StoryIstheWholeGame

There'saspecifickindoffilmmakerwhocantellyouthedynamicrangeofeverycinemacamerareleasedinthelastdecadeandhasneverfinishedashortfilm.Theirgearbagismeticulous.TheirYouTubehistoryistwothousandreviewsdeep.Theyownafollowfocustheyhaveusedthreetimes.

Thisisn'tapersonalityflaw.It'sastructuralfeatureofhowthefieldistaughtanddiscussed.Gearhascleananswers—sensorsizes,ISOratings,lenscharts,codecs.Storyhasnocleananswers.Youcanspendtenyearsongearandfeellikeyou'vemadeprogresseveryday.Youcanspendtenyearsonstoryandstillnotknowifyou'reanygoodatit.

Sofilmmakersdefaulttothecomfortableconversation.Themarketreinforcesit.Thereareentirepublications,channels,retailers,andtradeshowsorganizedaroundtheideathatthenextpurchaseiswhatstandsbetweenyouandtheworkyouwanttomake.

Itisn't,andatsomepointeveryonewhoevermadeanythinggoodhadtofigurethatout.

Themath

Lookatwhatthefilmsyouactuallylovehaveincommon.

TangerinewasshotoniPhone5sandwonSundancein2015.TheBlairWitchProjectcost$60,000andgrossed$250million.Moonlightcost$1.5millionandwonBestPicture.Whiplashwasshotin19days.SeanBaker,StevenSoderbergh,BongJoon-ho,ChloéZhao—noneofthesedirectorsareknownforwhattheyshoton.Theyareknownforwhattheirfilmsareabout.

Nowlookatthefilmsnobodyremembers.Theywereshotonthesamecamerasasthefilmsyoulove.Theyhadbiggerbudgetsinmanycases.Theyhadmorecrew.Theyhadlightingpackagesthatcostmorethanentireindieproductions.Theyareforgottenbecausetheyhadnothingtosay,andnocameraintheworldknowshowtomakeafilmaboutsomething.

Thisisn'tanargumentthatgeardoesn'tmatter.It'sanobservationaboutwhichaxisofvarianceactuallypredictswhetherworkgetsremembered.Gearqualityissomethinglike5%ofthevariance.Storyqualityissomethingcloserto70%.Theremaining25%isexecution—whichitselfdependsmostlyoncraft,notequipment.

Ifyouallocatedyourtime,money,andattentionaccordingtothoseweights,you'dspendalmostnoneofitshopping.

Whygearisthecomfortableconversation

There'sareasonthistrapissoeasytofallinto.

Gearhasanswers

Youcanreadareview,comparespecs,anddecide.Thedecisionisbounded.Whenyoufinish,youhaveathing.Thedopaminearrivesonschedule.

Storyhasnoanswers

"Isthisideastrongenough?"hasnospecsheet.Nobodycantellyouwithcertainty.Youhavetodevelopthetastetojudgeityourself,anddevelopingtastetakesyearsoflookingatworkandbeinghonestaboutwhichpiecesmovedyouandwhy.There'snoshortcut.

Gearispurchasable

Youcansolveagearproblemwithacreditcard.Youcannotsolveastoryproblemthesameway.Youcanhireawriter,butyou'llstillhavetoknowwhichwritertohire,whattoaskthemfor,andwhattodowhentheirdraftisn'tright.Thegatekeepingroledoesn'tdisappearwhenyoudelegateit.

Gearhascommunity

Thereareforums,Discords,YouTubechannels,andconventionswherepeoplewholikegearmeetotherpeoplewholikegearandvalidateeachother'schoices.Thestorycommunityissmaller,hardertofind,andmorepainfultoparticipateinbecausegivingandreceivingrealfeedbackoncreativeworkisuncomfortable.

Sogearbecomestheprocrastinationstrategydisguisedaspreparation.ThehoursspentwatchingDPcomparisonsfeellikeprogress.Theyarenot.

What"story"actuallymeansincommercialwork

Thisisworthbeingpreciseabout,because"story"getsusedloosely.

Inafeaturefilm,storyusuallymeansnarrative—characters,plot,dramaticstructure.Incommercialandmusicvideowork,thedefinitionisbroaderandworthrestating.

Storyistheanswerto:whatisthispieceaboutunderneathwhatitshows?

A30-secondbeercommercialisn'ttellinganarrative.Butthegoodoneshaveastory—friendshipreaffirmedinasmallmoment,thereliefoffinishingahardweek,anunspokenunderstandingbetweenstrangers.Thebadonesdon't.Theyjustshowbeerbeingconsumed.Theaudiencecantellwithinthefirstthreesecondswhichkindthey'rewatching.

Amusicvideoisn'tafeaturefilm.Butthegoodoneshaveastory—usuallyemotionalratherthannarrative.Thisiswhatthesongactuallyfeelslikeunderthelyrics.Thebadonesareastringofcoolshotssettomusic.Theaudiencecantellthoseaparttoo.

Abrandfilmisn'tnecessarilyaboutaperson.Butthegoodoneshaveastory—thebrandbelievesaspecificthing,andthefilmembodiesthatbeliefthroughchoicestheviewerfeelsratherthanreads.Thebadoneslistfeaturesovermontage.

