Storytelling Masterclass for Video Creators: How to Make Viewers Care

1. Welcome to the class!: You can have all the gear you want, the most beautiful shots imaginable. But without a story, you just have a viral act. Story and video has the power to make people feel something. And that's what turns simple videos into unforgettable ones, no matter if it's short or long-form content. Hi, I'm Eddie. I'm a former scientist turned into YouTuber and a professional video editor and producer. I've been consistently telling stories through video for more than three years. And for video, no matter how beautiful your shots might be, without a story, they're just clips that no one will care. Story is really the glue of everything that makes the video so unforgettable. So in this class of video storytelling, I'm going to cover everything step by step, starting from defining what actually a story is. It's not the intromddle conclusion that you learned at school. And instead, what formula you can use to best tell your story. And there in depth, I'm going through each critical component showing you several examples of mine throughout every part. Basically, years of experience packed into this class. You won't need any gear since this class is focused on story. And for the class project, since it's story based, you can post a written outline of a video that you want to post using everything that you've learned throughout this class. A simple but deceiving question that most don't actually know how to answer is, what is a story? With that said, I'll see you in the next one. 2. What Is a Story?: Here is a seemingly simple question. What is a story? I say seemingly simple because for me, the definition of story has changed throughout the years of video making. So at the beginning, usually at school, they all kind of taught us when we're writing a story on a notebook, the same structure for the story, and it is the following. It is usually the introduction, the conflict, and then resolution. And while every video might follow this structure, it is not in depth. And specifically, this is more of a plot structure and not necessarily a story. What I mean is that this described what happens, but not what it means. I'll give you a simple example following these rules. So, for example, I missed the bus this morning, and I ran to the bus station, but it was simply too late. I was mad. I had an important meeting, and now I'd be late. I waited 15 minutes, caught the next bus, and barely made it on time. In the end, everything worked out. So that's a basic story following these three simple structures. This structure doesn't focus on meaning. It's predictable, and that's why it's so boring. With that said, what is actually then a story. But the thing is that story is change. A story captures the transformation that happens between the beginning at the end. Remember the whole story, the whole bus story. I wanted to catch a bus. Really, nothing changed. I mean, it is a story, but it's a pretty boring story. But if I were to tell this story in a video format, maybe it'd go a little bit like this. I was very angry at first. I'm always rushing from point A to point B. But while I waited, I just stood there doing nothing for once. Watching the cars go pass by, I realized I hadn't slowed down in months. The next bus came, and for the first time, I wasn't mad at all. If you have no change, that means that you don't have a story because change is what actually gives meaning and direction to what happens. If nothing changes, then you don't have a story. You just have a sequence of events. Comparison to the first story, this one is a bit less predictable. What made this story a story was the change in my mentality. I went, I did something, and after all of that, I realized at the end something. I changed something in my mind. I realized change. That was the story. Of course, not all change needs to be a mental. It can be something outside. What literally happens, maybe an experience, or you can combine both. You can have an experience and maybe realize something. Anything idea you have usually has changed. The change is kind of the idea. For example, for a product video, the idea was, Wow, this product is so cool. It really changed. The moment of change was when I realized I could use this product to give photos to people and how much fun that was, I realized that that was changing my mentality. That's the story. That's the idea, the video. Or I decided to rent a friend in Japan, and I wanted to find out if you rent a friend often enough if he could become your real friend instead of a rented friend. And I try and explore that idea, and then that was the topic of change when I realized, yes or no. Or maybe I wanted to do a whole day in London without spending a single cent. Maybe the story was how I got through the whole thing, and maybe at the end, I realized something my mind changed that this was only possible because of the gratitude of the others. If it doesn't have change, it usually isn't a story, or it is a story, but it's just very boring. Every lasting impacting video has some sort of change or some sort of transformation going on, emotionally, visually, or even functionally. Now that we learn that the old structure that we learned from school, so intro, conflict and resolution is predictable and is not that well suited for video. In the next class, I'll teach you and show you the new equation that you can use for all sorts of videos of any type. With that said, I'll see you there. 3. Story Formula (for Video): Now, in the last lesson, we learned that the classic storytelling formula, intro conflict and resolution isn't the best suited formula for video. In this lesson, we'll learn the new formula that we'll be using that is best suited for video, a formula that I've been using and refining throughout the years. And this works for multiple types of videos. Of course, the most obvious ones, so thought videos like something change in my mentality, this type of storytelling works very well, but also less obvious choices. So, for example, product videos that I use this formula or travel videos as well, even seemingly boring themes that might sound dull. Do well because of storytelling. And, of course, throughout this lesson, I'll give you various examples of each of these types of videos for each component so that you really understand how the storytelling works. Now that we learn that story is changed, the one global video storytelling equation is more or less the following. Set up, build, change reflection. Basically, the setup, we introduce the world. Where am I? Why am I here, kind of the whole thing. We built This is the longest part of the story. It adds to the curiosity, the conflict, the discovery. What's going on? Why did I do this? And then the shift, the change. This is basically this really short moment where you build it up. You went through all this conflict, and you realize, Wow. Okay, this is why. That's the moment of change. This is the climax of the story. And at the end, resolution, how was it after the closure? What did I experience? What my thoughts are kind of like that? So basically, you see, for a story, you have a setup, how life was before the change, the actual moment of change. And afterwards, how's life after change? How is it? Is it that different reflection? Something like that? Of course, because this is a video and throughout the years, I decided to add an extra component. Basically, in very short, the hook is there, too, because in this fast moving world, the video, people scroll past, so you really have to focus on the hook. Sometimes these two might get mixed up, but we'll go step by step, explaining everything in detail so you can understand. Of course, knowing the formula is great, but without the proper understanding, you cannot use this formula to its max potential. This is why in the next following lessons, I'll go step by step with several examples in depth for you to really grasp how good storytelling works. Each of these components, they might have different durations for every video, for every idea, they might be a little bit longer. They might be a little bit shorter, but they all contain these ideas here, these components. That said, before we even go to the first component, the hook, I'm going to teach you something really important that actually most don't know when telling stories. It doesn't need to be stories through video, but it can also be stories told verbally. It's actually a small change you can make that makes a huge impact on how interesting something sounds. With that said, I'll see you in the next one. 4. Stop Using "And": So this actually is something I do notice in other people's video sometimes, or when my friends are telling each other stories that really break the flow when you're actually telling something. And I think this mistake actually comes from a big misconception that you cannot use butts in an argument, maybe with your partner, for example. Because these butts, they create tension. For example, if you're talking to your partner saying, Oh, I really like this, but this or I appreciate you doing this, but this, this, this actually isn't great. Notice how when you talk like this, just by adding the butts, you create a lot of tension between both sides, and it becomes almost defensive in arguments. But this tension is exactly what we want in the story. And really just by talking like this, it makes the story more dynamic and creates more suspense, which, in turn, makes the story sound more interesting. You to understand this concept better, I'll go to One Extreme, and kids do this mistake a lot when they tell their own stories, which makes them sound sometimes, well, a little bit boring. So I'm going to tell this example where I stayed in Japan, instead of a hotel, a 24 Internet cafe that was really cramped. So I went to visit Japan, and I wanted to have a really cool new experience. And I decided to go into this 24 hour Internet cafe, and they really allow you to stay overnight. It doesn't cost you a lot. And I went there and the space was really tiny. It actually they allowed people to smoke, and it was really smelly, and I did not have the best night. And that was the video. You understand