When it comes to creating video content, it’s important to understand what structure will most effectively tell your story. You shouldn’t simply create a bunch of random interview questions to ask your subjects, hoping to “piece it together” in the edit. Instead, you should come up with an outline for your video that will be your guide through every step of the process, from pre-production to production to post-production. The more concrete and clear your plan is, the more efficient and focused your production will be. The goal is to have a clear understanding of what the end product will look like before your video shoot.
The most common type of video that we create at Blue Key Media is a person-centered, impact story. In these videos, we hear about specific events that happened in our subject’s life and the positive impact a non-profit or organization had on them. For this type of video, we use a story structure similar to what is used in feature films, with additional plot points that are specifically useful for marketing videos.
HOOK
The Hook is the very first thing the viewer will see in the video. This is typically an emotional or attention-grabbing interview sound bite paired with cinematic, eye-catching footage. Viewers have short attention spans, so the goal of the Hook is to immediately grab their attention and convince them to continue watching the full video. This works similarly to the headline of a news article – if it’s not compelling, the viewer will not choose to engage with the content. The value of a good Hook rises dramatically if you’re creating social media content. Since you’re competing with endless amounts of other content, you need a strong Hook to get the viewer to stop and watch your video.
CONFLICT
Conflict is another important part of the this structure. This is what builds the strongest emotional connection to your subject and sets up the stakes for your story. You need to build empathy for the person you’re highlighting, and a strong Conflict is the best way to do that. Your Conflict needs to address an obstacle that your subject faced and ask the question: will they be able to overcome that obstacle?
If you don’t have any Conflict in your video and instead choose to focus on the positive parts of the story, it will feel more like a news feature and less like an emotional movie. This will lower the investment your audience has and ultimately lower the chances of reaching your video’s goal. If you’re hoping to gain donations from your video but haven’t built enough empathy within your audience, they will be much less likely to donate.
INITIATION
The Initiation is the point in your story where your subject takes the first step to overcome the obstacle they faced in the Conflict. This is the moment when the audience begins to really cheer on your subject and starts to back them in their Journey. In many cases, this is where the subject first gets connected with your organization and begins to receive help or support to tackle the challenges they face.
JOURNEY
Your subject’s Journey includes all of the steps they take to overcome their Conflict. In a movie, this is the middle chunk of your story where you see the subject take steps forward as well as backward in achieving their goals. You should attempt to find 3-4 Journey points to highlight that will essentially work as scenes that continue to push your subject closer to reaching a Resolution. The Journey should be 50% of your video, meaning each Journey point needs to be engaging and needs to hold the interest of your audience.
RESOLUTION
The Resolution is the climax and the emotional crescendo of your story. This is where the subject either overcomes or succumbs to the Conflict set up earlier. Typically, we choose subjects who have overcome their challenges in order to end on an inspirational note. This is where you can really highlight the positive impact your organization has had on their life. These sound bites should be the most powerful and emotional things your subject said in the interview, and they need to convince your audience of the importance of your organization.
JAB
Once you have full buy-in from your audience, it’s time to share your final message to them through your Jab. This is the last thought you want your audience to take away from the video. If you’re hoping to get people to donate to your organization, you need to directly explain the importance of taking that action. If you want people to learn more about your organization by going to your website, you need a strong enough message that will get them to take that step. If you skip this part of your outline, the audience will be left inspired but unsure what to do next.
Through the use of this story structure, we are able to create emotionally deep videos while remaining as efficient and effective as possible in our production and messaging for our clients. If you would like to learn more about how to utilize this approach in your upcoming video, please reach out with any questions or inquiries.
