Getting It Done

This post is a final submission of work for the IMC 634 course. It includes the full concept paper and paper edit for my project—an interview-driven recruitment video for the Junior League of Sioux City (JLSC). It is quite similar to the post from last week, but has been edited and hopefully improved. Again, the paper edit provides direction for final editing of interview clips and B-roll footage as well as use of music to accompany the film. The end result should be a piece that is between three and four minutes in length with sufficient room for pauses and…

Creative Approach & First Draft

The following creative approach completes the concept paper posted three weeks ago. It was deliberately left off as I pondered the storytelling, direction, and format of my film. Now that I have a better understanding of my client’s needs, their brand and marketing objectives, I have outlined the approach below. Following the creative approach is a first draft of my paper edit that will aid in production of a recruitment video for Junior League of Sioux City (JLSC). Creative Approach This documentary-style video will feature women involved with JLSC speaking in their own words about how the league makes Sioux…

The Paper Edit

The following paper edit  is taken from a transcribed interview of two Army captains, Captain Y and Captain Z. (Note: page numbers indicate location in the transcript, since it wasn’t time stamped.) The goal is to generate approximately three minutes of video from a seven-page transcript, resulting in a training module that addresses these content points: 1. Soldiers often pride themselves on their ability to take care of problems on their own. But it doesn’t always work. 2. That’s when the leader needs to step in. Being a leader means caring for other soldiers, being aware of the stresses they’re…

Reverse Engineered Scripts

This post is an exercise in writing shooting scripts. The objective is to look at two different 30-second commercials and reverse engineer them, resulting in shooting scripts that would be used by directors, actors, and production workers to deliver an end product representative of the story or vision. The first commercial is about a first time father who, upon seeing his newborn child in the hospital nursery, is open to the wisdom of buying life insurance. This story is told in eight shots. The second commercial is a bit more complex. In this one Nationwide uses 15 shots to tell…

Partial Concept Papers

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF SIOUX CITY Focus Junior League is a volunteer organization of women whose mission is to improve the community around them while developing their own leadership and practical skills. The Junior League of Sioux City (JLSC) is a local chapter that has developed and sustained a thrift store, called the Junior League Discovery Shop, which provides affordable clothing and merchandise for underprivileged residents. Proceeds from the Discovery Shop are the primary source of funds for JLSC projects. Junior League’s international mission is “to address community needs through the training and education of volunteers”. Each local chapter has authority…

Find the Songbird—Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ Campaign

The concept of marketers as storytellers involves telling a story with the audience as a central character. The goal is to send them on an emotional journey, from a point of objection or indifference to the point of purchase or interest. In order for the target audience to be portrayed as a central character in marketing campaigns, marketers need to know them inside out. Demographics play an important role in defining most audiences, however, psychographics must be addressed for the audience to feel understood—to see themselves as that central character. A great storyteller will use something complex and dynamic about…

Elements of Brands

Elements of Brands in Three Greatest-of-All-Time Movies As opposed to last week’s analysis of stories in three greatest-of-all-time movies, this week’s post covers elements of branding: first identifying three brands within the greatest-of-all-time movies, and then describing three popular brands in the marketplace. Unlike the elements of storytelling, which include a central character’s a point of view as an emotional vantage point for the audience, the character or construct representing a brand must maintain a significant amount of distance. This distance is necessary for a construct larger than the character—the brand—to be discussed. Furthermore, as proposed by Stephen Menick (2011),…

Elements of Storytelling

The purpose of this post is to analyze three of the greatest-of-all-time movies from the vantage of storytelling. This perspective has positive implications for marketers in reaching their audience with a compelling brand story. A good story helps audience members move from a point of objection towards loyalty by sending them on an emotional journey and making them the central character. The following analyses are not concerned with details of the plot. Instead, they aim to cover critical elements of the story. Not what’s in the movie so much as what it’s about, and based on the following questions: 1)…