October 10

Everybody Loves a Good Story! The Director’s List of Visual Storytelling Elements Used in Film Making

When you’re making videos, the single best way to keep your viewer’s attention is to entertain them with a good story.  Storytelling is the heart of videomaking.  So how do you tell a story using video?  This post will explain.

heart

Think about movies that you’ve seen and liked. Almost without fail, movies that deliver a good story are the ones that become blockbuster hits. Lots of fancy special effects aren’t enough. Stuffing the line-up with big names stars isn’t enough. Spectacular cinematography isn’t enough. What draws people in is the story.

Even if your video is nothing like a Hollywood movie, try to weave a story in somehow.

If you’re new to video production, the thought of creating your own story can be both thrilling and intimidating. How do you tell a story with using a camera? This post will show you how.

We’ll begine with what is sometimes referred to as “The Language of Film.”   I call it The Director’s List of Visual Storytelling Elements.

A novice filmmaker needs to learn about these elements in order to be capable of using a video camera to craft a story.  Think of these storytelling elements are the tools of your trade.

child news nerd reads books
Books are one popular way to tell a story. Books use words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, punctuation and sometimes images to tell a story.

VISUAL STORYTELLING IS UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL

Most people have more experience using the written, or spoken, word to tell stories.  In verbal and written storytelling,  you use words, formed into sentences, which form paragraphs, chapters, and so on.  Famous authors are known for their unique style with the way they combine words and create characters using words, sentences and punctuation.  Are they long-winded and heavy on ten-dollar words?  Or do they write concisely using an elementary-level vocabulary?

Informal verbal storytelling, such as chatting with friends,  would have different word choices than a famous author crafting a novel.  Informal verbal storytelling also uses a different vocabulary,  pacing, syntax and sentence structure than formal literature.

people talking
Plenty of stories get told at parties, but they won’t be told in the same was as a novel.  There are lots of styles when it comes to storytelling.

Instead of words, sentences and punctuation, visual storytelling uses close ups, medium shots, music, narration, special effects, graphics, pacing, special effects, sound effects, and so on.  The Director’s List elements and techniques are the tools of your craft.

But first, stories begin with people.  People in your audience will care about what happens to other people, especially if it relates back to them personally.  Novels use fictional characters.  So do movies, TV shows, and even commercials. 

News stories and documentary films often profile real people in order to tell their factual story.

PROFILING PEOPLE TO TELL YOUR STORY

One of the best ways to tell a story on video is to find someone who exemplifies the point you are trying to make. Then, tell their story.  Your audience will identify (or not) with these people.  Most people can be made relatable in one way or another if you focus on the emotional reactions they have to the events of the story.

money

Let’s say you’re doing a video about the economy. Pretty dry subject, huh? Make it more exciting and personable by finding some people who have experienced good or bad times due to the economy. Feature them as your story. Hang the dry facts and information about the economy on the emotionalism of their story.

Like this.

Your video shows a sequence of Fred Smith and his girlfriend driving down the street in a red Ferrari. Music is blaring from the radio and they are both laughing.

Narrator reads: “Cruising down the boulevard in his hot new sports car is Fred Smith’s favorite pastime. He used to drive an old, beat up Volkswagen. What changed? His widget business took off when worldwide widget demand soared!

old cars

That example might seem a little bit corny, and it certainly is, but I hope you get my point.

Stories are what happens to people, the events and their response.  People are full of emotion. Any kind of emotion you can spark in your viewer helps increase the likelihood your video will be enjoyable to watch.  With video, you can do it in ways you probably never thought of before.

THINK VISUALLY. 

eyeballs drawing

There are a zillion ways to tell your story.  Precisely how you chose to do so will become known as your “style” as a filmmaker.  As a beginner, you should expect it to take some time.  With experience,you’ll develop a style. As you evolve with your craft, your style will no doubt change with you.  In the beginning, it’s best to learn the standard operating procedures of film and video production.

I suggest you begin your journey as a videomaker by developing basic skills and knowledge needed to operate a camera, obtain technically correct imges and sound, then weave them together in the edit room to produce a watchsble video people enjoy and understand.   Once you learn the basic of video production, you are only limited by your imagination.  And budget, can’t forget budget. 🙂 

Any student filmmaker is going to be constrained by budget, which is OK because it will force you to get creative.

I can tell you from experience that most prfessional videomakers in local news, commercial, or corporate settngs will never have much of a budget. You also won’t be doing stories with blockbuster potential in those environments.   That doesn’t mean you can’t learn to develop marvelous video stories with limited resources.

