One of my favorite things to do, any day, any time, is watch my son play basketball. Any parent who has kids in sports knows it can be one of the most stressful experiences, too. As parents, we hang on every shot, move, turnover, free throw, victory and defeat.
So to chill at the games, I began taking photos, which then turned into game-day slideshows on the Holy Family Boy’s Basketball website, which then turned into a video storytelling experiment, and eventually this finished video story that was a creative challenge and victory.
What I found was, behind the camera, I could finally watch the game with some objectivity. While I was closer to the action, I had more distance from the emotion. At the same time, I had a deeper personal connection. I could appreciate what my son and his team were experiencing on the court. I could feel the pressure from the opposing teams and fans. I could hear the communication between players. I could feel the emotion in a whole new way. And I quickly gained the complete understanding that everyone on the court, at any given time, was giving their absolute best. I was less emotionally wrapped up into the outcome and more focused on finding those great moments and capturing outstanding effort. Win or lose, there is always a visual story worth telling.
A few games back, I posted this video story: The Holy Family Way. It was a personal challenge to see if I could get everything needed in one game shoot, to tell the story within hours of the final buzzer.
The reaction and learning from my favorite pastime has been fantastic:
- Video storytelling gets attention. Posted in my social media feeds, as well as Rocket Man Digital’s, I received more comments in 8 hours than I did on videos I spent thousands and weeks to produce! A few connections picked up the phone the next morning and called. “That’s exactly what I want!” one friend said.
- Speed matters. People freak out when they see emotional results within hours of an event. How did a polished video get posted so quickly after the Waconia @ Holy Family game? How did that slideshow get published the same night? My tricks and secrets didn’t matter. All people cared about was that the story was fresh, with game-day emotions still on edge when viewing.
- Never stop experimenting. Simple, personal photo and video tests give me tons of ideas for quick turn content for brands and companies. It’s a game changer at events and for breaking news, when the brand wants to break the story before anyone else. It also helped me hone in on telling stories with emotion, even with the smallest production window, to deliver outstanding results. (A friend has built a company called Storlietelling, focused on helping businesses use emotional stories to succeed!)
It won’t be long before brands and companies demand this same kind of quick, of-the-moment, visual storytelling for their brands. We’re ready. After all, no story is so small that it shouldn’t be captured and told.