how boring that sounded, because I only use and and and that's the basic mistake that maybe kids do more often. They don't use other types of words. I can very well imagine maybe a 4-year-old saying the story and this and that and this and that, which is not the most interesting story to hear. And now I'll just simply substitute it with but and therefore or but and then this. I was really excited to go to Japan, but I did not have that much money. That's why I decided to instead of going to a hotel, I decided to visit a 24 hour Internet cafe. But the thing is, it's really cramped, and they allow people to smoke cigarettes there. So therefore, the rooms are they really smell like cigarette, which is not great. How was my night? And you already see just by changing a few words in the sentences, when you write the script or when you tell the story verbally, it makes it sound that much more interesting. Use more butts in your story. This affects a lot how I write in my scripts and how I tell my stories. During your daily commute, you settle down, but I traveled Japan completely alone. But it wasn't the normal solo travel you usually see to just give away photos to random people. But how does it actually work? Maps, notes, photos, A and one. Honestly, I thought people romanticized them. But you know what? I decided to try one anyway. Genuinely want to spend more time, but my stomach has other plans, but now I'm really hungry. When you leave, people go in to take your place. You can, of course, stay longer. The volunteers occasionally come and ask if you want more, but I was full already. With that said, I hope you got to learn something really crucial for your storytelling, and I'll see you in the next one where we'll actually cover the first critical component, which is the hook. See you there. 5. All About Hook: Hook is actually something critically important for videos. If you're telling a story verbally, you're in person talking to people, then the hook isn't super important. Of course, it is important, but nowhere near as important when you're using it for video storytelling, because you have to understand the mentality. You go to your computer or your phone and you're searching for a video. You see a thumbnail or something, or if you're using a shorts you don't need a thumbnail. And you decide to watch give this video an opportunity. You click on it and you have your first impression. Your first few seconds maybe first 10 seconds, 30 seconds, you give this person a chance and you get to see the video. You want to learn what is this video going to be about? And in this crucial step, a lot of people decide if they want to watch your video or if they want to get out. If you didn't grab their attention or if you didn't hook their attention, then people will just leave the video. It is very normal when you see your video statistics for short or long-form content for the graph to go a bit like this. So 100% of people watch your video, and immediately in the first few seconds, it tanks to maybe 60, 50%, even after the first 30 seconds of the video, only about half the people that originally watch are still watching it. And the goal of this is to make this drop in the beginning as little as possible so that most people are watching your video, keep watching your video until the end. That's the job at the hook. And that's really just the reality. In today's fast scrolling world, you and I give a few seconds to see if the quality is good enough, if the promise is good, if the hook is good enough so that we continue watching the video. So there's three things that you might want to have in your hook. So first of all, is good impression. So is your video well lit, like now, or is the quality or audio good? They don't match the expectation. If it's low quality, then I'm not going to really watch the video. Second is they already wear the title or if it's for short. They want to know what the video is about. If in the first, ten, 20 seconds, you don't know what the video is going to be about, people are not really going to stay and find out. They don't really have that patience. And third, for a hook to be a good hook is to show something a promise, but you actually have to deliver it at the end of the video. So for every story you want to tell in video format, the hook might have a different duration or might have a different structure. It is really up to feeling, and that's why I'm going to show you a few examples, a few of my best hooks, and I'll explain in detail why I did it like that so that you can understand. Capsule hotels are the first thing that comes to mind when people think about budget travel. But what if I told you there's one level deeper? This is a 24 hour Internet cafe, and I will explore everything that can be done. But why that was the hook. Basically, in the beginning, I tell Capsule hotels Capsule hotels because I feel everyone knows what a capsule hotel is in Japan, but I know that people might not know about 24 hour Internet cafes. And I just show the room, the tiny, tiny room here. And here I'm kind of introducing it. What is this about? This is. This is a 24 hour Internet cafe with the clips, and I'm showing bits and pieces here and there of different components of this Internet cafe. So basically, I show, Oh, you know, capsule Hotels, check this out an Internet cafe. Check how tiny this is. I'm really going to explore the video. And this in the first 20 seconds. So you already know maybe the quality, the music choice that is higher quality. Second, you know what the video is going to be about. And third, I promise that I'm going to show you each and every part of my experience. For the next example, I'm going to show you a product video. So it's not an experience video. I feel like when you show something, a new experience, the structure of the video is actually quite easy to manage. But a product video might not be so obvious. So here, let's take a look. If I had to choose the best and most versatile chip tool that has helped me throughout note taking and learning, it'd be this. It comes with three types of roll colored pens, stickers. Well, anyways, the most important part is this. You read it, right? I really start by saying faithfully to the title, What is the most important journaling tool I've ever found? And I start by showing off everything that came in the package, but remember the But? Well, anyways, the most important part is this. And you have to understand because it's a product video, people want to know what you actually get with the product. But what's the most interesting thing is what it actually does. You read it, right? And I show the most important part. First impressions, you already can tell it's a high quality video. Second, you know it's going to be about the product. And third, you're also hooked to know what else or what uses you can use with this product. Or, for example, in Japan, when I decided to rent a friend for a video, for more than a week, I've been completely by myself. Japan is a country that truly embraces doing things alone. But it was getting to me. Tokyo is a city of cities. Millions of faces, but no one to talk to. This is why I tried this unconventional method, not renting a car, not an apartment, but a friend. Meet Rio. My rental friend that cost 1,000 yen per hour. In 26 seconds, I just had the hook. Basically, I'm in Tokyo, and in Japan, they do a lot of things alone, and I've been alone for a long time. That's why I decided to rent, well, not a car, not an apartment, but a friend. So one, you know the quality. Second, you know what the video is going to be about. And third, now you're kind of hooked. I promise you, Oh. I mean, maybe I didn't promise you, but you're going to know what is going to happen with this and you maybe might be intrigued. So this last hook I'm going to show, I'm going to really demonstrate the importance of that curve in the beginning. You see, in the beginning, most people are watching and then it drops. In order to keep this retention a little higher so people don't scroll away, is that you put most of the effort in your hook, most of your best shots or effects or your effort going in the beginning. That's why I have text and the best effects really at the beginning of the video. Believe it or not, I used to hate reading books. Ten years ago, when I was 16, I read my first nonfiction book, and it completely changed my view. Ten years later, and I read more than 100. You probably also seen this for podcasts where they have a really long video, like 2 hours. But right at the beginning, that's where they really break it down and put, like, the best bits without showing you everything. That's the hook, the first 30 seconds for you to understand what the whole podcast is going to be about right in the beginning, they know most people watch and they then decide. And that's why the beginning has the most effort in the decision. It is up to you to decide what to do now. You see, everywhere I look around, I see people glued to their phones, including myself. It is the easiest thing to do. So this effect of this slow motion really took me hours just to make. I came with the idea on the spot because the car and the person came at the perfect time and the whole effect in making this possible with that said, I hope you understand the three most important aspects. With all these examples I've showed you, I hope you get to understand how to better hook your video. This first critical component is the part that most people watch. So it is really where you put the most effort into these first few seconds. It is also a part where people might have most doubts. In case you have some, always ask in the discussion tab. I always watch the questions, and I can try and help you if you have any doubts here or in any other place. With that said, I'll see you in the next part, which is the setup. 