Feet First
Storytelling
#VideoStorytelling #CaseStudy
Background
Feet First is a nonprofit organization that empowers communities throughout Washington State to create safe, healthy, and equitable public spaces for people walking and rolling. As Feet First was looking for ways to raise more awareness of the organization and its Advocacy work, I offered to create video storytelling using strategic storytelling methods that I learned at Georgetown University.
| Duration | 6 weeks (Oct-Nov 2020) |
|---|---|
| Project Type | Course Project (Individual) |
| Role | Project Manager, Editor |
| Tools | Adobe Premiere Pro, iPhone |
Storytelling Process
| 01. Planning | Defining story's purpose, desired audiences, actions, etc. |
|---|---|
| 02. Design | Build an outline of the story using key building blocks |
| 03. Production | Interviews Filming Video Editing |
| 04. Distribution | |
| 05. Evaluation |
Define a Story's Purpose
In the planning phase, I brainstormed story content and determined the purpose of this project by considering resources, capacity, and limitations.
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Key Priority Project
We decided to focus on Feet First's statewide Advocacy Network where they share information and challenge more complex statewide issues with other organizations across Washington state.
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Target Audience
Organizations in a similar sector across Washington state (non-profits, schools, etc.)
Washington state residents who may have an interest in making their communities walkable (parents, older adults, people in an educational sector, etc.) -
Primary Action
Visit the organization's website to learn how to get involved.
Contact Feet First for inquiries -
Emotions
Inspired, Excited, Hopeful
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Channel
Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube), website
Storytelling Key Elements
Main Character
Create emotional connections
Chris Randels
Chris is a founder of Complete Streets Bellevue promoting a walkable community in Bellevue, WA, and joined Feet First's Advocacy Network in October 2020. I chose him as the main character to show that anyone can contribute to building walkable communities and encourage the audience to take an action as Chris did.
The goal is to make the audience inspired and motivated to take action for making their community safe and walkable.
Trajectory
Build momentum that will lead to action
To take the audience on an emotional journey and keep the story interesting to them, I mapped out the stories based on the three milestones (Beginning, Middle, and End)
Story Structure
| Starting Point | Mid Point | Ending Point |
|---|---|---|
| Future (Hook) |
Past (Low Point) |
Current to Future (Call to Action) |
| Chris's excited and hopeful feelings for the future of the Advocacy Network | Small anecdote about the traffic accident that touched Chris's emotions His transformation from the past and where he is now |
How he joined Feet First's Advocacy Network and what he envisions in the future of a walkable community |
Authenticity
Show the charactor's transformation with rich details
I added small details to make stories authentic and help audiences picture the scenes. With those details, I was able to achieve making stories more personal, which allows the audiences to easily relate to and have meaningful connections with the stories.
| Starting Point | Mid Point | Ending Point |
|---|---|---|
| Emotions: neutral, a sense of excitement |
Emotions: sad, frustrated |
Emotions: inspirational, motivational, excited |
Details:
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Details:
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Details:
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Emotions
Convey emotions that move people to act
We work together
for our family
for our friends
for you.
Create safe streets together.
- My goal for the ending was to make the audience feel hopeful for their future and be excited about improving the walkability and healthy environment in their communities.
- To create a motivational atmosphere, I added Chris's motivational lines using his real voice and inspirational messages on a screen along with uplifting music, which lead to the call-to-action at the end of the video.
Hook
Capture the audience’s attention in 10 seconds
"I started to understand the importance of safety issue it is and how important of a social justice issue is that people be able to walk, bike, and take transit on our city streets safely without worry."
The story unfolds with a neutral tone with Chris's authentic voice talking about how he started to acknowledge the safety issues in his community. I believe that this first line shows his honesty and authenticity very well. This simple but direct message will grab the audience's attention and make it easy for them to understand the story's theme in the first 10-15 seconds. By saving some details for the ending, it also holds the audience's interest to continue watching.
Production
I recorded the interview session with Chris and filmed some scenes in Bellevue, WA. I edited the video using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Next Step / Reflection
- I learned the importance of deliberate planning before the design and production phase. It allowed me to frame the narrative and have a clear understanding of who we're targeting and what message we are primarily delivering.
- I was able to apply my knowledge and skills in making the story personal by mainly focusing on a single character and creating emotional and meaningful connections with the audience.
- If I were to continue working on this project, I would add some supporting characters to show different perspectives and add another dimension to the story.
- While I crafted this video storytelling based on the storytelling strategies that I learned at Georgetown University, I didn't have any skills in filming and editing videos. I hope to add those practical skills and refine the video in the future.