Video Format
Well begun is half done.
The best place to start any journey is with a clear vision of the end. What is the objective of your video? Where does it fit with you, your company, your customers and very importantly your next video? Why the next video? Because you can’t say everything in one video.
Your first video is like the first chapter in a book. The two most important things about the first chapter is that you capture attention and know where the story is going to end. If you don’t know where the story is going to end – you’ve started in the wrong place.
Top Three Considerations.
Format : The first thing you need to decide.
Story. : If your customers buy your story they will buy your product or service – just sayin”.
Hosting : This is how customers receive your video.
Hosting – lets start at the end and work back. When you know your distribution channel you can make some decisions about format. There are a number of different hosting companies all offering different features. Deciding on the right hosting platform is crucial. At Amulet Studios we prefer to use dynamic hosting – a bespoke concoction of platforms for every client and video.
Before deciding on format we look at all distribution options as opportunities to exhibit video both internet and non internet platforms.
How your customers will find your video is what decides its reach and penetration. Hosting is the last stage over which you have control, therefore it is the first thing you need to consider. Your video is going to go down a pipe with a million other videos, many of which will vaporise in pipe without ever reaching the target. This is because they have not made the correct format choices.
Take a long hard look at how the video is going to reach the customer. Will it be a mobile device, a tv set, cinema? - Wait a sec- cinema! – isn’t this about Web Video? No this is about strategy.. Your video might be primarily for your website but it can be repurposed in a number of different media. Most of these will not be of interest to you but all of them should be considered before you decide on format. Digital Signage and Digital Cinema are now viable options for SMEs and ought to be explored.
Format – The very word puts people off. So think of it as the package. We may not judge a book by its cover but are drawn to a cover that intrigues. The cover identifies it’s readers. It chooses you. That’s what your format does – it choses your costumers. If it does this well and your customers are well chosen they will be satisfied. Video format involves a lot of different considerations many of which are technical but the most important element is how the format will enable you tell your story. Finding the right format will identify your customers but the story is what connects.
The Script - A fully developed script is the detailed drawing containing all the information required by the creatives, the technicians, the production, the insurance company and the client. The main requirement is a dramatic structure onto which all the elements are hung. The dramatic structure is what makes the idea a story.
The story is important because it gives pleasure. Stories are very important to our own psychology and our connection with the world. We are wired to receive and respond to stories. They can be short or long but whether short or long. they need to grab our attention, ellicit or empathy and bring about a resolution. That story structure is as old as civilisation, actually it’s a corner stone of civilisation but it is the story that makes us feel, and felling is what makes us believe.
Where does the story begin? Check out – The Final Cut Is Only As Good As The Idea