6. The #1 Hook Mistake (And How to Fix It): So after posting this storytelling class, I was fortunate enough to have a lot of student examples where I could read through their scripts and maybe give a little feedback. And from all the things, there was one thing that I noticed that I always gave the suggestion to improve, and it has to do with the hook. So I took one of the student examples. When I was a teen and up into my early adulthood, I used to get into mash Bits. They made me feel alive. And they weren't exactly safe. But the point was dot dot dot. There's a line music and cross, where it stops being an artistic spectacle that feels unsafe and starts becoming genuinely dangerous. And then it starts explaining for the rest of the video, basically the story of many artists. And in itself, I think it's a very good script. But for a lot of students, I always suggested the same thing because the first few seconds of the video are crucial. That is, when the viewer gave you a chance to see what the video was about. And often I see that it starts with something that might not be exactly correlated to the video or it doesn't hook as well. The good thing is, they usually have the hook when they write it out, but they just don't notice it yet. And this is because when you're writing a story, the hook doesn't come that naturally, but it's there. What I had to suggest is that I noticed that the hook was usually there a little later. So by rearranging, it makes the beginning of the video more interesting. So by modifying a little bit, let's remove the butt. What if the video started off like this? There's a line music in cross, where it stops being an artistic spectacle that feels unsafe and starts becoming genuinely dangerous. Now, that's a hook. Now, that's how you really start the video and really hook the person. And then later on, you maybe can explain something or follow up with this or immediately go maybe into a little more personal experience that you had. But literally just by rearranging the lines, I made the beginning of the video that little bit extra more interesting without changing anything else. So if you're ever struggling with the hook, maybe just write your story without thinking too much about it. Most of the times you reread it, and then your hook will be somewhere, and then you can rearrange the lines. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one. 7. One Hook Change That Instantly Feels Personal: For this lesson, I want to give you one extra tip that helps your hooks feel more personal and therefore hook the person even more. If you don't do this, I wouldn't really see it as a mistake, but as an improvement. And I'm very fortunate to have so many of you submit your scripts. So this example comes from a student that submitted a project and I wanted to share so everyone can understand. So Emily is doing a video about limiting beliefs, and it starts off with a great hook already. What if I told you what we think holds us back? I think this is great, but it can be a bit improved because instead of using I or we think or us, if instead we would use you or yours, it directly connects with the viewer. It makes it feel really more personal, making the person hook better for the video. Let me give you a few of my suggestions. So, for example, instead of what if I told you, what we think holds us back, which is already good, I suggested what if what's holding you back is what you think? It slightly connects better with the person. Or, for example, this is a more direct version. What you think holds you back. Imagine, that's your first line of the video, and you're like, Wow. What if what's holding you back is what you think? Because when the viewer is watching the video, it takes an extra step off from the thoughts when watching the video. Instead of thinking, Oh, what if her problem is my problem? It takes a step off and the viewer thinks the video is targeted to them. Let me give you another example. This, for example, will work for a short. I've struggled with skin problems my whole life. I've struggled with skin problems my whole life. So when I watch this video and I hear this, my immediate thought is, do I struggle with this problem? Do we have the same problem? But instead of saying I've and my, you substitute it with you and your. If you struggle with skin problems your whole life, then it's directly to the viewer. So there's one last extra step, and it connects more directly with the person viewing the video. So overall as a hook recap, we've learned that the best hooks are direct. They don't linger around the topic. And sometimes if you're struggling, you can write your text normally, and maybe the hook is somewhere in the third line, and we can switch the order. This also helps to make more clear. The viewer know immediately what the video is about and also removes the delay. The viewer doesn't need to wait so long until it knows what the video is going to be about. This is crucial for short form content, but for long form content, the delay part is less important because we already have the title and thumbnail. Now we just learn to connect directly with the viewer to use you or your instead of me and I. With that said, I'll see you in the next one, which is the setup. 8. The Visual Hook: Until now in this course, for the hooks, we've only focused on audio hooks, meaning hooks that you hear by saying a sentence and not giving the ending. But now in this lesson, I really wanted to focus on the second type of hooks. Since we're making videos, they're called visual hooks. Now, when you're editing a video, you usually want to put really a lot of effort in the first few seconds. For long videos, that means the first 30 seconds, and for short-form content, the first few seconds. Because statistically, that's when most people watch. But for the editing part, I will go more in detail later on. Because for now, I want to lay the importance of visual hooks. Visual hooks are shots where people are not used to seeing. You took the extra effort. You went the extra mile to get a specific shot that looks incredible or is very uncommon, or the way you edit is very well done. Because let me give you an example. On the left side, I have the newest new TDS that was released in 2015. And ten years later, I have here on the right the AYNTor an emulation device that is a complete beast, inspired by what you see here on the left. In this video of the handheld on my gaming channel, I don't see anything particularly interesting. If I were to write that on the script, it wouldn't come across to me as something that good. But because of the efforts of the shots and the type of editing, it really grips the viewer, because these are the type of shots and editing styles that people don't see that often. Of course, you can mix both audio and visual hooks, but that is mostly defined on the topic of the video. And here I'm showing you several different examples of videos where I really put a lot of effort on the visuals in the beginning. A kid, I remember really wanting to have an MP three, but I never got one. That kids later? Why is everyone going back? Especially when this exists. Well, I really didn't understand the point of it, but I bought the D three anyways. You can do literally anything you want, but from all the things, you decided to use Your phone. Sound familiar? Because after a long day, it is the easiest thing. So, the hook for the video is not only what you're saying, but also what you show and how you edit the first seconds. If you're interested in creative camera angles and these unique shots, I've made a course called the seven levels of creative camera angles. But with that said, we'll move on to the next topic. 9. All About Setup: After the viewer has been thoroughly impressed and hooked in the first 30 seconds for long video or the first few seconds in short-form video, this is where you get to set up just the beginning of the story. It's your intro, if you remember the intro conflict resolution. The intro is really just about giving the viewer just enough information to know how life was before or how the thing was before. If you're doing a renovation, you give enough introshots to know how the bathroom was, like, before a renovation or how the kitchen was before a renovation. It is really just your intro, but the most common question I get is where do I actually begin? Because you can begin here or a little before. It's really, like, the most common question I get is where do I actually begin the story? And my answer is always you start as close as possible as when things are about to change. And really not moments earlier. You really don't need to give the whole back story. That's too much and actually can bore the viewer. You just give enough for the person to understand the baseline. When I say the baseline, I just say the information that the viewer knows and needs to know before proceeding into the rest of the story. So a quick verbal example, don't worry. We'll go into the videos is I landed in Japan two weeks ago, and I've been exploring every day. So, for example, where I stayed overnight in the 24 Internet cafe, I could have started with I landed in Japan two weeks ago, and I've been exploring every day, and I don't know. It's a bit too early. It is really it feels like the start of a Vlog intro or something like that. It is giving too much information of maybe stuff I've done before, which is irrelevant to the story. If it's relevant to the baseline, then put it. But if it's just too early or just too much information, you might as well just cut it out. Telling a good story is about knowing where to put stuff and where to not put stuff, especially for video. Sometimes you have a really beautiful shot of something happening, but if it has nothing to do with the story or it is not relevant, it makes the story a bit more confusing, you really have to cut it out. As much as that hurts, I know it might hurt, you really just have to cut it out to make the story more streamlined and less confusing for the viewer, especially in the beginning where the person is still giving you a chance to watch the video. And I wouldn't think of hook and intro as separate. Sometimes they might merge together, because in the hook, you're already showing a little bit of intro. You're giving intro, as well, but not too much before. Sometimes they might be separate, sometimes they might be merged. In this case, capsule hotels are the first thing that comes to mind when people think about budget travel. But what if I told you there's one level deeper? You see here, when I'm showing the one level