Story is Everything!

The worst feeling is sitting through a crappy two-hour movie with your friends. You leave feeling worse than you did before. Wasted time, wasted feelings, wasted interest – sounds miserable right?

You have to get the story right. Entire cultures have been shaped and changed with stories. They are way more powerful than a Red Epic. Gear, visuals, and audio all assist a story. If they take the drivers seat over story, everything else will be tainted.

For this tech video I made it a goal to use narrative. I forced myself to use “Save the Cat’s” beat sheet.

Opening Image:

Push in on a laptop –

Stuff is unorganized, post-its everywhere.

Theme Stated:

“Life seems to work better when things are organized.”

Set-up:

Let me take you back in my past before evernote – my life was anything but organized.

Things were pretty hectic.

Chatting with friend.

“Where were you today ?”

“You missed the meeting?”

Catalyst:

Friend invites me to use Evernote.

Debate:

Skeptical at first. I hover the arrow over the exit (creates tension), then a reminder pops up so I decide to sign up.

Break into 2:

Installing Software!

B-Story:

Jen messages me. Creates a side story. I have a crush on her!

Fun and Games:

Once I got evernote I was a little confused at first.

So let me break it down and make it easier for you!

Evernote Screen pops up! (comes in)

Zooms out white surface! Use a reflector!

Explain with real notebooks!

Midpoint:

False Victory.

I was kicking butt in my job,

and my life.

Bad Guys Close In:

Desktop slowly clutters, timelapse of stuff getting crazier and crazier, emails coming in, etc.

Minimizing evernote.

Jen messages about being stood up. “Where were you Friday?”

All is Lost:

Jen goes on a break with me. Sit in that tension!

Break into 3:

Friend talks sense into me. Convinces me to get back Jen.

Finale:

Trashes desktop

Opens Evernote,

Goes to Jen Notebook

Looks at her favorite lists,

looks at his date ideas,

Montage of date footage – good Jen stuff!

Closing Image:

Same as opening image. Desk is clean, desktop is clean, picture with Jen on desk!

Scoring for the Story

I also wrote the score. Writing custom scores can really help in adding to the story. If you notice in the video – a minor progression comes in right during the “Bad Guys Close In” moment. This really ads to the emotion!

Here’s a behind the scenes of my literal bedroom studio:



Here’s a behind the scenes of my Open and Close dolly shots:



Leave a comment about the next project you’ll use story first on!