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1 - CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

Every video you make should aim to engage its audience (whether that’s your friends or the world at large) and to draw an emotional response.

Any film can dispassionately present a subject, a person and a place, but you’ll have something much more emotive if you can find an element of uncertainty or danger to run through it as a subtheme. Watch nature programmes to see how they engage their audience by showing what’s at risk: if the lion doesn’t find water soon he will die; if the calf remains sick the herd will leave it behind. Find the conflict and delve deeper – show the audience what to care about.

Find the angle that has the power to surprise you, as a filmmaker: that’s what will hook your viewer too. Generally, this means seeking the human stories behind what you’re shooting. So if you’re visiting a historical monument, find out what the building means to the local people. If you’re filming a local fisherman, ask him questions about his own experiences. You might be surprised by some of the answers – he doesn’t know how to swim, perhaps, or he loves being with the stars every night. These are the details that make an ordinary video into an extraordinary one.
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