There is no point in taking all the time and effort required to find, shoot, script and edit a video piece if in the end no one wants to watch it.
You may start with a great opening shot, once the impact of that is gone, what is the motivation for someone to stick with the story until the end?
If you’re counting on the ‘importance’ of the information you are offering, forget it.
How many times have you started a video and then dumped out because it was ‘boring’? A lot of the time? Most people do.
What holds people’s attention in a video or a film (or a novel for that matter) is what we call Arc of Story.
A hook in the beginning and a reason to stay until the end.
This, plus a great character are the pillars of great storytelling, and have been since the time of Homer.
Make me care about a character, confront them with a problem, an issue, something to resolve – we call this their ‘trip’ and then have a conclusion.
This is what keeps you watching House Hunters on HGTV. Which house will they buy?
The fact that they have actually bought the house before the shooting even begins is immaterial
It’s the crafted arc of story, combined with infroducing you to two characters who you care about – it’s their arc of story.
This is the key to success.
The video above was Budweiser’s commercial in the Superbowl 2014.
It only runs a minute and yet it holds your attention because it follows those two rules:
a character you care about – the puppy
an arc of story with an ending.
If Budweiser can do it for a puppy and a horse, you can do it for the stories that you are telling.
It’s the second most imprortant thing to remember.
The first, of course, is Don’t Move The Camera
Which you see, even in the $4million 1-minute Budeweiser video, they also follow pretty much.
Copyright Michael Rosenblum 2014