deeper, it is already giving the intro. Is me entering the room and showing you where I'm going to sleep for the night. It is in the hook and in the intro. They kind of merge together. There is no rule for this. It's really just feeling. If you feel like this is the most interesting thing of the video, you put it in the hook to hook the person and see, Oh, what's going to happen. And, of course, this also doubles as an intro because you're showing what the room is about. This is a 24 hour Internet cafe, and I will explore everything that can be done. But why Drinks are free. After turning on the power, enter this number to unlock the computer. And immediately, I start off by really the entrance, my first experience, and it was just me talking and him the really nice worker who was so nice to me and translating everything with his phone and explaining everything, that was also part of the intro. So the intro is in the hook, I showed you, but it also starts before the moments of experience, before the moments of change. And the moment of change in this video is really my realization of how this experience is. So I really started off by really at the beginning, my first interaction, and that's my intro. For a product video, I usually just show a little bit here, here, here, but not everything at the same time so that the viewer really knows how this product works clearly. And this also sets the baseline. If I had to choose the best and most versatile cheap tool that has helped me throughout note taking and learning, it'd be this. It comes with three types of roll colored pens, stickers. Well, anyways, the most important part is this. You read it, right? Now, before we go into all the possible uses, let me show you a few. Or about this video I decided to make about why everyone should use a travel notebook. I used to think that travel notebooks were useless. Why even bother when your phone does everything? Maps, notes, photos, all in one. Honestly, I thought people romanticized them. But you know what? I decided to try one anyway. It's bent from walking everywhere. It has been completely wet. Notice I show bit by bit and not everything. It just, you know, it builds up this curiosity. And also notice that this setup, I decided not to put me buying the actual notebook or actually writing everything and just showing you the finished product. That's something I just decided to do. I feel like if I put all the parts of the story where I wrote everything and organized everything, it would make it a bit boring. Maybe in my view, maybe I could have done it, and it would made the story a bit longer. But at the time, this is how I felt like it was the most interesting. I made a mistake. I let my guard down and spent a little bit too much money on one of the most expensive cities in the world, London. Therefore, today, I'm just going to bring an empty water bottle and my phone for directions, and that's about it. I have the whole day to spend, and I will take care of everything I need just without paying a single penny. The first thing I have to clear out is transport. The setup for this zero pound day in London is really simple. I mean, the hook was very visible. The quality, you know what the video is going to be about and the setup, yeah, you're going to see the whole day without spending any money. And the setup, really the baseline is immediately, it's written right there, London 8:13 A.M. It's really where I started. If I started before, it wouldn't make any sense. Why would I show you me waking up in bed? That's all necessary. So I really show you the moment I got out of the hotel, just as a quick recap. Usually, the hook and the setup, they're kind of morphed together not entirely because where you start the video starts after the hook, but you already show stuff about the video that gives setup to the video. But make sure you think about the hook and where to start the video a separate things. I think that's really important. So with that said, once you figure it out, the hook you want to use in your video, really good. And then where the point of start of the video of the setup of your baseline, it is time to continue the rest of the story. And this is the moment where I'll introduce the next component, the build. I'll see you there. 10. Hook & Setup: What to Do (and What to Avoid): You just learned the importance of hook and setup. This is why the first 30 seconds are crucial to any video, so important, in fact, that I decided to compile a few good and bad examples of videos I've made along the years for you to understand what is enticing, but also equally important what to avoid. I went to Japan super excited to experience many things. But amongst them all, I wanted to buy a three DS. I previously only had ADS light, but after many hours of extensive research, I was set on the new three DS. Because three DSs are not being produced, you have to buy them second hand. I just need one photo for me to plan everything to go there and see it. In this case, it was a bench located exactly here, right at the tip of Germany, and it's supposedly the best placed bench in the world. So the bags were made, rented the cheapest car I could find, and we set off. Driving through cloud. Welcome to the cheap camera challenge, where I take one bad camera and I make the best out of it. Taking a look at the DSI camera, it has a whopping 0.3 megapixels. It cannot take video. You fail. But it can take pictures. As we go more and more digital, we're slowly forgetting the art of simplicity, because I'm here to show you something that changed my life in the last three years. Yeah. I'm calling it the life notebook, because it somehow runs my entire life. I've tried all sorts of notebooks for the past six years. Most I stop using, but here are three things in my opinion that are really important to be a life notebook. 0.1, size, a six, perfect to fit in your pocket. Two, hardcover, perfect to throw it around without care. Three, simple white paper. No lines or limits, a clean canvas for clear thoughts. This tiny simple thing covers all three points. I've stopped using everything else and never looked back since. In my case, what is inside this life Notebook? In my life notebook. I have to be honest, it really took me a lot of energy not to cringe watching my old videos. My God, they were pretty bad. But I hope by watching these examples, good and bad, you know what to avoid and maybe what to do better. I'll see you in the next one where I'll explain the build. 11. All About Build: We have the hook and morph the setup and the beginning of the video, the baseline, where it starts. You have these two components, and from now on, we can really build on the video. A video without the build really cannot impact anyone. This is the main part of your story. This is maybe the longest part of your story. You can build this as long or as short as you want. But be careful. If you build it too long, it might be too boring. If it's too short, then it doesn't really feel that impactful. So you really got to find a sweet spot. And, of course, the length is optimal for different types of stories. That all comes with feeling when you're just editing the video or you're writing the script. So a video without this built looks a little something like this. I have different types of notebooks for different parts of my life. I've had travel only notebooks, study notebooks, personal notebooks, even whiteboard notebooks. But here's the thing. None of them were ever perfect, a bit too big for my taste. This one was too weak, so I decided to compile every aspect that makes a notebook great and combine them all in one, which means I have to create it from scratch. So, no, this notebook isn't perfect, but it means something to me. Perfection fades, but meaning lasts. That's what makes it perfect. Perfectly imperfect. It looks absolutely ridiculous, right? It's kind of like spewing motivational sentences to students without being a good student yourself because no one would believe in you. It's also like when the video game is too easy, there's no challenge, then it stops being fun. And what's the purpose of playing the game? Without the build, your video would be just too easy. You'd have the intro and immediately the reward. And what was that for? It doesn't make it satisfying. You need the build to make the video satisfying. There needs to be some struggle, there needs to be some time before the beginning and the reward at the end. This is where the build really comes into play because a good build makes the change gradual. Without the build, it would just make it immediate, and it would have no impact because it would be just too easy. Once you hook the viewer and you already start the video, you can build and expand this story from here on. So let me start from that example of the zero pound day. Therefore. And basically, for this story, I hooked you and I set up by getting out of the hotel. Now the build is the challenges I faced or whatever I had to do to make this challenge possible and spend the entire day in London without spending any money. And I start point by point. Fortunately, there's a lot of free water fountains, so I'm gonna go to one of those. About food, I'm not yet sure. I haven't yet to spend a single penny. Plus, if you're rich or poor, anyone is welcome. Yes. And these are things I hooked you in the beginning. Oh, well, I do this. And the build is actually when I show you the story. And this can take as long or as little as you want. That depends on your own personal style, on your story, how you edit, how you write your script, how you make your videos. That really depends on your story, and the feeling is really more up to you. For a product video is basically the same. I hooked you with, Oh, check out this cool thing. One very special feature this supposedly kids camera has is this. And the beginning is showing you the features. That's the beginning of the video. And then the build is everything cool that you might want to know in order for you want to buy this, for example, and I show you every single feature or cool thing that I can do about it. There. That's good. Oh, it kind of looks cool, but kind of weird. Oh. It's kind of dystopiansqu. I like this. Framing. That's really. This is way better. Yeah. And, of course, the rental friend video is I hooked you with I was lonely, so I rented a friend, ha ha, cool experience. Tokyo is a city of cities. Millions of faces, but no one to talk to. And the setup was right when I started when I first met him. Meet Rio, my rental friend that costs 1,000 yen per hour. He was nice enough to let me film us throughout the whole time. For him, a normal experience. But for me, I wanted to dive deep into whether it's truly possible for something that starts as a rental friendship to evolve into a genuine. Good weather. And the build was the entire day. Of course, this can be as long or short as you want. Personally, I edit a little bit faster, but that is really up to you because this is really what we've been working for. Since you got the viewer hooked and you start the story, this is where you can actually tell the story. And I think it's the most fun part. Of course, in the first 30 seconds for a long video, that's when you really put the most effort. Most people will watch this. And then once they're hooked, they're going to start the beginning of the video and build it up. With that set, we'll go into the next section of the storytelling equation, which is change. I'll see you there. 