Go with the flow

This story is about a new yoga centre in the heart of Christchurch and some of the decisions made around visual storytelling and content creation. Flow Wellbeing sits on one of the busiest intersections in Christchurch, they have a stunning new building which incorporates multiple studios each with its own unique design. They have a rich offering of classes, teachers and therapeutics, more than enough to create brand awareness through targeted marketing and social media campaigns.

But that is in my view the obvious stuff, Flow Wellbeing also has a great back story and purpose with the desire to open a community space where anyone could access improved physical and emotional wellbeing at a time when many are struggling to cope. When I was asked to help tell their story story I suggested they make a longer form 5 to 6 minute story as a starting point. Why? because when you start with a longer form story you're creating content that can be repurposed on multiple platforms in many different ways.

Starting long form requires the producer or storyteller go beyond the obvious, without that kind of enquiry there simply won't be enough material for the duration required, so that means seeking a story with depth and substance. Longer form stories also require you to think about variety and pace, if you going to keep someone watching it's not actually just about duration, it's about maintaining interest.

But the perhaps the biggest advantage is the cost saving, by filming and producing a longer form story you have in the process created multiple social media cuts and a variety of different content options that can repurposed and refreshed over time.  It's next to impossible to retrofit targeted short items into longer form content, but relatively easy if you start the other way round. So rather than thinking short social media cuts first, get more bang for your buck by going long form first. 

Short form video - social media