Innovative Ways of Capturing Emotion Through Video Production
Anna Burrows became hooked on video content creation after working as a casting producer for a John Lewis ad
Making this switch after fifteen years in broadcasting, she now produces branded content for a wide range of companies, including CNN, the Gates Foundation, and the clients of KJC Creative.
“I deal with everything from the initial brief to the final delivery. Businesses want powerful, engaging content and I love helping to make that happen. It’s exhilarating because no two projects are ever the same.”
Creative video brings a company’s story and services to life in a way that traditional marketing falls short. People relate to video because it makes them feel or realise something, it is truly powerful. One of Anna’s skills is bringing to life innovative ways of creating that emotion.
The Ring Bearer
Filming an emotive storyline involves more than just setting up a camera, as this next project proved. An online jewellery company required a video of a surprise marriage proposal in London. Not only did Anna and her team organise the romantic setting for the ‘get down on one knee’ moment, the video also included the ordering of the ring online and it actually being made.
‘We worked for 12 hours rigging a roof top terrace in Hackney, transforming it from a dumping ground to a full-blown wonderland, along with hidden cameras to film the big moment. Thank goodness it didn’t rain! And I nearly got ‘made’ as the soon-to-be fiancée heard me make the call, as she walked passed me, telling the crew ‘the eagle’ was on her way up! Thankfully she didn’t realise anything and she also said yes!!’
Posted across all online media, the video was shared world-wide and proved a great success. The fact that ‘love’ is at the heart of the story is probably why it had such a strong audience engagement. It’s those raw human emotions that connect people, and it doesn’t matter if you’re selling an engagement ring or a pair of braces, if you can find a human connection in your story, then you can engage the audience. That’s what makes me tick, connecting people through film.
And there’s also the inspirational side of video production. Other medias aren’t able to bring a story to life in the same way, by the use of the moving image, together with music and all that you can add to a film: voice over, text, art direction, style, tone. This combination intensifies any message you’re trying to convey and the following project showcases all of these elements seamlessly.
One Last Push for Polio
One Last Push For Polio is an organisation supported by the Gates Foundation, aiming to bring about the eradication of polio worldwide.
“The Gates Foundation wanted a video to show how polio has affected people.” Anna explains. “Cases of polio in the UK only fell dramatically when the routine vaccination was introduced in the mid-1950s, so there are people in our country who have been severely affected by this disease. The project involved travelling to several locations around the UK and filming people who contracted the disease in their youth.
‘The polio virus is transmitted through contaminated food, drinking water and swimming pool water. We wanted to make a visually impactful and hard-hitting message by putting polio victims in everyday unassuming environments, so we filmed this gentleman sitting in his wheelchair at the bottom of an empty, disused local pool.”
This video is still part of an ongoing awareness campaign and has been used across a range of talks and online media. One Last Push for Polio
The importance of video content in 2019
According to Anna, video is the most effective way to engage with your target audience by communicating your values, your ideals and what your business stands for.
“Video is a powerful tool for getting your message across, whether it’s to your customers, your employees, or to other businesses. The important thing is to make sure you adapt it for different platforms.”
Used across a variety of mediums, from a company website, the myriad of social media platforms, to a television in a reception office, it can be used to explain what your business does and why customers should engage with you, in a simple, non-intrusive manner.
And with a high click-through rate across social media advertising, it often translates directly into sales. According to the 2018 State of Social Video Marketer Trends report, 93% of businesses say they’ve gotten a new customer thanks to a video on social media.
Anna says she’s seen an explosion in the use of video content in recent years, and it’s set to grow. Marketers report a high ROI with this form of content strategy – no surprise, when you consider 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube alone, every single day.
“Businesses are choosing to create more video content than ever before. And the number of consumers who want that content is increasing. If businesses choose not to fulfil that demand, they risk being left behind.”