Let’s say you are assigned to do a crafting tutorial video on knitting.  Yup, that is your story, how to knit a blankie. That might not even seem like it has story potential.   In a case like this, use visuals that evoke emotion.   Show a finished blanket wrapped around an adorable sleeping baby, and I guarantee your viewers will be emotionally pulled into your “story.”

When you are making simple videos, your story does not have to be complicated. You do not have to have an intricate plot. All you really need is some emotion.  Emotion can be added using elements like music and pretty pictures.  That is one of the advntages of visual storytelling.  You have a wide assortment of storytelling elements that will evoke emotion, so even the dryest subjects can add some appealing storytelling elements.  There is a full list below.

baby
Picture by Josh Bennett

Viewers will react emotionally to cute or spectacular images, as in the blanket example. If you were watching a how-to-knit video, would you rather look at a cute baby or a pile of yarn? Which one is going to make you say, “awwwwwww!”?

Music is one of the easiest ways to add emotion. Movies would be terrible boring without the musical soundtrack but lots of viewers aren’t even conscious of the music; they’re concentrating on the dialogue and action.

musical notes

So, take a tip from Hollywood and add music to your video.  Music makes it more of a story no matter what the subject is.  Music of course, is one of the storytelling elements on the list below.

Your story might also be enhanced with things such as fast-paced editing, or dramatic lighting. In fact, every single video production technique available to you can be thought of as a storytelling element. Any of them can be used to enhance the emotion and therefore tell a story.

The process of creating a video from scratch boils down to deciding what storytelling elements you want, how you want them crafted, and then weaving them together in a manner that appeals to a viewer emotionally and transmits information along with that emotion.  

DIRECTOR’S LIST LIST OF VIDEO STORYTELLING ELEMENTS 

Here is a list of the elements available to the visual filmaker.  These elements are often referred to as the Language of Film.  I have added to the estsblished list.

Here is a more formal definition for The Language of Film:  Cinematic language is the methods and conventions of cinema that are used to communicate with the audience. What Are the Elements of Cinematic Language? The elements of cinematic language include camera angles, focus and movements, mise-en-scéne, lighting, sound and music, editing and performance.

Camera angle- Whether the camera is placed at a low angle, high angle, or eye level will also have a powerful effect on your viewer. A low angle shot gives the viewer the feeling that the subject is important and powerful, like a child looking up to an adult.  The low angle makes them look large and ominous, maybe even a little bit scary. A high angle does the opposite, making the subject look tiny or overwhelmed. Like a puny bug beneath your feet, your subject will seem insignificant if shot from a high camera angle.

Most video will be taken at a neutral height angle though, especially interviews, should be shot at eye level, which gives a neutral feel.  In addition to high and low camera placement, whatever angle the director choises will reveal precisely what the director wishes, no more and no less.

Camera angle is considered one of the most classic ways a movie director reveals information to the audience.

Camera angle also includes the scope of the shot, which refers to how far the camera appears to be from the subject of the shot.  IOW, wide shot, medium shot, and close-up.

Wide-shots- Wide shots are typically used to establish your setting. A wide shot usually isn’t too personable, but it can tell a viewer a lot about where they are. Writers like Hemingway can go on for pages describing the setting. A video director can sum it all up in one wide shot. You can convey paragraphs worth of information in one wide shot.

Medium-shots- This is your most commonly used shot and is what you want for general, run-of-the-mill action. It gives a nice, loose feeling.

golf club close up

Close-ups- Close-ups reveal the most emotion and information to the audience and are considered the single most important and expressive type of shot. If you really want to show someone’s pain, get a tight shot of their face contorted in agony. Although professional productions use lots of close-ups, novices tend to ignore them. Now you don’t have to make that mistake!

Mise-en-scène (French: [mi.z.seen]; English: “placing on stage” or “what is put into the scene”) Mise-en-scene is a French terms that essentislly means everything seen by the cameras.  Props, costumes, actors, set design, all of those things.  It is a very broad term, a bit like the term miscellaneous.  (I have pulled all of these things out individually to describe as part of this list.)

Still pictures- Moving video is always best, but still pictures can be used to great effect and sometimes they’re your only option. Still pictures are extremely easy to import into any video editing program and they will also help you keep your budget down.  If your story concerns historic events or features individuals no loinger loving, still pictures are a good option.  Still pictures would include drawnings that remain unanimated.

Moving camera- If you deliberately move the camera, this helps create a sense of chaos or excitement. This is very common in music videos, horror movies, and crime shows. Is pandemonium breaking lose? Let the camera go wild!  Will it work to help you represent alcoholism for your video about addiction recovery?