12. Common ‘Build’ Mistake (And How to Fix It): Before we move on to change, I want to first thank all the students that have been submitting all their scripts and also giving really nice reviews. And by reading several of them, I can always find patterns of most common mistakes that are absolutely avoidable by just switching something small. And this student example started off really strong with a strong hook and setup. It's a video about how she changed to a new to do app and what changed. So basically, it starts as I didn't change my life by waking up at 5:00 A.M. I changed it by switching my to do app, pause, and I didn't expect this one to actually stick. So if I was into productivity, I decided to click on the video about the app, I would definitely be hooked. I'd be interested. I know what the video is about. It's clear. It doesn't really delay much. I don't talk around too much, and it goes immediately into the hook. So I want to watch the rest of the video, which is great. And then we go into what she defines the setup. For the longest times, my days felt busy, blah, blah, blah, for example, but somehow nothing important was getting done, notes app, something. So I decided to try a new to do app, and then she goes into the build. Now, here is where the problem lies. She starts describing this app is called this. What surprised me was this and I C that. And so far, I thought the script was ging really great right up until this point, because to be a really satisfying build, meaning a satisfying video to watch at the end, we really want to implement or focus on where the friction lies. For example, on her setup, what she actually calls the setup, I will actually call them both, both the setup and the build, because if during the build, all we're talking about is the description of the apps and what it does best and basically transforms this video instead of a story into an informative video or a descriptive video. But in order to impact people, we really want it to be a story. So when we're thinking about any story, we're always trying to focus on where the friction is, where the problem lie, and what made us feel frustrated, no matter how big or no matter how small. And in this case, the problem is actually quite big. So no matter how much the person felt busy during the day, nothing important was ever getting done. Of course, how you approach this friction is up to personal preference, but I would really hang on to this feeling this contrast of before and after. Don't get me wrong. You can always be descriptive of what the apps are, what it does best. But the story line would definitely flow better if the person would focus a little bit more on the struggles. What were the stepping stones for the change? Maybe this block could be describing how her day felt before, and this tiny block would be a description of something in implementation that the app has. And this would be maybe another problem of how she felt. And this would be maybe another description of something cooler that the app has that the others apps don't have. And at the end, maybe she realizes something, but that's the change. Basically, don't be afraid to take your time. Because the hook you already hooked the person, watching, knowing what the video is about. The build is where you can actually take your time. Focus on the struggles. They're the most relatable, no matter how big or small they are. And remember, without the build, the video does not feel satisfying. I hope this helps, and I'll see you in the next one. 13. All About Change: Reached the pinnacle of the story part. This is it. This is the changing moment. This is what we built for literally. This is what we built for. All this whole process hook, set up, build, and change. This is what we've built for. This is what the story was all about. When you think of the story, this is the idea. This is what was it all about. You hooked it with, like, Oh, I was never really, like, a handicype person and you set up the beginning, really just the beginning of starting to destroy the kitchen. And then the build was the whole process you went through the kitchen. This part, the change, this is the pinnacle. It is after everything. You show how the kitchen is afterwards. This is really just a small portion. Sometimes a few seconds, maybe a few seconds of realization, if it's a mental change. Of course, change doesn't need to be physical. You can be also mental. Most stories can be also like that. So you build the whole thing, and then you hit this moment, and that's the important moment. Of course, you can also make it longer or shorter, but it's usually a moment. It's the moment of change. This is where the story actually happens. You build it up for it and you transform. If there's no change, there's no story. Let me give you some examples. I'm going to start right out with a product video, which is, if you think about it, it's not so obvious. If you do a video about a product, how can you incorporate storytelling into that video? And this is where I decided to incorporate into this little camera that you see right now. And, yeah, it's cool and you show the build, you show all the things that it can do. But it also builds up the story part of the component, which is, I realized after using this whole thing that it is super fun, especially when you're going out and about and giving pictures to people. That was the transformation. It was a mental transformation. It clicked to me, like, Wow, this is so cool. It is especially cool when I use it and give it to people. What it might lack in quality, it more than makes up for the most important quality in any hobby. The only guilty I find Stepping back in the mirror at night. Stock place Green. Ma because it's so cheap. Photography became And without this change, without this click, this mental click, then you wouldn't have a story. It would just be an information video where you just show each component, and that's it. Without this slight change, you wouldn't have the impact that the video had. The moment of change for the zero pound day in London was when, you know, I didn't need to. But after eating at the Gurdara the free meal, you can offer to volunteer at any place. I didn't need to do that, but mentally, it shifted. You know, this day was only possible. The whole build was only possible because of fundings of other people and the generosity of others. So I decided to contribute a little to my part and also volunteer a bit. Extremely hungry, because this meal was essential to this day. Yep. Okay. Thank here, equality is such a fundamental part that typically all kitchens run through voluntary work. Yeah. Neat voluntary worker that I completely forgot to ask first. You go here every day? Sit close by. You live close by? Yeah. He volunteers from time to time in the Guruda. And you plan to live here? I do. Go back to the next. Ah, really. Thank you so much, huh? Nice to meet you. Maybe in retrospect I could have made this a bit more clear, maybe with a voiceover and maybe the music a little more like, with a little build and it's like, Wah. And then, Wah, you know? When you reach this Wah moment, that's the change. That's the storytelling part of the video. The 24 hour Internet cafe video where I stayed overnight, the changing moment was so I build showing everything in my whole night, and then I slept. Really, the changing moment here is a bit mixed up with the conclusion, but it's really my thoughts of, you know, this actually wasn't so bad, or I really got to see the real Japan. So in this case, in this video, the changing moment was like, ha ha, cool experience. Look how cool this is or look how unique this is. Look how different this is from a hotel. And then change is the mentality about this whole experience, how it changed me as a person, how I see Japan, or the social factors that really play into the whole community there in that country. Why does this exist? And how can this exi? That's the change. That's the storytelling part. You build it over all of it for this moment of realization. I guess my only complaints would be like, maybe the floor mightn't be too hard, but I'm maybe not used to it. Maybe slightly the smell of cigarettes. And for the package, they provide you a towel, shampoo and body soap. And even the hair dryer. The room was dim. The air smelled slightly like cigarettes, and the mattress was right. What stayed with me wasn't all of that. It was what I saw. At 5:00 A.M. I watched people quietly check out. So in business suits heading straight back to work, their lives moving without a pause, and others that looked like they were going through a hard phase. With that said, I hope you understand now even better how this whole structure goes from hook setup the build and then change. This is the moment where, oh, I want to do a video about this or something you realize, it doesn't need to be a physical change. It can be a mental change. Usually, it's mental for me. But