Kick Your Video in the Butt with a Story
I bought your book last Saturday and have already read most of it! I have a question about creating a video for an author.
I plan to use your story formula for a book-signing that I shot on Saturday to promote my friend’s new book. I know my hero is the author. But what’s the story? Should the video tell the story of how she breaks into a new genre of writing? Or will it focus on the story of her book? I’m confused.
Can you help me get to step two with my video?
Babs Hogan
Arlington, TX
Thanks for reading the book, Babs. Great that you happened to be shooting at a bookstore!
The “formula” you’re talking about isn’t really mine. It’s some guy named Aristotle. He said that every story has to have a hero, a beginning, middle and end. And you can use his simple story structure no matter what story you want to tell.
The beauty part is that any story will make your video better. Story functions as an “organizing principle,” helping us arrange our thoughts in a way that makes them easier to share. Our brains remember way more, way more easily, if we’re told a story. It’s an evolution thing:”animal” is not a story. But “Dangerous animal ate Grok” is a story that saves lives!
You’ve already shot your footage (more on how to deal with that in a moment) but in general, try to think about story early and often. And for sure before you shoot, because knowing your story guides your planning, your shooting and your editing.
For example, choose a story about “an author signs books” and you’ll want to shoot her (beginning) arriving at the store, (middle) sitting behind the table, shaking hands and signing books, and (end) thanking the owner at the end. But if your story is about how nervous she is to even go to the signing, you might shoot her (beginning) at home, hands shaking as she puts on makeup and describes her fear, (middle) her arrival and reluctance to even get out of the car, and (end) the smile that opens up when she sees 50 people applauding as she’s introduced.
Two different stories. Both work, as will 10 others you can brainstorm, and each better than a bunch of random shots with no organizing principle. Knowing your story early makes it more likely you’ll be in the right place for the great shots, and know what interview questions to ask.
Now, back to you: You’ve shot the event already. So load it into an editor and let’s break the footage down. Select out all the good stuff and make three piles called (and this will shock you) “beginning”, “middle” and “end.” Just do it by feel– no wrong answers.
Now cut out all the shots that you don’t like, and play what’s left. As you watch, brainstorm a list of possible stories. What are a few cool beginnings? What do you have a lot of footage about for the middle? What shots definitely grab you for an ending? Make notes or just start moving the footage around.
Once you have a theme– “Author’s Nerves” or “High School Boyfriend Shows at Book Signing” or “People Ask Authors Strange Questions”– and a few beats for beginning, middle, end, use the best of the rest of your footage to support it. If you discover multiple story options, you’ll enjoy the whole process more if you choose the one that’s most entertaining to you. You can’t go wrong– any story is better than no story.
Nothing obvious? Try this: Put the footage in chronological order. Cut out all the bad shots. What’s left is a natural beginning, middle and end for a story called “Author goes to book signing.” While it might not be Netflix-worthy, it will still be a good record of the event, fun to watch and worth posting.
Good luck!
