Can Your Company’s Video Story Change a Life?

Do you remember the exact moment you knew what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?

I do. It happened while watching a video. It took exactly seven minutes.

•    Cut to 1984

Hot off the heels of two communication degrees, my workday was a mix of entry-level activities; pulling cables, loading gear into vans, clipping on mic’s, getting lunch for the crew, and so forth. I was a kid trying to break into an incredibly competitive field.

It’s 8:00 pm. Tuesday night. 75 aspiring filmmakers are huddled in one room for three hours to network and watch a film followed by a discussion with the director.

After networking, we watched a seven-minute fund-raising film for a non-profit hospital. I was captivated. It inspired. It educated. It dispelled myths. It featured “real people.” It was emotional. It worked.

As the show faded to black, my calling in life was handed to me. In those seven minutes, I knew I was going to inspire and educate others by producing these types of stories on video for organizations. I discovered the power of personal stories.

I was changed. Forever.

•    Cut to 2008

It’s now been 24 years since I watched that video. I have been incredibly fortunate to produce and direct hundreds of amazing stories for remarkable organizations of every type and size. Most of the stories have one thing in common; people sharing how they see the world in ways that can help and inspire others.

It’s not about making a video. It’s about discovering and capturing your story in a way that naturally connects you to your audience.

It sounds simple. But do you know how your organization can communicate its story, brand or message through video in a way that is clear, authentic, compelling and entertaining? And solve a business issue?

That’s what we’ll tackle here. We’ll also learn how you can use video to:
•    raise brand awareness
•    help attract the right employees
•    share corporate culture and values
•    dispel long-standing myths
•    launch new initiatives
•    and lots more.

The upcoming posts will cover three highly effective video approaches:
1.    Documentary
2.    Green-screen
3.    EyeLiner

You can easily use these styles to capture your story so that it feels “real” to your audience and not contrived.

When designing your next video, perhaps you can start imagining how your story might change a life as it “fades to black.”

After all, it is possible. 

---Tom

P.S. Originally posted on Tom's FastCompany.com column, "Let's See That Again!"

Comments

[RayD]

Inspirational as always Tom!
Looking forward to the next posts, but personally, I'd also love to hear what happened between 1984 and say 1994: how did you go about it in broad strokes?

[Thomas Clifford]

Hi Ray,

You gave me an idea for a future post...will do!

Thanks and be well,
Tom

[Ryan]

Hi,

I found your blog through a search engine. I think what you're doing is really cool, corporate documentaries. I' suggest doing a documentary about John Assaraf. I'm a client of his, he owns a small business and consutling company in San Diego, Onecoach. His teachings about the brain and it can be used as a powerful device to achieve success are astonishing. Here's a link to some of his information... www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2

[Bill Ennis]

I love how you articulate how we, in this industry, go about our "job." I, too, began in this business awhile ago (I actually have you beat by a couple of years - 1982, to be exact). In the early years, when people asked me what I did for a living, I'd say I own a video production company. The reality was, I, like you, was a storyteller.

Coming into this field with a degree in radio/tv/film and journalism, I found I had an instinctive ability to distill a company's mission and purpose into its most rudimentary components, then repackage it into a compelling story that would cause its audience to act. I always try to find my clients' USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, (now you can really tell my age), and keep them reminded of their audience's basic attitude - WIIFM (What's in it for me). Acknowledging, and incorporating, these two perspectives helps us develop a communication tool for our clients that cuts through the clutter and motivates their audiences to move to action.

It took me many years to acknowledge what I truly do for a living; but now, when asked, the phrases "I own a video production company" or "I'm a writer/producer/director" come later in the conversation. The first thing I tell people is simply "I'm a storyteller...."

[Lois Kelly]

During a recent conversation with a playwright and theater director they mentioned that plays have a universal principle: characters are transformed. Where they are at the beginning is far different than where they are at the play's conclusion. I was watching some digital stories made by kids and they, too, created videos about how their lives were changed -- by a person, an idea, an event. Wish more business captured the transformation, and inspired people the way you were inspred by that hospital video!

Teach us tom!

Lois

[Thomas Clifford]

Bill and Lois,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Transforming and educating people through the power of video is at the heart of everything I do. Some films enable that to happen easier than others. Nonetheless, that is the road ahead us.

Be well,
Tom