even in a physical experience, you can realize something, and that can be your idea for the story. The change is usually where you have the idea. When you think of a story to tell in a video, this is usually where the idea lies because without this part, you wouldn't have a story. You can have this experience. You can build it up, but this is really the moment. And I hope you got to understand with the examples how important this is and how this whole thing builds it up until this moment. And with that said, we'll go after change. What happens? That's the reflection. I'll see you in the next one. 14. All About Reflection: You went through it all. You hooked, you set up, you built the whole thing, and then you reached the pinnacle. Wow. That was the moment. I realized something, and that's the change. But without the reflection, if you would cut off, it would feel incomplete. Let me show you a few examples. In every movie, you see, like Shrek or something, he defeats the dragon. He saves the princess and whatever. They marry and ends. It really feel incomplete without the whole conclusion and after story or what happens after. And that is a little shorter. Of course, the build is the biggest part. Then you have change and then the reflection, a little longer than change, of course, but not so long as build. You want to know what happened before the transformation of the story, the moment of transformation, and afterwards. What happened? How is life after change? Of course, it doesn't need to be as long, but a little bit. That's the end of the movie. A few minutes dumb dancing and all happy, happy ending. That's the reflection. Without it, it would make the story feel unsatisfying. It is more important than you might think, because when you finish a piano song, the moments of the end, when you end it nice, that's really the moment that, like, marks the people the most, that impacts people the most. If you end it nicely and satisfying, you make viewers satisfied. And that's really the great feeling of this whole story progress. As an example, I'm going to show you why everyone should use a travel notebook video. But nothing felt quite satisfying as one thing, something so simple, it can only be achieved by physical pen and paper. And then the moment of change is realizing everyone uses phones. But using notebooks, there's something you cannot substitute it. There's physicality of pen and paper. That's the moment of change. O. Slowing down gave me something speed never could. It made me feel pretty excited even before the trip even started. It enhanced the experience during it, and it helped me live it again after it ended. It lets me build the excitement, romanticize the little moments. And honestly, I made everything better. Really, you see how satisfying at the end that really was or the rental friend. So for this, I built throughout the whole day every activity I did throughout the whole day, and I had some interview questions intertwined between. And the moment of change was I realized that, you know, maybe it is possible that rental friends can become your real friends if you rent them enough. What why not? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I never played baseball in my life. Oh. You know we sports? We sports baseball. Okay. After all of it, can transactional friendships turn into real ones? Do you think there's a moment when a rented friendship stops feeling like a rental and becomes real? The hours we spent together were a blast. Through really interesting conversations, I genuinely believe that Dru and I came to understand each other much better. The activities in retrospective were a bit redundant, but they were fun. But as renters reach to you, vida Moms. So you should touch to Nando moeva Eugene Arima. Do I call you Rio? You show me how it's done. N. And if it ended there, it would be horrible. He was like, What? I crave more, and that's why we need the reflection, the reflection of the thoughts, after thoughts or how life is after the change. And that's what makes it the whole thing really satisfying. Now, according to Rio and me, we definitely agree that what starts as a rental agreement, if it clicks correctly, can grow into a real friendship. And cut. It was good. That was good. That was good. With that said, we've covered every single aspect, and I really hope you get to understand in depth how everything works. If, for example, you're doing or you're organizing your own video and you have doubts in any parts, feel free to always ask in the discussion tab. I'm always here to answer. In any class, older class, I also answer any questions. So, in any case, feel free. Having covered every single component will go into the broader area. Things that are outside this equation really help the whole storytelling and feeling and how to make people feel manipulating the feelings of people and making just generally everything towards the story to make the story flow better and feel better, specifically for video. So with that said, I'll see you in the next one. 15. Choice of Music: You already done videos, then you might know how crucially important good music is. Music can really break or make a video. If it fits perfectly, then it really makes the video feel satisfying. Well, here we are. Three. Three. But if it has nothing to do with the feeling you want to show, then it completely breaks the video. So the crucial thing is here. You can use different type of music for different types, moments of the story. In order to use the best song you can have, you have to first think about what feeling you want to express at this moment of the story. And the song has to match that feeling. If it's curiosity, then the music has to when you listen to it, it's like, evokes feelings of curiosity. One year ago, my life looked completely different. I was completely delusional. Then maybe the music has to be something nostalgic. I never told that I was proud of myself. I regret not celebrating finishing Bachelor's. If it doesn't match, then you're not using music right. Before at the end, where I show you all different examples of what part of the story it is, what feeling I want to evoke, and what type of music I used, a very common question I get is, where do I get my music from? And I've edited professionally for clients, and I edited videos for me, and I use all music platforms. I use Artlist and Epidemic Sound. And these two are, I guess, the two titans of premium music that you can subscribe to and use it on your videos without copyright infringement. And I have to say, using them both, they're both very good, but I still prefer Epidemic Sound because Epidemic Sound is more focused on the music. I believe you can search better for the types of feelings and emotions in Epidemic Sound. But honestly, an Artlist is very good, too. I use them both. They're perfectly fine. But this is my preference. But if the budget is tight, then you can for years, I've used the YouTube Creative Studio music, and that has been good enough. It's honestly better than people think. But of course, premium music, you have more flexibility, and it sounds nicer. It is true. But again, you can use free music, and it's completely fine as long as the feeling you want to represent is matched by the feeling of the song. With that said, I'll give you just a few examples now. It's been three years since I've made the typing fast tutorial. But the problem is, I stopped practicing because you're not typing alone. Ah. Shoot me in the past. Nay. God, damn it, I live. What the gut down? Put the go down? Please, Dot please don't, D, D, too, do stump. Be a found least dislikes the man. I ad. Please. It's the sum of these big and small moments that define you. Don't let them escape. De and 16. How You Talk Matters: This lesson, I wanted to focus a little bit on how you talk because if you're using a camera like this and you're talking or if you have a microphone and you're doing a voiceover on top of a video, how you talk will really affect how much of the feeling is portrayed in your video. I think the biggest and most common mistake I see people or beginners do is that when they talk to a camera, they don't treat it like a person. They don't treat it like this is really exciting. And if you're really excited, then you really talk like this, right? And when they're doing a voiceover with their phone, maybe it's late at night and they're tired and they're like, talking like this. And it's like, Oh, yeah, this happened and this. And when you're watching the video, you don't feel that energy. My tip to this is, if you can be alone in your room, if you can, please have a bed or curtains next to you so that the sound is absorbed and it doesn't sound so echoy and reflective. It sounds better. Throughout my photoshop work, I have been using more and more shortcuts because between you and your art, there is unnecessary stress that can be avoided. Saving in the long run a lot of time if you use these ten simple tips. And the second tip I really want to give you is, don't be afraid to pause. Don't be afraid to change the rhythm. If it's something really important, for example, right now, if it's something really important, take the time to say these words like, really important. Then you pause or you, like, talk it slower and more emphasized because you're not typing. Aw. The slower you talk, the more emphasis you have on these words. But if I'm just talking like this just normally, you can say the most important things and people just like it would go over their heads. But if you pause and you say, Wow. Okay, this, what are you going to do now? What to do now? You see everywhere I look around, I see people glued to their phones. It adds to this dynamic of the story. You're changing the pace. It is not so monotonous and it makes the storytelling more interesting. So I hope you got to understand this, and I'll see you in the next one. 17. How You Write Matters: We just learn how you talk is important, but how you write or more realistically how you type really affects how the video feels. This is a mistake I used to make years ago, and I noticed this on some of your beautiful scripts that could massively improve by using this little change. Throughout school, we're taught