Storyinthisexpandedsenseisnotoptionalincommissionedwork.It'sthereasonafilmisworthninetysecondsofsomeone'sattentionratherthanthenextthinginthefeed.

Thequestionstoaskbeforeyoushootanything

Herearethequestionsthatactuallypredictwhethertheworkwillbegood.Mostprojectswouldbenefitfrombeingheldagainstthembeforeanygeargetspulled.

Whatisthispieceaboutunderneathwhatitdepicts?

Ifyoucananswerthisinonesentence,youhaveaproject.Ifyouneedaparagraph,youdon'tyet.

Whosepointofviewisthis?

Everyeffectivefilmhasaperspective—notnecessarilyaliteralPOVcharacter,butafeltpointofview.Thecameraispositionedsomewhereemotionally.Iftheansweris"everyone's"or"nobody's,"thefilmwillfeelwashedoutandimpersonal.

Whatdoestheaudiencefeelinthelastthreeseconds?

Theendingistheonlythingtheytakewiththem.Ifyoucannamethefeeling,youcanworkbackwardstoengineerit.Ifyoucan't,youdon'tyetknowwhatyourfilmis.

What'stheoneimageormomentthathastoland?

Everyfilmworthmakinghasacenterofgravity—asingleshot,beat,ormomentthattherestofthefilmexiststosetup.Ifyoucan'tnameit,thefilmisstilldiffuse.Ifyoucan,everyotherdecisionflowsfromprotectingthatmoment.

Aprojectthathasclearanswerstothesequestionscanbeshotonalmostanythingandstillwork.Aprojectthatdoesn'thaveanswerscanbeshotonthemostexpensivepackageavailableandstillnotwork.

Whengearactuallymatters

Beinghonestabouttheexceptionsmakestherulestronger.Therearerealcaseswheregearmeaningfullychangesoutcomes.

Specificaestheticrequirements

Ifyourfilm'svisualidentityisbuiltaroundaparticularlook—large-formatshallowdepthoffield,anamorphicflares,realhigh-speedslowmotion—thenyes,youneedthegeartodeliverthatlook.Thegearisdownstreamofthecreativechoice,butoncethechoiceismade,it'snotoptional.

Technicaldemands

Underwater,aerial,low-lightastrophotography,veryfast-motionsports—thereareenvironmentswhereconsumergearphysicallycannotcapturewhatyouneed.Gettherighttool.Don'tfakeit.

Professionaldeliveryspecs

Someclients,broadcasters,distributors,andunionsrequirespecificdeliverables—logformats,framerates,codecs,resolutions.Ifyourprojecthasthoserequirements,thecamerahastomeetthem.Storydoesn'toverridedeliveryspecs.

Theseexceptionscovermaybe10%ofcommissionedvideowork.Theygettreatedasthenormbecausethey'rethemostdiscussedcasesintheindustry.Theyarenot.

Howtoactuallydevelopstorysense

Thebadnews:there'snoshortcut.Thegoodnews:there'sapractice.

Watchfilmsandarticulatewhytheyworkedordidn't.Notintheabstract.Specifically.Whydoesthethirdshotofaparticularsceneland?Whydoesthecuttowideonaparticularlinebreakthespell?Whydoesthisreferencevideoeveryonecopiesactuallyfailwhencopied?Untilyoucananswerquestionslikethat,yourtasteisborrowedandyourworkwillfeelborrowed.

Writethings.Evenifyou'readirector,notawriter,writedescriptionsofmoments.Writewhatthefilmisaboutinonesentence.Writetheendingfeeling.Storymuscleisexercisedbytryingtoputitintowordsandnoticingwherethewordsfail.

Showyourworktopeoplewhowilltellyouthetruth.Notfriends.Notcollaboratorswithskininthegame.Findthetwoorthreepeoplewhosetasteyoutrustandwhoseresponseyoufear,andshowthemtheroughcut.Thediscomfortisthepoint.

Sitwithbadworkandfigureoutwhyit'sbad.Theinstinctistolookaway.Thedisciplineistostudyit.

Thetakeaway

Thesinglelargestdeterminantofwhetheryourvideowillworkiswhethertheideaunderneathitisstrong.Almosteverythingelse—gear,budget,crew,locations—isdownstreamofthat.

Thisisgoodnews,weirdly.Itmeansthemostimportantvariableinyourprojectisonethatdoesn'trequiremoneytoimprove.Italsomeanstheeasiestwaytowastemoneyistospenditoneveryothervariablewhileleavingthecentraloneunaddressed.

Thenexttimeyoufindyourselffivetabsdeepinacameracomparisonatmidnight,closethetabs.Openablankdocument.Writeonesentencedescribingwhatyourprojectisabout.Ifthesentenceisweak,you'vefoundtheactualproblemwiththeproject.Thecamerawasnevertheproblem.Thecamerahasneverbeentheproblemonanyfilm,ever.

Storyisthewholegame.Thegearistheequipment.Don'tconfusethetwo.

TriptychStudiosworkswithdirectors,brands,andartistsonprojectswheretheideahastocarrytheweight.Ifyou'rescopingaprojectandwantasecondpairofeyesonwhethertheideaisstrongenoughyet,getintouch.