Since the dawn of time and even before the invention of language, stories have remained an important part of human nature. We told stories before we could say words and somehow, they still moved us. Today is no different!
Today, the mediums have evolved, but the effectiveness of strong storytelling remains the same. A good story shows itself conspicuously even in an age where we are bombarded with unlimited content on a daily basis.
If you want to tell such a story, keep reading!
I will be diving deep into discussing the art of powerful storytelling (animated and filmed video), along with some examples you can use as inspiration. So without any wait, let’s jump into it!
Why Storytelling Matters in Video
It communicates your message perfectly.
Provide solid information in a dry language, and you’ll lose your audience in less than 10 seconds. Turn it into a story, and you can keep your viewers stuck to the screen for an hour while effectively communicating your message. Everyone loves stories, and every brand uses that to their advantage to deliver their message.
It helps connect emotionally with your audience.
Stories evoke emotions, create relatability, and foster empathy. Together, these factors help you connect with your audience at a personal level, enabling you to build a loyal audience and customers. In other words, using emotional narrative in your ads could go a long way. Long story short, stories stick better, move better, and sell better.
Storytelling helps people remember what you showed.
Where facts and data activate one part of the brain, stories activate multiple parts at a time, both sensory and emotional. So naturally, people remember the information and message communicated through stories more. This inspires them to take action, share your content, and buy your product.
What Makes a Story Work? The Secret Ingredients of Effective Storytelling:
The secret to effective storytelling is that there is no secret. It’s all out there and written in clear text. The characters, the emotions, the emphasis on visuals. The only difference is how you use these things in order to make your story work. That being said, here are some tips that you can utilize to leave your audience impressed as they go through your content:
Clear storyline
Oh, who could have guessed, right? As simple as it sounds, we couldn’t emphasize this enough! People have enough problems in their lives to figure out. They don’t have the capacity for another brain scramble. That said, make your story as simple as possible with a very clear beginning, middle, and end where the audience doesn’t have to think much. Remember, your video’s goal is to simplify things, not muddle them.
A main character
Any story is incomplete without a protagonist. Although you could still drive your narrative, the story wouldn’t connect with the audience on a personal level. They need a character they can resonate with, someone that goes through the same struggles as them, talks the same way, and gets out of the same problems. This is essential for building emotional connection and maintaining your engagement.
A conflict or challenge
A plain story is no story! It should have some drama, some conflict, and a problem that drives your plot and motivates your main character to take action. Without conflict, there’s no reason for the audience to keep watching your video. There should be stakes involved, spiced up with a fair bit of tension and emotions. This will significantly make your audience emotionally invested, and impact their decision-making.
Some emotions
Well, isn’t that obvious? Stories and emotions both go hand in hand! And since humans are all emotional beings at the end, this part is going to play a significant role as far as conversions are concerned. Whether it’s a short marketing video or a full-blown movie, the more the emotions, the better the results.
Consistent visuals and tone
Since visuals and sound are the main medium through which you’ll be telling your story, they should be in complete coherence with your story. The visuals should be consistent throughout, without any changes in the overall color theme and tone from scene to scene. It should reflect your brand’s theme in every single frame, as this plays a crucial role in keeping your brand image consistent and easily recognizable.
Our Top 10 Picks of Best Storytelling Videos
Now that you know what makes a great story, here are some cool commercial videos (explainer video, stop motion, live-action.. etc) that effectively utilize each of the above tips, resulting in visually coherent and emotionally moving videos that are destined to deliver results:
1) ODCC – Commercial Video
Stop-motion animation is iconic; there’s no doubt about that. This video beautifully merges the magic of stop motion with aspects of live action, keeping the nostalgic essence of stop motion alive while using it to deliver a visually sleek video with a touch of subtle humor.
2) Uswitch – Putting U First Campaign
Looking for a video inspiration that’s visually stunning but lengthwise short while still successful in delivering the message? This is the video to look at. It’s modern, well-executed, short, and well-written—ticking off all the important aspects of a good explainer.
3) Dorina Nowill ‘O Ponto’ (The Dot)
Don’t have a protagonist to show in your video? Good news! You can always use abstract animation as long as you have an excellent script to back it up. Watch this video to find out what we are talking about.
4) Honda Odd-Shaped Ball
Already Have a highly recognizable brand? You just need something light to jog your audience’s memory and refresh your brand recall… something like Honda’s odd-shaped ball. In such cases, you don’t need a big script or a lengthy story. Just a glimpse of your brand name is enough.