how to write. Essays, for example, create bad habits when writing video scripts. Because the viewer is hearing you speak. When you write with writing language, instead of spoken language, it sounds slightly unnatural. Me, the viewer, can't really connect. If the person, for example, says, Upon arriving at the destination, I was immediately struck by the cultural diversity and architectural uniqueness of the city. This experience taught me the importance of consistency and discipline in achieving long term goals. It kind of feels like I'm hearing someone read an essay or an email. You can relax. Scripts aren't supposed to be straight. It's just texts that can change. This is something I will go on in more detail in the final examples later on. But for now, let's hear some good examples when you combine well, both how do you speak and how you write for video. But it is so popular. Maybe there's something I can't yet understand. It is meant to be used outside. So outside, I went. You can do literally anything you want. But from all the things you decided to use your phone. Sound familiar? To understand exactly how we live, let me first show you the kitchen. I hope you learn something. I will see you in the next one. 18. Filming for Storytellers: This is a comprehensive update to the class. After hearing feedback, it made total sense to talk about the video aspect, since this class is about storytelling for video. I left it at the end of the class because we have now covered all the aspects of the story itself. Now we reach the very exciting part of filming. I'm going to separate filming into two different sections. And they are. First, the spontaneous filming. For example, you have the spontaneous filming experience you want to show. You don't know what's going to happen. How are you going to film for that? What is the best method? And second, is the premeditated things that you plan beforehand. If you plan something to show maybe a certain product, you've probably planned beforehand what type of shots you want. And what type and how do you do this best? And for both of them, there is one very important rule that you and I have to apply for any kind of video, long-form or short-form to make any story you tell for video interesting. If you don't follow it, it becomes increasingly more boring and it looks kind of amateurish. So the rule is, try not to make a shot longer than 10 seconds. Everywhere you see on TV professional videos, big YouTubers, movies, Netflix shows, you'll see that 99% of shots they're never longer than 10 seconds. They don't hold onto a shot for longer than 10 seconds. And there is a very big reason to this. Humans process visuals way faster than words. So I can cut kind of fast and you understand what's happening if they're well made cuts, and it stops people from scrolling because viewers understand instantly. Strong visuals, by the way, have longer retention this means one thing. You have to take care when filming, no matter if it's spontaneous or not. You have to film several different angles. And very basic in the film industry, they divide shots into three categories, the wide shot, the medium shot, and the close up shot. The white shot is the setup shot. You see where the subject or the person you want to focus or the object you want to focus, where the person or the subject is in their environment. This is to give context. Most shots, however, are going to be medium shots. It's mostly just a normal looking shot. Think about when you're ful filming something normal, that's usually a medium shot. Close up shots are what the name says, really close ups. You have to film really close up and show the action. And if you decide to film all three types of shots, you will have in the edit part, which I will show you a full edit breakdown, you have way more flexibility when editing. Of course, most of the time, shots are going to be medium shots. From time to time, it's cool to have a wide shot or a different angle or a close up shot so that you're showing the actions a little bit better for the video. If you only film one thing and only show that same single angle or the same single shot and don't cut it, then it becomes really boring, and the video looks amateur. That's why the simple fact of filming different shots, yes, it takes more work, but by just filming a few different shots elevates your video in terms of visual storytelling. For the two types of videos, the first one is spontaneous. It's always important to maybe have multiple cameras, if possible. If not, that's also okay. You're just filming. Maybe you have a tripod and you set up and you try and show everything or you just don't use the tripod. You set it up on a chair or different places. But important is to always show the action at different angles if you can, if you have the time. But it's really just keeping that in mind while you're filming the action while it's happening. And for premeditated planned videos, of course, this is where you have the most creativity because you can think how the video would look like, and then you mimic when you film what the idea was. You can add fog to the scene, so it looks more cinematic. You can have sliding video. You can change the lighting if you have a lighting setup. But this is where you have the most creative freedom, for example, a product video. You hear, this is the script of this $90 journaling tool video. It's a product video, and I decided this was very premeditated. I already had a product. I used it, and then I decided to write the script. I could make very creative cuts here and there, very creative shots. While you're writing the script, you have, of course, you have consciously, you know where the hook is, the setup, and then where everything else is. And that's why I write in parenthesis and maybe different colors. And you see very premeditated, very planned. These are two very different style of videos. There is no better or worse. It's just this one, you get more creative process, you get more creative cuts, and the other one is more spontaneous. A video can be both at the same time, but the most important part is really just filming different types of angles and different types of shots. So wide, medium and close up. Then in the editing part, I'm going to show you in the next class, a full edit breakdown, having all the footage. How do I compose everything, having the story included in mind? So I'll see you in the next one. 19. Editing for Storytelling: After filming, editing is the most important component to video making. That's because we have our written script, and we have all of this footage that we can use to play around in the editing timeline. No matter if you have the most beautiful shots, without the editing, you don't have yet a great video. Now, having a script helps a lot. And this is what I'm going to focus. In this lesson, I'm going to primarily focus on the script to video translation while editing. So what I mean by that are my thoughts when I see the script and the video, and how do I translate that into the editing? And of course, the editing itself, which might seem daunting at first, but actually it's quite simple. By the way, I use Adobe Premiere, but everything I'm going to talk about applies to any editing platform, no matter if it's premium or free, it comes down to the basics, and as long as you can layer stuff on top with each other, you're good to go. Where I'm going to show you something that I don't really show many people. It is my editing timeline. Now, on the first look, it looks completely insane. But don't worry. It is actually really simple. First of all, this bottom part is just the sound. And you can see the second and third line is mostly just my voice, my voice over. If I only play this track, as we go more and more digital, we're slowly forgetting the art of simplicity. And basically, the rest of the tracks are the music I use throughout the video. For example, And this is a very common question of where do I get my music? I use Artlist for my videography job, and I use Epidemic Sound for my own personal videos. And I have to say, I use both professional music platforms, and I much rather use Epidemic Sound. That's because it has a greater focus on the music. And most importantly, most of the songs in Epidemic Sound are divided into tracks. What I mean is that, so for example, I can just play the drums and this is great, for example, if you have a song where someone is singing and you want to remove the person singing or gives more flexibility. Hello, so far. And having all the tracks allows me to have this extreme flexibility while editing. And the rest of the sound clips are just sound effects. And when we watch everything at the same time together, as we go more and more digital, we're slowly forgetting the art of simplicity. And the top part is literally just the video clips. You have this video clip here, me, this video clip of Portugal. Now, when you see the entire timeline, you understand that most of the cuts, most of the effort, are all in the first 30 seconds here. The rest of the video is a bit more simple. For example, if I zoom in here, it's mostly just me explaining with a few clips on top. Nothing too special. But compare this timeline to the beginning, you see this is where I use my best songs, my best sound effects, and my best clips and effects. This is where most of the work will go. This is precisely because this is the hook. This is where most people will watch and determine if they think, I'll watch the rest of the video. Now, if you're new to editing, don't worry, because most of what I edit is cuts. And from the previous lesson, you learned that no clip should really last longer than 10 seconds. And this is why I overlap these clips on top of each other. Telling you, this is really a life notebook. Everything in my mind goes here because this was when I was doing my master thesis. I was just scribbling ideas and what to make it better. Clip is just me talking to the microphone here where I'm just explaining everything that's in my notebook. Meanwhile, I overlap with other clips. If I didn't do that, this is how it would look like. This was when I was doing my master thesis, I was just scribbling ideas and what to make it