The illusion of inspiration
Picture this:
You’re in the theater watching the latest Oscar-bait.
Your cinephile friend saw it last week and said, “Bring tissues.”
The movie is coming to an end, the music is swelling, the protagonist’s journey has reached its tragic conclusion.
You hear sniffles all around you (and you’re welling up too — good thing Jonathan told you to pack a Kleenex.)
Then, the final image. The credits roll. The spell is broken and you realize:
Wait, that whole story was actually kind of ‘bleh.’ Why was I crying??
Films are really good at eliciting a reaction.
But there’s a big difference between a genuine emotion and the illusion of emotion.
So what does that mean for corporate video, how can you hit on the real thing, and why does it matter?
Let’s get into it.
“Make it inspiring”
In corporate videos, we rarely get asked to make an audience sad. More often, our clients ask us to “Make it inspiring.”
That makes sense. Inspired audiences are ready to take action — to implement a new technology, embrace a new leader, or work towards a new company initiative.
There are many ways to create the illusion of inspiration:
- Swelling music
- Sweeping drone shots
- Interviewees with a really compelling presence
And these are good (in fact I use all three fairly often)
But…
If that’s all there is, then that feeling will dissipate the moment the video ends.
At best, viewers won’t turn their inspiration into action. At worst, they’ll feel manipulated.
So how do you create true emotion in your video? The kind that weasels its way into even the most cynical heart?
Do what the best feature films do: take your audience on a journey.
The journey
Screenwriter and producer Tom Vaughan categorizes stories into three buckets:
1. Those where the protagonist changes for the better.
2. Those where the protagonist remains steadfast in their beliefs and, in doing so, changes everyone around them.
3. Those where the protagonist fails to change or changes for the worse. We call this a tragedy.
We can ignore the last one because, frankly, I can’t think of a single corporate video that falls into that category (but if you can, I would love to see it.)
Now let’s translate these buckets into corporate terms:
1. Those where the company changes for the better.
2. Those where the company remains steadfast in its values, mission, and vision; and, in doing so, changes the industry (or the whole world).
The key word here is change.
Category 1
If you’re making a video in category 1, that means, you have to present your company in a worse position at the start than at the end.
You can’t go from great to great and try to pass it off as a journey.
You can go from good to great. That’s a safe play.
Or, if you’re feeling really bold, you can go from bad/struggling/underdog to great. Who doesn’t love an underdog story?
For example, a startup that had big dreams but didn’t have the tech they needed, so they invented it themselves. And now, they’ve become an industry leader. (I’d watch that movie.)
Category 2
For category 2, you establish the ordinary world (the current state of the industry) at the outset, and then show how your company’s vision is changing/has changed everything for the better.
This is exactly the premise of one of the most iconic advertisements of all time (and if it’s good enough for director Ridley Scott, it’s good enough for me.)
Why it works
When an emotional reaction comes from music and pretty pictures, once the music and pretty pictures stop, the emotion ends.
When the emotion comes from the story, you’re also tapping into the psychological power of narrative: better information retention and the power to change existing beliefs. Those are long-term impacts that will stick around after the video is over.
It’s the difference between gold-plated and solid gold. They both provide a similar effect, but the former wears away, while the latter is forever.
Happy creating!
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