MAKE GREAT VIDEO

It’s not a promo video, but…..

Check out the Happy Meal TV commercial with the soccer kids that’s running during the Olympics. Another great example of telling the story with pictures (no narrator, no titles, just music and pictures).

I had mentioned this before and got some response from people wanting to participate.

To remind:  The idea was to have a contest to award the best 2-minute promo video that was produced within 24-hours.

I’m brainstorming now but some thoughts on how it could work, plus questions you can give your opinion on:

A date could be set when a topic would be announced. Then the digital file (.wmv, .mov, … flash would be best) would be sent before the deadline.

What’s a fair entrance fee? The money could go toward prizes. Also, the extra money could go toward some group that helps aspiring video producers.

We would need judges.  Preferably  with quality experience and availabilty to do the judging quickly.

Send me other questions, considerations, suggestions, wisecracks, etc.  Hey, I’m making this up.

But it would be fun, wouldn’t it?

Michelangelo said: Carving is easy; you just go down to the skin and stop.

Sounds beautiful. He was a genius. His work included masterpieces.

Do we think, however, that the thrill of creating those splendid marble statues was instant?

Imagine all the tiny blows of the hammer on the chisel. Hour after hour. Sweating in the Italian heat. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Stone dust stinging his lungs. Tap tap tap. On and on.

But he kept at it. He knew he had to do the boring stuff in order to get to the exciting stuff.

People ask me how I can be so creative. I’m still flustered by that kind of comment. And it’s not false modesty on my part. I know I am creative. I just get the feeling that people think creativity is something we can MAKE HAPPEN. Something we can whip into shape.

The famous sculptor did not build the statue. He uncovered it. He discovered it.

Every promotional video has a story to show and tell. And it can be done with cleverness and meaning and creativity.

I always feel that the story wants to come out. “You are in there,” I sometimes want to say out loud. Clients and others would look at me askance if I did. But I feel that way. “Story, you are in there. And i’m coming in there and setting you free.”

Set your creativity free. You can do it. You can create a great promotional video.

Funny thing about winning awards — if you don’t win them, you say, “Well, serving my clients is the best award!” Which is true.

If you do win them, you say, “Woohoo!”

My company, AllisonDigital, won three awards last week at the Southern Public Relations Federation annual conference. Two Awards of Merit, and one Lantern Award (the highest recognition in a category.) The Lantern was awarded for PR Writing.

I’m grateful for them. And it’s a reminder that, if we want to do excellent work, it all starts with the writing.

Sometimes, if I can’t sleep, I’ll get up and go get in my chair in the den. (Yes, it is MY chair even though my seven-year-old likes to sneak in here and camp out in the chair. He asked me recently when My Chair would become His Chair. I told him when he got to be 30 years old.)

And, yes, I’m writing this blog in My Chair. But, sigh, I digress. Back to my get-up-in-the-night story.

I don’t want to awaken anyone else in my nocturnal viewing. So I hit the mute button.

Some shows are easily followed. Some aren’t. Why and why not? The ones that are impossible to follow usually have a couple of characters talking to each. Yak-yak-yakking. Blabbity blab. They could be discussing the weather. Or the impending annihilation of our planet by a plummeting asteroid. But we, the viewers, don’t know this because we can’t hear the blah blah words. (I’m holding up my hands now like puppets arguing.)

The TV shows that are easy to follow have been constructed by showing your story with images.

And that’s what we must remember as writers of our promotional videos. Don’t fall in love with your language. Get the right pictures that show that story. Build your show around pictures that make an emotional connection with your audience.

I’ve gotten some requests for an outline of my talk, “Red-Hot PR Writing: How to light the right kind of fire under your audience.”

This info applies to creating promotional videos in a big way.

I’ve blogged about that talk briefly, but I’ll be happy to share the outline with anyone who wants it. Just let me know if you download it,

It’s at: http://netga.com/redhotwriting.doc

I spoke to a group today on the topic of “Red-Hot PR Writing: How to light the right kind of fire under your audience.”

My point was, and is, this: Good writing happens when a story moves someone.

A story moves someone.

Sounds simple. Let’s not skip past that simple structure when planning a promo video.

Discover your true story. Tell and show that story to the right person - your target audience. And make sure you know, before you start, what the emotional takeaway should be. What do you want your audience to FEEL about you?

Moving pictures can make that happen. Don’t skip the basics and rush into production before you have a story that moves your audience.

If someone gave me a single day to create a two-minute promo video on a limited budget, I would:

• Use six hours to write a script that would target my audience and the precise feeling I want to invoke in with my message
• Go (with a video camera, a mic and a reflector and a helper) and take about three hours to shoot 6-8 quick interviews outside with people my audience want to know, asking them quesrions that are answered by points identified in my script
• Collect photos and/or shoot still images with a digital camera to use as B-roll and to illustrate major points in the video.
• Use fully one half of the time — 12 hours — to edit. I’d build the show around the interviews, go VERY light on the narration (maybe just use titles), then smooth out the B-roll, add music, and polish.

I’m wondering if I could get a sponsor for a “24-Hour Promo Video Contest”?

My little boy, age 7, has written a movie. it’s called “Space Monkeys.” The script is one page, scrawled in his own hand. (He thinks the producers of the new movie “Space Chimps” stole his idea.)

He’s cast two of his first grade buddies to act in his movie. He’s in discussions with me to shoot it for him, if he can afford it. (Just joking. I wouldn’t charge him my full rate. Okay, I will do it free, sheesh.)

Anyway, my question is this: Why does he think he can do this little movie?

Answer: Because he doesn’t know that he can’t do it.

I applaud his courage and creativity.

What’s keeping you from doing your promo video? Tell me.

It’s for the United Way of NE Mississippi. They will use it for their campaign which starts in September and ends December 31 this year. It’s 7 1/2 minutes. Check it out and let me know how you like it. Thanks.

“Do Something About It” from Allison Digital on Vimeo.