Plan Your Video

Step 1: Write a guiding paragraph

Take time to write a description of the story and what viewers will see in your video. If you are producing a series of videos, discuss how elements of your story will be conveyed through the series. This guiding paragraph should not be a summary of the video’s message or an analysis, but a description of how you visualize the story unfolding. This can incorporate the style and feel of the video (e.g. or example, a fast MTV-like feel, a slower-paced story, or a series of stark images interspersed with title-cards).

Think visually and verbally – every word in your guiding paragraph should describe something you see in the video.

A helpful resource is the Storytelling chapter from our Video for Change book. Download it here: Video for Change_Storytelling 707.76 Kb

Step 2: Finalize Your Messages

List out the most important messages for your audience and put them in order of importance. Remember, this should be a list of messages that you will be able to convey in your video with interviews, testimony and b-roll (cut-aways) images and audio. Think big, but be realistic.

Step 3: Choose Your Messengers

Who can tell your story most compellingly for your audience?

Compelling and memorable personal stories are part of most powerful videos and stories. An “expert” interview may give credibility and help elaborate nuanced legal or policy obligations. You may consider how you would tell “both sides of the story” or explain why this is infeasible or ill advised. Consider that “who” tells the story can also include the narrator.

Next: Create a Video Outline