OUR PROCESS
Finding and Telling Damn Good Stories
Here's how the 50 Pictures Process takes you from a blank page to a story-driven video that W.O.R.K.S...
A Damn Good Plan
StorySTRATEGY
StorySTRATEGY is the planning phase - where we shoot later, ask questions first:
Who's your audience?
What do we want them to feel, think, and do?
What would success look like for you? (Views? Conversions? World domination?)
Your story-driven videos have to get measurable results. StorySTRATEGY is where we name those results and work out the exact path to get there.
Who's your audience?
What do we want them to feel, think, and do?
What would success look like for you? (Views? Conversions? World domination?)
Your story-driven videos have to get measurable results. StorySTRATEGY is where we name those results and work out the exact path to get there.
"When people talk, listen
completely. Most people never listen."
Ernest
Hemingway
StoryFINDING
The Input
Phase
This is Sherlock mode (pipe optional). Here, we go beyond the obvious - asking questions even your nosiest team members might avoid - and listening with Zen Master focus to every answer.
Then, like Alice in Wonderland, we dive down rabbit holes - getting curiouser and curiouser - to gather the raw materials for your story.
This is Sherlock mode (pipe optional). Here, we go beyond the obvious - asking questions even your nosiest team members might avoid - and listening with Zen Master focus to every answer.
Then, like Alice in Wonderland, we dive down rabbit holes - getting curiouser and curiouser - to gather the raw materials for your story.
1. Mapping Your Story World
First, we explore the space where your stories take place - your Story World:
- your team, customers, and partners
- your industry and how you fit into it
- your day-to-day work
- your products and services
- your unique approach to what you do
- your hidden gems
2.
Character Snapshots
Every damn good story needs damn good characters - people with distinctive characteristics and strong motivations striving towards meaningful goals. So…
Who's got skin in the game?
Who's taking on a challenge worth watching?
Who's got skin in the game?
Who's taking on a challenge worth watching?
3. Choosing a Story Archetype
Based on your objectives and the story elements we've gathered, we now select an architectural blueprint - a structure - for your story from seven broad Story Archetypes:
- Start-Up Stories
- Ethos Stories
- Purpose-Driven Stories
- Pioneering Stories
- Enlightening Stories
- Transformation Stories
- Counterpunching Stories
4. W.O.R.K.S. Q&A
Now we zoom in on the most powerful story, by generating five Focus Words for every idea.
- WONDER
- ORIGINALITY
- REACH
- KINDLE
- SHIFT
StoryTELLING
The Output
Phase
This is where we zoom in on the key characters and conflicts, play with creative possibilities, and work the story into shape. Then we shoot, edit, refine, and bring your story to life on screen of all shapes and sizes.
This is where we zoom in on the key characters and conflicts, play with creative possibilities, and work the story into shape. Then we shoot, edit, refine, and bring your story to life on screen of all shapes and sizes.
1. P-p-p-picking Your Process Ps
Prior to plot, we prime and prep four pivotal pieces:
- a motivated PERSON
- with a sense of PURPOSE
- solving PROBLEMS
- in a particular PLACE.
2. Exploring Story Stuff
This is where a childlike sense of wonder comes in handy, as we probe, poke and play with Story Stuff, such as:
- unexpected angles
- quirky connections
- recurring themes
- emerging tones
- deeper meanings
- coincidences
- subtle clues and signals
- 'what if' scenarios
- underlying patterns
3. Shaping Your Story
A Damn Good Story is a rollercoaster that packs emotional punch as it builds, climbs, crashes, and resolves. Using our Multi-Story Arc Spark, we trace a unique through-line of peaks, troughs, and wiggly bits, linking five key plot points:
- the HOOK
- the CATALYST
- the STRUGGLE
- the BREAKTHROUGH
- the PAYOFF
4. Scripts and Storyboards
This step involves testing and evolving the script - strengthening the themes and tones - until every scene earns its place and the final draft and storyboards are signed off.
5. Shooting and Editing
Now we bring your story from script to screen in three well-crafted steps.
- Pre-production - planning and logistics
- Production - the shoot - capturing sound and vision
- Post-production - editing the raw footage into a polished story-driven video or series
6. Optimising and
Delivering
When you're ready to share
your story with the world, we optimise and export it for every
platform:
- Owned media (your channels)
- Earned media (word-of-mouth)
- Paid media (targeted reach)
Measuring Success
Every story we tell is a test drive, a data mine, a chance to get even sharper. So we track engagement, retention, and conversions across all platforms - working out what hits, what sticks, and what makes people take action. Then, we tweak, refine, and level up, so every new story builds on the success of the last.
"There is no greater agony than
bearing an untold story inside you."
Maya
Angelou
What happens next?
First, hit the button below and grab your copy of
How to Find a Story That W.O.R.K.S.
(Free. Useful. No corporate buzzwords.)
Then, book a 50-minute Discovery Call and let's explore how 50 Pictures can become your story-driving sidekick.
How to Find a Story That W.O.R.K.S.
(Free. Useful. No corporate buzzwords.)
Then, book a 50-minute Discovery Call and let's explore how 50 Pictures can become your story-driving sidekick.