Steady camera- Professionsl quality video is usually rock-solid steady, which means it was shot off a tripod. Steady video helps your viewer forget they’re watching TV and concentrate on your message, not your production style. A steady camera will impart a sense of calm in your audience. The number one mistakes novices make is they don’t believe in holding the camera steady! Even if you hand hold instead of bothering with a tripod, there are ways to keep it steady. Try shooting on the wide angle portion of your zoom lens, that way your shakiness is less noticeable. By all means, resist the urge to zoom, pan and tilt a lot.

woman with video camera

Music- Music is probably the single easiest way to add emotion to your video and enhance the story. Music is an instant mood inducer. Lots of simple videos can get by as just video set to music.

One thing to keep in mind about music is that unless you’re willing to pay huge licensing fees, you can’t legally use a song unless it a genre called “royalty free.” Royalty free music has a reputation for being sappy, “elevator” music but over the years, it’s improved a lot. Many incredible musicians have gone into the business of producing royalty free music so you can find some really awesome stuff.

As the intent grows, some web sites like YouTube might pay the high licensing fees for you, but that will only apply if your video is isolated to YouTube.

Narration- Narration is one of the easiest ways to tell a story. It lets you do just that, tell a story. Good narration is conversational and concise. Video narration is not the time to impress people with your huge vocabulary, rather, the script should read naturally. Narration is typically a documentary style technique but some popular movies have used narration to great effect. Consider Forest Gump and A Christmas Story.  Narration is often mixed with music and sound effects.

Interviews– Interviews can be considered the skeleton, or framework for a video, especially documentaries. Speaking to experts or other participants in the story is an easy way to add a type of narration to your video. You can show the person’s face, or cover that video with other video related to your story. (That’s called a voice-over and you just use their voice.)

Here’s an example.  Let’s say you’re doing an in-depth video aimed at retired folks about how to improve their golf game, interview four people: a professional golfer, a physical therapist and two seniors who fit the profile of your target audience. Weave portions of their interviews, called sound bites, into your story along with:

  • Audio recorded by a narrator
  • Natural sound of the ball being hit
  • Natural sound of the birds tweeting
  • Natural sound of the gulf cart revving up.

Interviews with experts add credibility and interviews with “regular Joes” add viewer identification. Let people you interview tell their story and you transform it into your story.

Dialogue- Dialogue is an important part any fictional TV show or movie.  Dialogue refers to the words your characters speak.  You can also use natural dialogue in documentary, non-fiction shows.   Using “natural dialogue,” or just letting people just speak off the cuff, is one of the easiest way to make a video. An interview can also be used in this way. Just turn your subject loose and let them speak. This can eliminate the need to write a script altogether and save you tons of time. It helps to have chatty people who have that innate “ham” instinct and can think on their feet. To be effective as a story telling technique, make sure that the audio is recorded well. Poor quality audio is more irritating for a viewer than poor quality video. That’s a fact. If the viewer has to strain to hear, he’s likely to turn off. Add subtitles if your sound is badly mumbled. Different microphones have different characteristics so it takes a bit of training to consistently be able to record quality sound in any situation.

Natural Sound- Natural sound is whatever sound you pick up while recording. Anything from bird tweets to traffic noise is considered natural sound. Sometimes natural sound is superfluous and irritating, but usually, it adds realism and gives you viewer a sense of “being there.” Natural sound can be effectively be used like punctuation, mixed in periodically with narration, music or other audio.

dog
If you were filming this dog and he barked, that would be consifered natural sound.  Video of him barking with no barking sound would seem strsnge to a viewer.  People expect sound.

Sound effects- What would cartoons be without sound effects? Not as funny, that’s what they’d be! There are tons of free or cheap royalty free sound effects available for download over the web.  Simple sound effects can add critical information, create a mood or be humorous. Sound effects can be natural or you can use pre-recorded royalty free sounds.

Pacing- Pacing mostly refers to editing and how often the shot changes. A fast pace gives the viewer the feeling of chaos or excitement. A slow pace is generally regarded as boring, think PBS documentaries. ZZZZZZZ. That’s not to say that a slow pace is “bad.” Slow pacing can also be used to convey a sense of calm or peacefulness. As a general rule of thumb, for a five minute professionally-produced video, a standard pace would be each shot lasting four to five seconds. A fast pace might include edits every split second, but anything under :02 would be considered fast. A slow pace would be each shot lasting :30 or more seconds.

