3 Impactful Elements in Videography

October 3, 2019 by izynadmin in Videography

Videography is a difficult trade to master because it combines aspects of the business with creativity and technical knowledge. By itself, any one of these aspects can form a full-time career, but videography combines them into one trade. It’s difficult, and there are many different aspects in the production phase that can either make or break the impact of a project.

Actors, camera equipment, aerial clips, focus pulling, exposure, editing software, story-boarding, etc.

Among a plethora of things to consider, I have noticed three important elements that ought to form the foundation of any video project. These three things, if left out, will ruin a project regardless of the quality of footage or skill of acting. A videography project will never be successful unless it has a story, a rhythm, and considers the audience.

Story is King

We have all heard it hundreds of times by now, but Story is King.

But why?

The story is king because it allows the viewer to emotionally invest in the experience. It doesn’t have to be a long, complex description of the history, but it does have to establish a point of view for the viewer. The story is the box through which the viewer sees the pictures. It means that instead of flying a drone over a car to get a cool shot, you are flying in order to give the viewer the best possible angle with which to develop the story. It means you are shooting with the intent to place the audience in the scene from the best angle so that they can be involved and feel.

The feeling is what will make the project a success. If the audience walks away having felt something, then chances are they will interact with the project in some way. The story compels that feeling, and without it, the audience will not engage.

How do you get more story?

Sound. Sound. Sound.

Sound design to match the clips, and a progression of clips that makes sense. Humans respond far more rapidly and emotionally to sound than to sight. The sound tells the story, and the clips just reinforce it.

Sound is so important because the best stories are not the ones told, but the ones that the audience infers for themselves based on the cues given to them.

There is an important distinction in writing between showing and telling. Telling a story is boring while showing a story allows the user to invest and imagine it because they only have snippets of information that vaguely relate to their own lives. Sound design is how you do that.

Rhythm

This is definitely the most difficult to get down because it’s such an ephemeral topic, but there is a distinct difference between having rhythm and missing it. It’s the subtle element that allows the audience to be entranced by the video. It’s the quality that lets the audience focus uninterrupted on the story. Having rhythm means that the audience does not realize that they are watching a video.

If there is one easy thing to master that contributes the most to rhythm, it is the timing or duration of clips. Unfortunately, there is no formula for such a creative process. Some say you either have rhythm or you don’t, but I think there are certainly ways to get it.

How?

Watch a lot of really good work.

Trying to make a documentary? Watch some.

Trying to make a car ad? Watch some, and analyze which make you forget that you’re watching them and ask why.

Rhythm can be learned, and it is imperative to do so in order to make great content.

Audience Consideration or Context

Any great project knows for what purpose it is being made. That’s base one. Good videos are made with a specific audience in mind. I’m not talking about your friends or grandma, but rather in order to meet the need of a specific demographic in the world.

How can you meet the need of a demographic?

Some people would suggest doing market research or conducting surveys, but I think those are close to worthless.

The most important thing to know about making content for a specific audience is that almost everyone has a problem that they are trying to pay someone else to fix. If you can understand what somebody else’s problem is, then you can make a video that helps them fix that problem.

Video is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used for marketing, entertainment, and even educational purposes. This tool is best used not out of a passionate fervor, but out of a desire to solve problems. Many people think of videography as a dream or passion, but it’s not. It’s a tool, and like a tool, it is best used to solve problems.

So the best way to make videos for a specific audience?

If your following your passion, then your audience is just you. Instead, see what things need fixing in the world, and then fix them. The passion comes naturally along the way.

And there are plenty of things that need fixing.