertainment must deliver (with an experience).
2. Humans think in Story. We only move in one direction through time, so we perceive things as cause and effect. Which is story.
3. Stories intrigue us. And intrigue is the most important currency of modern entertainment.
4. The most memorable video tells a story. Not all videos tell story, but your video will be easier for people to remember and talk about if it does. And if it doesn’t, viewers will make their own.
5. The Simplest version of the elements of Story: Hero, Beginning, Middle and End.
6. Hero: Who or what your video is about.
7. Beginning. The hero has a want or need, or something happens to them.
8. Middle. They try to get what they want or need, or react to what happened.
9. End. They either get it or don’t, win or lose.
10. Every Element of Video must tell a story. Strong shots add up to strong scenes, which add up to strong sequences.
Is this formula geared more toward journalistic type videos such as reporting a story?
I’d argue that its for anyone who wants their video to be watched. Birthday party, vacation, sales video– they all work better with story. More here and here.
Great info as always.Thank you:)