Lighting- Want your audience to feel tension? Give them some sharp, direct lighting coming from a weird angle. Whatever lighting you use will instantly impart a mood on your video. Dark and shadowy is equated with a scary mood. Brightly lit diffused light indicates a cheerful mood.* Lighting- Mood lighting is one of the quickest ways to establish an emotional feel for your video. Dark and shadowy is equated with a scary mood and brightly lit indicates a cheerful mood.

Editing transitions- In a fully edited video, your shot will probably change frequently. Whatever effect you use to go from one shot to another is called an editing transition. The most common is the simple cut, where one shot abruptly changes to the next. A dissolves is where one shot slowly fades out while another one slowly appears. Dissolves are usually used to indicate the passage of time. Wipe is a term for the million and one other ways you can switch from shot to shot. Digital video editing has added tons of wipes to the video producer’s bag of tricks. There are wipes to indicate a fantasy or dream sequence, an explosion, or even a sheep bleating. Although wipes can be fun, the general recommendation is to use them sparingly. Too many are considered cheesy and kind of low-rent. Of course, if that is the style you’re going for, exploit your wipes!  Individual editing transitions convey meaning.  From the earliest days of Hollywood, dissolves have indicated the passage of time. There are wiggly wipes that indicate a fantasy sequence, fire-edged wipes that simulate an explosion, rotation wipes that look like a clock hand.

Graphics- In video production, graphics usually refers to any words written on the screen. Information such as price, dates, locations, time, and addresses all make good graphics for video. If you think your viewer would need a pencil to jot the information down, definitely make it a graphic. Another common use for graphics is putting a person’s name and title up while their face is on the screen.  This is referred to as a super, or lower third, since it ususlly goes in the lower third part of the screen and it is superimposed over the video.

  • Joe M. Schmoe
  • Mayor

Graphics help tell a viewer information that might otherwise interrupt the flow of your story.

Special effects- Special effects used to be restricted to big budget movies, but with today’s modern computer editing, many special effects are a snap, or, should I say, a click.  There are literally hundreds of special effects, so I won’t list them all here, but many are listed at that link.  Special effects includes techniques like green screen, AKA chroma key. 

Characters- Movies obviously rely on characters, but increasingly, so do short videos, like thirty-second commercials. Next time you watch TV, notice how commercials use well-defined characters.  Characters can say volumes about a product, and it’s all instantly recognized and understood.

eight different characters used in tv commercials
How many of these marketing characters do you recognize? Do you know what product they stand for?

That’s a pretty long list of storytelling elements. I hope it has helped you to see that telling a story in your video is actually quite easy. It’s also a lot of fun!  What kind of story does this little kitten look like its trying to tell?

kitten

The most fun-to-watch videos use a variety of story-telling elements.

That doesn’t mean you can’t do an effective video with one talking head shot of you on your web cam. It all depends on context and how badly your audience wants your information.

There’s no shortage of stuff for folks to watch. If they don’t like your video there are ten-million other channels!

I hope this article helps you on your journey to becoming a master visual storyteller.

Lorraine Grula

brain
AI generated image

FOOD FOR THOUGHT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

  • In your own words, describe why storytelling is the heart of videomaking.
  • In your opinion, why do cute images of babies help tell a rather boring story and make it more fun?
  • Name your three favorite storytelling elements from ths list sbove. You can base your answer on your own TV watching experiences.  Why did you pick these three?

Tags

examples of basic visual storytelling, how to tell a story with video, language of film, Storytelling, storytelling elements video, video storytelling, video storytelling elements, visual storytelling guide


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  1. Hi Brooks.

    I agree wholeheartedly. Music, lighting, and pacing work wonders. Music alone can take a boring production and make it worth watching.

    Glad to hear you liked Dave Kaminski’s course. His stuff is EXCELLENT in my opinion. I have always been extremely impressed with his stuff.

    Thanks for visiting my site and leaving a comment!

    Cheers!

    Lorraine Grula

  2. Thank u for the great sharing Lorraine. Being an untrained person making videos, I didnt realise there is so much depth in the art! Definately helps in the path ahead.

    Sean
    Singapore

  3. Hi Sean.
    Thanks for your comment. One reason I really like video making is because you can make it as deep (or shallow) as you want. Most people who are new to video making think it is all about what camera to use or what video editing software to use. Although those things are important, video making is all about storytelling. No two ways about that!
    good luck to you in the path ahead!
    Lorraine

  4. One element of a good story is conflict. If a problem or antagonist is presented for the character (or viewer) to overcome, it will keep the viewer interested in knowing the outcome.

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