better. Okay, I'm already bored. So that's why I overlap with a few close ups here or a few other clips that match what I'm talking about. It just makes the video more dynamic. And when we go to the script, you realize that this is not pretty. This is really not fancy. Basically, this part here is the hook. And I tried filming this, but it didn't really work out well, so I used another clip that I have. But what I said is still the hook. As we go more and more digital, we're slowly forgetting the art of simplicity. And this video is just about my life notebook, the notebook where I have everything there. And after that, we still have the hook and a little bit of the setup because I'm here to show you something that changed my life in the last three years. I'm calling it the life notebook. I'm here to show you something that changed my life in the last three years. Yeah. I'm calling it the life notebook. And that's the end of the setup. That's all the context you need, because the rest is basically just me explaining what the life notebook is. But here are three things in my opinion that are really important to be a life notebook. And at the end, the change part, I realized after reading the book this is where ideas were born here. My fears were exposed. The fun thing is, you get videos, you get photos. But the memories you had the thoughts, you never get to know them. You kind of remember, but you remember vaguely. The last part, of course, is the reflection afterwards. The components are in this script, but nothing of this is really pretty or fancy. I just scribble down and film, and during the editing, this is where stuff gets serious. But one thing that is important for me is that the hook and the setup are very clear, specifically with which types of shots to use and precisely what I use, because this is the most important part. Afterwards, it becomes a little more relaxed because this is all part of the build. This is part of the spontaneity of the video. It's there. I just kind of film, and then I edit. And the same translates to the video. All of my best shots are in the first 30 seconds, and then afterwards, I relax the way, if you're interested how I compose my shots or how I get these creative shots, feel free to later on check my other courses. So maybe what it felt very overwhelming about this timeline, all of a sudden, when I decompose into parts, becomes actually quite understandable, and I cannot stress this enough. Again, all the editing is mostly made with cuts. 99% of the editing is choosing the right clip to be on top of each other. Never let a clip be longer than 10 seconds. Always cut to something else, which makes it more interesting. And any program can do cut. That's what I use most of the time. And with that, I'll see you in the next lesson where I show you really good examples, explaining everything with the script next to it. 20. Final Example: Bringing Everything Together: This is where everything merges together. This is going to be fun. And I specifically chose this example of this Kodak camera because it contains both the premeditated parts of the video with spontaneous parts where I take the camera out and then film a bit. So basically, I have a new product, and honestly, I didn't understand why people wanted to buy this camera because the quality isn't really great. And that was basically the story of this video. Just very quickly, looking at the timeline, you see that the first few seconds is where I put the most effort into the types of shots, the cutting, the music, the editing, being 100% honest with you, having most of the gear that I want. I want to hate this keychain camera. And then it relaxes a little bit. Mainly, we just cuts and putting stuff on top of each other. Your foam camera. This tiny sensor will do so much better than whatever this can do. And just as a brief overview of my script of this video, on top, I just use or write a few title ideas I have or some thumbnal ideas. This is where the script actually starts. Let me put it in the middle. So for this very good example of a premeditated and spontaneous video, I first took the camera and experimented with it to get the feeling and I understand if I like it or not because all of that determines how the story will go. Afterwards, maybe a few weeks later, I start by writing the hook and the rest. In the actual script, I start by writing the hook, which is in great detail because it's a premeditated I thought which shots I want to use, what lines I want to use to really hook the viewer into watching the rest of the video, I will follow line by line the script. And then it gets a bit more spontaneous. For example, the in Boxing part, that's something I just want to do in front of the camera. What's this? And if I say something, then I add it. If I say too much, then I cut it out. But I know a few lines that I'll use in between the parts. So after the in boxing, I know it's meant to be outside, so outside, I went. But it is so popular. Maybe there's something I can yet understand. It is meant to be used outside, so outside, I went. And then, of course, the rest here is my moment of change where I realized something. But what this actually is Then afterwards, the realization you have the conclusion or the reflection. Because it was so spontaneous. You'll notice that not all the lines that I've written here are going to be there because sometimes while I'm editing, I add a few extra lines. I take my camera, and then I record a few extra lines that I think would really add to the story. This is for you to understand that the script is very flexible. It's very malleable. It doesn't need to be 100% fixed structure, but sometimes stuff can happen. Stuff changes. And while you're editing, that's when you have the feeling. You look back to the video and you have the feeling of the pacing, how it feels, if it's too boring or if it needs a little more explanation, that's when you add stuff on top. Yeah, the script looks ugly. It doesn't need to look pretty at all, because where it needs to looks pretty is in your editing process. And this is where I'm just going to let the video run through, and I'm going to add a few notes for you to understand my thought process. Being 100% honest with you, having most of the gear that I want. I want to hate this key chain camera. I got it delivered, and the box has seen better days. My favorite are these two, and they advertise seven photo filters. I don't really see myself using any of these apart from black and white and maybe warm and cold. And four photo frames. Oh, come on. Right off the bat, I do sound like I'm a hater. I do really like the aesthetic. They really went into the nostalgia factor, even though I was born way past this year. Cameras have gone through a lot, and I honestly don't understand because your phone camera, this tiny sensor will do so much better than whatever this can do. So I'll try not to be biased for this experiment. I'll give it a real shot. And what design is it? Oh, sweet. It's my favorite one. Oh, nice. And I'll tell you what I feel about it. But it is so popular. Maybe there's something I can yet understand. It is meant to be used outside, so outside, I went. I started off by comparing the footage with my phone, thoroughly hitting it. It's shaky, grainy, and the microphone sounds, well, I wouldn't say terrible. I'd say nostalgia, but I kept using it. Starting to get slippery. Oh, my God, this is so slippery. Maybe I expected too much from this to begin with, because once it clicked to me that this will never be the phone camera. That's when I realized that this is, after all, just a key chain. I tried to hook this on several different places throughout the day, and by far, my favorite is either the key chain or my fanny pack. It's not trying to be better than any other camera. It's just meant to be a really cool looking piece to be used spontaneously. That's when the fun actually started. Yeah. Hello, so far. Hi, Emer. On. How much can we take? I do have to admit as a key chain, I'm very excited to have a tiny model of a camera. That is very exciting for me. But what this actually is is a great key chain, a great gift, a great piece to pop out on your bag or anything that's actually really cool and functional. Feel free to repeat this part many times. I know I added a few too many notes here and there, but I really wanted to be thorough for you to fully understand the whole process. I recommend watching it again and focusing on one component at a time, maybe the timeline, and then the clips. I hope you learned something, and I'll see you in the next one. 21. Thank You for Watching!: Thank you so much for coming along this whole trip of storytelling. I hope you got to learn new ways to think about how to organize your video, how to script your video, on your editing, how to best organize your clips. If you're a beginner, this maybe might seem like a lot at first, but don't worry. Just keep doing videos one by one and you try and experiment a little bit better here, a little bit better there, and you'll get the hang of it. I personally create more cinematic storytelling videos, as you've seen in my examples, so feel free to check those out in my YouTube channel. But more importantly, I made other classes about video, long-form video or short-form video. They're both individual classes where I go both step by step, every single aspect, ideas, scripting, story, filming and editing. I go through everything. Of course, this class right now focus on the most important part of any video, which is the story. But there I go through everything. Since we're in the topic of this video, if you want to compose better and have nicer looking shots, more aesthetically pleasing, I also made a course about how to compose your shots. Feel free to leave a review of this course. I really appreciate it and it really helps a lot. And don't forget the class project. If you have any script online, you can share a print screen or a photo of your handwritten notes over the script of the video. Anything related to story, you can just post there. And don't forget if you have any questions, I'll always check in the discussion tab too. With that said, best of luck or with your future projects. See you.