Great Video Storytelling Without Saying A Word
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One of these days… one of these days I’ll convince a client we don’t need any spoken words to tell their story. It has to be the right project, but video storytelling is more than words. In some cases, it can survive on its own without anything being said.I’ve blogged about it in the past. American Airlines did one of my favorite videos in this way. Well, I have another one.
Adobe’s creative video storytelling
I LOVE a recent video produced by Adobe entitled, Photoshop Live – Street Retouch Prank. From the concept to the execution… A+.
Adobe wanted to promote one of its upcoming events, Adobe Creative Days, so they brought some creativity to a local bus stop and captured it all on video. I’m not going to say anything more than that because I really want you to watch.
They setup the scenario, show us how it’s done and share the end results… all without any sound bites or narration. Could they have used some? Sure. Did they need to? No.
I don’t necessarily know if it ever came up at a pre-video meeting, but I’d argue not using any spoken words actually works well with what they’re promoting. It’s a “creative” way of highlighting Adobe Creative Days.
Will viewers “get” the message?
Not sure this sort of thing would connect with an audience? Well, the Adobe video currently has over 16-million views. 16-million!
Look, I know it’s Adobe so they have a big audience to begin with, but that audience clearly watched and shared it with others. They’re not going to do that with something that stinks or they don’t understand. That’s why video is such a terrific tool. Good videos are highly shareable… whether there are spoken words or not.
Anyway, it takes some corporate guts to go with this style, so it might be easier for companies like Adobe that produce a lot of videos. I have to say though… it’s soooo good.
Consider this an open call to all of our clients and future prospects… we’re ready to give it a try when you are. If you don’t like it, we can always do some interviews and go back down the traditional route.
–Tony Gnau
Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.