Telling Stories in Multimedia and Video

The story is the essence of everything. When I first started learning video, I attended Dirck Halstead’s Platypus Workshop. Before we could even begin to work on our stories, we had to get our “commitment” approved. We needed to articulate to either Dirck or fellow instructor PF Bentley what our story was about. If we couldn’t give a short concise answer that explained our message or commitment, we weren’t allowed to proceed until we did. The rationale was that if we weren’t committed and connected to our story, then the audience wouldn’t be either.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the story is only important in editorial markets. In advertising and corporate content – whether through still imagery or motion footage – the universal stories of love, tragedy, triumph and defeat communicate most effectively because they resonate with the viewer as a human being. Think about any good commercials you’ve seen or films and songs that are etched in your head. Undoubtedly there was a connection made because the story resonated with you, the viewer.

Thinking in Sequences – Extended Moments in Time

There are differences in telling your story with still images as opposed to motion imagery. A still image is a “moment in time.” It’s meant to linger on the screen or the page of a magazine.

Video is “time in motion.” When you tell the story through a motion medium like video or multimedia, the story unfolds through sequences of visuals. Those visuals, whether they are still images that move on the screen or video clips, are frequently referred to as B-roll. B-roll is used to illustrate the narrative voiceover or interview sound bites.

Generally you need a lot of B-roll to tell the story and you should shoot accordingly. The ratio of B-roll to interviews in a typical story should be about 80 percent B-roll to 20 percent interviews. Think in terms of scenes in a movie, with each scene made up of sequences.

When shooting sequences, you need to shoot a variety of shots within each scene, from various angles and different focal lengths – wide, medium, tight and very tight (close-ups). A good ratio for type of shots is 50 percent close-ups, 25 percent medium shots and 25 percent wide shots.

Here’s an example of shooting a sequence of someone arriving at work:

• Wide shot of car arriving in parking lot.
• Medium shot of woman inside car turning off ignition.
• Close-up of key in ignition.
• Close-up of face reflected in rear view mirror – checking makeup.
• Medium shot of woman gathering briefcase, phone and other personal belongings.
• Medium shot outside car of woman opening door and getting out.
• Wide shot of her carrying her belongings and walking into building.

For multimedia pieces that are made up of single still images the same technique can be applied using a variety of images to create a sequence or scene.

Regardless of whether you’re putting together a multimedia piece or a video, keep the big picture in mind and how it needs to make sense to the viewer. For example: When shooting the scene described above of a woman arriving for work, let her enter and exit the frame when you get shots of her walking from the car to the building. That way, when the next scene shows her sitting at her desk, the viewer understands how she got there. If you don’t see her leaving the frame, there is a disconnect for the viewer as to how she got from that frame to the next.

Using Natural Sound and Interviews

Multimedia and video stories utilize audio. In fact audio is everything in creating motion pieces. Whether it is audio captured during an interview using external mics and recorded with the camera or a separately recorded voiceover track laid down later in post, the audio drives the story.

Utilizing natural sound also gives a piece more information and depth. It could be traffic noise or children laughing or other ambient sound. Remember that “shooting” means you are capturing both visuals and the audio. Even if you don’t think you will be using the audio, don’t close the door on that option by talking while you shoot. Be quiet… and that goes for the rest of the crew, too.

If shooting for multimedia pieces, you’ll need to capture natural sound with an auxiliary recording device. This may be ambient sound, like church bells or foghorns in the distance. Or it may be recorded sound bites or interviews of people you meet.

Regardless of how you capture your audio, always make sure you are getting good clean sound by wearing headphones. You may think you’re getting sound by looking at the meters of the camera or recording device, but it may not be usable sound because of static or interference. Using headphones is essential for monitoring and getting good sound.

Interviews are usually an integral part of most videos or multimedia. I generally use my interviews as my narrative track, and let that drive the story.

Create the Right Feel using Transitions, Music and Motion

Editing is where the story gets crafted. Any piece can be edited in a variety of ways where each version can tell an entirely different story. But remember, you should have your story or “commitment” defined before you even get into the editing room.

Editing is all about pacing and creating the feel of the piece. This is done in a variety of ways with transitions and music and how long you let images linger on the screen. There are no real clear-cut rules here – it’s all about creating the right feel. Transitions, like dissolves, usually indicate the passage of time while straight cuts are simpler and don’t distract the viewer by calling attention to technique. One thing to keep in mind when creating pieces for the Web is that transitions and scenes with lots of movement don’t hold up well when compressed, so stick to straight cuts and static shots if possible.

Music provides a backdrop for the piece and can add… but it can also distract. When selecting music, I choose something that will add to the overall message rather than confuse or distract the viewer. Lastly, never rely on a popular piece of music to carry your story because your visuals are weak.

Here’s a short sample piece Las Vegas that I created. It’s comprised entirely of still images and edited in a video timeline using Final Cut Pro. I also used Soundtrack Pro to create the soundtrack, and Motion for the titles and graphics.