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...
The First Step
StorySTRATEGY
Damn good stories need a damn good plan. Without a plan, we're just throwing stuff into an ever-expanding avalanche of digital debris. So, StorySTRATEGY is where we shoot later, ask questions first:
Who's your audience?
What do they want, do, think, feel, believe?
Why should they care about your message?
(Harsh but necessary.)
How are things now?
Where do we need things to get to?
What does success actually look like for you? (Views? Conversions? World domination?)
Who do we need to talk to about Story Stuff?
Whether it's driving engagement, shifting perceptions, or making your audience feel something so compelling they'd be stupid not to react - 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 they want, do, think, feel, believe?
Why should they care about your message?
(Harsh but necessary.)
How are things now?
Where do we need things to get to?
What does success actually look like for you? (Views? Conversions? World domination?)
Who do we need to talk to about Story Stuff?
Whether it's driving engagement, shifting perceptions, or making your audience feel something so compelling they'd be stupid not to react - 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 (minus the mind-altering drugs), we dive down rabbit holes - getting curiouser and curiouser - to gather the raw materials for your story.
No assumptions. No shortcuts. No keyhole left unpeeped through.
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 (minus the mind-altering drugs), we dive down rabbit holes - getting curiouser and curiouser - to gather the raw materials for your story.
No assumptions. No shortcuts. No keyhole left unpeeped through.
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 has something to prove, change, or fight for?
Who's got skin in the game?
Who's taking on a challenge worth watching?
Who has something to prove, change, or fight for?
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 have a shortlist of
story ideas to test against your objectives. But we don't run with the first good idea. We pressure-test all of them until the most powerful story pops out.
- WONDER
- ORIGINALITY
- REACH
- KINDLE
- SHIFT
StoryTELLING
The Output
Phase
We've got our five Focus Words. We've gathered all the raw materials. Now, we can get on with the cool StoryTELLING stuff. 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 isn't about making visually compelling cinematic videos for the sake of it. This is about making videos that get results, which is not just down to what you tell but how you tell it.
We've got our five Focus Words. We've gathered all the raw materials. Now, we can get on with the cool StoryTELLING stuff. 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 isn't about making visually compelling cinematic videos for the sake of it. This is about making videos that get results, which is not just down to what you tell but how you tell it.
1. P-p-p-picking Your Process Ps
Prior to plot, we prime and prep four pivotal pieces:
- a PERSON with skin in the game
- and a PURPOSE that drives them forward
- to solve PROBLEMS blocking their way
- in a PLACE where it all plays out.
2. Exploring Story Stuff
Now it's time to shake things up and pull on the loose threads of all the elements. This is where a childlike sense of wonder comes in handy, allowing creativity to flourish without constraints, as we probe, poke and most importanly 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 never a flat line. It's a rollercoaster that packs emotional punch as it builds, climbs, crashes, and resolves. So here, we use our Multi-Story Arc Spark to trace a unique through-line of peaks, troughs, and wiggly bits, linking key plot points, such as:
- the HOOK
- the CATALYST
- the STRUGGLE
- the BREAKTHROUGH
- the PAYOFF
4. Scripts and Storyboards
We can now build detailed
scenes, 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.
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
This is where the magic happens, as 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
We know our craft, but we're not the gods of storytelling. 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. Every adjustment is an improvement. Every new story builds on the success of the last.
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. Every adjustment is an improvement. 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 personalised copy of
How to Find a Story That W.O.R.K.S.
(Free. Useful. No corporate buzzwords.)
Then, if you want to talk stories, book a 50-minute Discovery Call - because an hour is too predictable - 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, if you want to talk stories, book a 50-minute Discovery Call - because an hour is too predictable - and let's explore how 50 Pictures can become your story-driving sidekick.