How to Use Story to Make Great Video

Vimeo (the video hosting site) used to do conferences back in the day. Big, sold-out conferences. And recently I found the handout notes from a speech on Story I did there– and they're not bad.

Here are the cliff notes from that speech, in tip form, with links for more reading.

Entertain or Die:

Nobody watches bad video. There are too many instantly available alternatives, and you can get them with a touch of your finger to the supercomputer you carrry in your pocket.

Remember the principle of the Entertainment Transaction: When the audience pays (with their time or their money) the entertainment must deliver an experience of real value to them. If you don't, they'll never come back.

Humans think in Story

We only move in one direction through time, so we perceive things as cause and effect. "Cause and effect" is story, as in this tale as old as time: Og and I went hunting. Og threw a spear at the mammoth. Because he did that, the mammoth was enraged and stomped him to death. The moral: Don't do that.

Stories intrigue us. 

And intrigue is the currency of modern entertainment.

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.

The Simplest version of the elements of Story: 

A lot of people want to make story complicated. But honestly, it's not that hard. Here's the easy version: Every story includes a Hero, a Beginning, a Middle and an End.

Hero: 

Who or what your video is about. A hero can be an animal or object, but usually your hero is human.

Beginning.

We meet the hero and find out what has just happened to them to cause them to want or need something they don't have. Could be love, could be a kilo of gold, could be to bake a perfect crust. But they want or need something.

Middle

In the middle of the story, the hero tries to get what they want or need. The girl tries to find love, the criminal tries to find the gold. The chef shows you the steps to a perfect pie.

The End 

The hero either gets what they want or need, or they don't. Win or lose. Macbeth loses, ET wins. In a recipe video there's usually a good pie.

Every Element of Video must tell a story. 

Story is key to every part of a video, show or film. Strong shots add up to strong scenes, which add up to strong sequences, which add up to a strong long-form thing.

Want more on story? Download my Story Guide excerpt from the book.