The Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, CA is one of the early pioneers of “citizen video” or video that becomes accessible and simplified so that anyone can get involved. The following is from their publication entitled: “Digital Storytelling” by an old friend, Joe Lambert. Their tagline is: “Listen Deeply, Tell Stories.” You can check them out at www.storycenter.org.
Here’s are some excerpts from their training materials: A well-told story can bring an invaluable sense of immediacy to your cause, especially important when you have just minutes (or even seconds) to capture the attention of your audience. In the past, marketing was essentially limited to the traditional mechanisms of print and expensive video production. Now, these new, affordable multimedia tools are making it possible to tell your story digitally, combining the power of images, narration, music, and text to engage and inspire others to action. And that’s the point of a video marketing plan: not just to have the viewer say, “Oh, that’s wonderful” but to say, “Wow, that’s great; how do I get some” or “get involved” or “get their service!” What will drive that kind of response from your viewers?
1. Use "The Seven Elements" to plan the story's script and content
A video that moves viewers to action must be built upon a solid narrative and structure. To that end, there are seven important elements in crafting a compelling story:
- Point of View. Telling your story from one perspective can help you decide which content to include and which to leave out. To determine your story's point of view, ask yourself what your story's message is, why it's important to tell it, and who your audience will be.
- Dramatic Question. A dramatic question is posed by the narrator at the beginning of the story to create tension and draw in the audience. A dramatic question is usually not an actual question that the narrator poses; rather, it is an intriguing statement that causes the viewers to ask themselves a question. Such as: “I was seven years old when I cracked my head trying to break dance.” It hooks you in and motivates you to listen to the story until its conclusion.
- Emotional Content. Stories that include incidences of loss, redemption, crisis, or change are key to keeping your audience engaged and interested. Emotional content is what everybody can relate to and what makes stories so universal. It can be helpful to create a story about an experience that has already been resolved, as perspective plays an important role in being able to clearly examine your past emotions.
- Voice. A good narrator can help give your story direction and personality and can make it more powerful than using text only. An informal tone works well when relating your story, as if you were talking with someone over a cup of coffee.
- Soundtrack. Music can be a great way to establish mood and complement your overall message. Choose carefully, however: the wrong music can actually undermine your story.
Instrumental music is often the best choice, as lyrics can interfere with your narration or contradict your message. Yet no matter what music you include, make sure you keep it at an appropriate volume to avoid drowning out the narrator's voice. - Economy. Keeping your script brief (between 250 and 350 words) can help you decide what content to include. Economy of words plays an essential role in making digital stories short and sweet and emotionally compelling. It forces the writer to cut out all the extraneous stuff and focus only on the language that supports the central focus of the story.
- Pacing. Just as a glacial pace can bore viewers, a rushed story can overwhelm them. To hold your audience's attention, strive for a happy medium; vary the amount of time that images stay on the screen In more complex editing, use effects such as pan and zoom when appropriate.
2. Build the story's visuals around the script and voiceover
When crafting a digital story, let the script dictate which visuals you include, not the other way around. In this video process, the voiceover narrative leads the edit. That means that people write a story first and then think about what visuals complement that voiceover. (So in the case of the video marketing plan, you must assemble the marketing plan first, then write out a script on your storyboard and finally, consider what graphics, stills, video goes along with your script or narration.)
3. Still images can be as powerful as video clips
Still images can add a refreshing change of scenery for the viewer. It would be imperative that you would show photos of your product or service and keep the images moving so that there is no stagnation to your audience. Still images are classified as photos, slides, or flat artwork, over film. Another factor of still images is that they can be an “infinite file” in that you can display it for a second or 20 seconds whereas video has a very specific start and finish.
4. Respect copyright laws
If you create a digital story using only your own content — including your own script, your own images, and your own music — you would have the legal right to publicly display and distribute it. Still, if you're using photographs of people in the story, it's probably a good idea to get the blessings of your subject matter.
Yet if you wish to include any material not created or owned by you, you must get the express permission of the copyright holder. This is especially important if you plan to post your story online or screen it to the public. See the Urban FIRE handout entitled, “Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents.”
What if you are short on your own materials, but lack the time to get permission to use others' work? Some artists and musicians have made their work available online for others to use freely. Freeplay Music - http://freeplaymusic.com/ - for example, provides nearly 7,000 downloadable music tracks (in MP3 and AAC formats) classified by genre, style, and mood. (Note that if you may be asked to pay a fee depending on how you plan to broadcast and distribute your creation.) There’s also dozens of websites offering free images. You can check those out via Google. Remember to check each site's licensing terms before you borrow, and always try to credit the artist as a professional courtesy. And one last word of caution: some photos from these websites are imbedded with virus! So make sure you have updated virus protection on your computer.
5. Use free and low-cost software to keep production costs low.
To put together your digital story, you will probably need to have access to image- and audio-editing software, as well as an application to assemble the content. And while you may eventually want to purchase software to create more elaborate or high-profile digital stories, you may find it useful to know about several free tools available.
The Kodak camcorders we use have a basic video editing software installed. When you plug in the camera to your PC through the built-in USB connector, it will automatically give you the option to download their editing software. It’s basic. For the Urban FIRE standard, we’ve selected Video Spirit Pro because it looks like Apple’s iMovie but is a bit more reliable with a few extra features. At this moment you can purchase it from Urban FIRE for $10. It is a downloadable program that goes directly to your home computer. You can also purchase it from the manufacturer for $40. (Note, when you download Video Spirit Pro, you will also need to download several free compatible programs in order to make Video Spirit Pro work properly. When asked which versions of the additional programs you want to download, always download the full versions, not the “lite.”
6. Keep your digital stories accessible if your audience is blind or deaf
Because most digital stories depend on a combination of visual and audio information, users who are blind or deaf may miss out on key elements of the story. Fortunately, you can subtitle your stories through the editing software. For the blind, there are Braille converters that can tell your story. CDS has also produced versions of digital stories that contain static images and a text rendition of the script, which can help make the content more accessible to audiences using older computers and dial-up connections.”
7. Circulate the story among your peers or colleagues for feedback
Before you finalize your digital story and begin promoting it, you may find it useful to share it with others to get their feedback regarding tone, structure, and content.
Some specific questions you might ask during this review process might include:
· “Was my business idea simple and easy to understand quickly?
· “Was the dialogue sincere and clear?”
· “Were the people in the video believable?”
· “Was the sound clear and lighting not irritating?
· "Was the ending clear?"
· “Did it state a call-to-action?”
8. Use video-sharing sites and blogs to increase your audience
If you have spent the time creating a powerful marketing plan with a compelling script, you probably want to get it in front of the largest audience possible. Digital marketing plans can be shared in a number of ways, including posting them to your Web site, uploading them to a video-sharing site such as YouTube, screening them at networking events, distributing them via DVD, or posting them to a blog.
Finally, take a look at other business marketing and related digital stories on the net. Some of the best stories are done by nonprofits. Keep your search flexible and even if you’re looking at video that has nothing to do with business plans or business, you might find great ideas that you’ll be able to incorporate into your digital business plan. Remember, the more you watch and study, the better you’re concepts will be.
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