by Simon Jöcker
A picture is worth a thousand words and a film is worth ten thousand. This has been known not only since the triumph of social media. Together with ORCA van Loon Communications, I pursue this claim for companies and organizations. Most recently, for example, with the project "Mobilikon", when the aim was to vividly present new mobility offers for communities in rural areas. How do we do that? Here are five tips & tricks!
- Working with metaphors ⠀
It often helps to start with a highly simplified example from everyday life to allow easy access to the film content. These are usually much more tangible than disdainful theory. While we're at it, here's an example: The topic of "molecular biology" initially seems "unsexy" and dry. But if we explain right at the beginning that it is possible to dock onto viruses and "hijack" them using the lock-and-key principle, the topic suddenly becomes tangible. It creates an "aha" moment. We want to know more about it, even though the rest of the film doesn't have much to do with viruses at all, but only with molecular biology. Figurative metaphors like "key," "lock," "docking," and "caper" trigger the imagination. Suddenly, one can imagine something and is in the topic.
- A crisp introduction
Since most users decide in the first few seconds whether or not to continue watching a film, we have to start with the door. Attention killers are logo insertions or lengthy introductions of protagonists. That can be made up for later. The strongest image must be at the beginning! Even if you don't always have an eye-catcher like an explosion with a fireball at your disposal, you can still follow the principle. For example: A relatively boring interview comes to an interesting conclusion. So: Get right into it with the conclusion. Then the question of how the interviewee arrived at this conclusion becomes interesting. And it's much more fun to follow the entire interview.
- Strongly reduce
Many customers try to fit everything (supposedly) important into one film. Preferably, the entire content of their website should be presented in one video. This is not only an overload, but also a misunderstanding of the function. Moving images are particularly good at generating initial interest - a kind of door opener. For more detailed information, there's the website. In contrast to the film, the website offers the advantage that extensive topics can be more easily grasped by means of a clear structure or cross-reading. In this way, the film is a supplement to the website, the PDF document or a customer meeting. With a few exceptions, such as instructional or training films, a video can often be nothing more than a door opener for more. And almost every attempt to produce a film as the "eierlegende Wollmilchsau" fails.
- Shortness as a click impuls
The reason why web movies should be no longer than two or three minutes is often misunderstood. Sure, brevity is the spice. But that is not the decisive factor. If you pay attention to your own usage habits on the Internet, you'll notice: We often unconsciously look at the length before we click on a video. Most of the time, we don't even watch videos that are five minutes or longer - regardless of whether the topics are interesting. If it says "1" or "2," we behave differently. That's because of our appointment with the Internet: Especially in social media, we are only attuned to fleeting interactions. We unconsciously check whether the video fits into this time window. It's different with the TV, where we have appointments for longer couch evenings. That's why short videos are watched much more frequently, regardless of the attractiveness of the content.
My tip: If you have a lot to say, it's better to produce many short videos and organize them thematically in a media library.
- Filmquality as a flagship
Thanks to smartphones, we always have our own camera with us. They take pretty good pictures. But they're just cell phone shots - sometimes blurry, often shaky, and almost always with creepy sound. High-quality films are worthwhile because the content can be conveyed better with a sharp picture, beautiful colors and clear sound. One also infers from the quality of the film to the quality of the company and its products. After all, anyone who ambitiously and lovingly produces films probably treats their own products in a similar way. Those who don't care at least create the first impression that this could be a basic attitude of the company. That's why the quality of the moving image content alone - completely detached from the content - is often a signboard. If you don't have your own know-how and technical resources, it often pays to have films produced professionally.
About the author:
WOWfilm-Gründer Simon Jöcker hat auf der Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood Regie studiert. Der gebürtige Münsteraner sammelte danach zehn Jahre lang Berufserfahrung als Dokumentarfilmer bei der ARD, dem ZDF und Produktionsfirmen in Berlin und München. Nachdem Jöcker wichtige Branchenpreise auf Festivals in Hollywood und Europa gewonnen hatte, zog ihn die Heimatliebe zurück in seine Geburtsstadt. Daraufhin hat er sich dort mit WOWfilm selbstständig gemacht und produziert audiovisuelle Medien von Imagefilmen, Social-Media-Clips bis hin zu Werbespots. Seit 2019 ist Simon Jöcker und WOWfilm Associate Partner im Bereich Bewegtbildproduktion von ORCA van Loon Communications.
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