5) Squarespace – Blueprint AI
Squarespace has always been coming up with awesome videos; this one’s no exception. Made with a blend of live action and 2D animation and supplemented by light music and script, the whole video exudes feel-good vibes while effectively delivering the message.
6) Airbnb “Get an Airbnb” 2024 (Pool)
Everyone knows what Airbnb is, and Airbnb knows that too. The video is targeted towards families seeking children-friendly spaces on their trip. It spans over 30 seconds in total, telling people why they should choose Airbnb if they have children, using 3D animation for visuals.
7) Girls Don’t Poop – PooPourri.com
Well, this video is exactly what you are thinking about. But what makes it special is the way it’s executed. It has everything we were talking about in this article—a main character, a clear storyline, a conflict, humor, and a very consistent tone across every scene. No wonder it has accumulated 45 million views on YouTube alone: quite a number for a poop product advertisement.
8) Airbnb “Get an Airbnb” 2024 (Close Friends)
And there we go, Airbnb is on a spree of creating some of the best videos when it comes to storytelling. This one too uses 3D animation (stop motion), with the same smooth transitions, same lively vibe, and same on-point storytelling.
9) Musical Hallucinations – Short Film
When a video has a little bit of everything, it becomes Musical Hallucinations! While the video purely relies on the script, the 2D backdrop adds a peculiar magic to the whole vibe of the video, being as visually exquisite as it is expressive. The short film is simply beautiful, for lack of better words.
10) Airbnb – Get Together
This one, again, follows the classic Airbnb storytelling strategy—simple, straight, and to the point. However, the highlight of this video is the meticulous use of stop motion, where they perfectly fit this art form into a modern narrative, resulting in a visually neat video and storytelling with a classic touch.
Steps to Create a Perfect Storytelling Video
Just as we discussed the ingredients for a perfect story, there are also some ingredients for a perfect storytelling video. For a successful storytelling video, you must:
1. Know who you’re talking to:
A good story is the one that touches the audience. And to touch the audience, you must know what they actually care about. You must know their problems, their preferences, and their emotional triggers. This is imperative for your story, as it allows you to shape your message in a way that feels personal.
2. Decide the key message:
You build a story around your key message, not your message around the story. So before you even move towards writing your video script, take your time to think about what you want to convey to your audience. Is it a particular value? A product benefit? Or just a simple truth? This will make it significantly easier for you to connect with your audience.
3. Write a simple, tight script:
The audience today has the attention span of a goldfish… or even less. So make sure your script is clear, concise, and without any clutter. Every extra second you add to your video costs you a viewer… or ten.
4. Plan the shots and flow:
Once you have a clear story in mind, it’s time to bring it to life with the help of strong visuals. As you move forward to create your video, think in advance about what you want your audience to see. Plan the flow of your frames—what do you want to show in the beginning, middle, and end of the video, and how? Make storyboards, mood boards, or whatever you can. The more the homework, the better the results.
How to Ruin a Perfect Storytelling Video (The Don’ts)
Now that we have discussed what makes a perfect storytelling video, let’s jump into what ruins it. Following are just some of those things:
1. Adding too much information:
Until and unless absolutely necessary, adding too much information can make your video dry and emotionless, resulting in poor audience retention and overall engagement. Remember, the main goal is to emotionally engage your audience, and over-explaining is not going to help you a lot in this regard.
2. Not using humor:
We get it, humor might not fit in certain videos, but it certainly does in a lot of them. The main goal of storytelling videos is catching people’s emotions, and nothing does it better than a pinch of humor here and there. A video without humor is food without salt. No matter what you add to it, it’ll feel tasteless.
3. Not having a clear goal:
A storytelling video without a fixed goal is pointless. Without an end goal, you’ll be just beating around the bushes with no clear message. This will benefit neither your video narrative nor your brand.
4. Flat visuals or sound:
Using flat visuals and audio will make your video look and sound monotonous, killing its emotional impact and overall viewer engagement. Even the best of scripts will fall flat if your visuals and audio don’t match the emotions and energy of the story.
Need to tell your story to the world?
If you’ve got a story to share with the world, we’re here to help you tell it. At Kasra Design®, we have a team of highly talented animators and storytellers with a decade-long experience of telling brand stories through magical animations and impactful scripts. We make sure your story doesn’t just impress but captivate, connect, and convert in ways you never imagined before. Contact us now, and let’s write your success story together!