5 Things To Consider If You’re Trying To Win An Emmy Award With Your Video Project
The Emmy Award is highly coveted amongst artists and professionals within the visual media field. It’s a mark of excellence, recognition, and can help propel careers and business to the next level. They can also bring awareness to causes and shine a light on topics that are crucial to the betterment of our communities.
What we’re going to cover in this article is:
Crafting a winning story
Why a new perspective matters
Quality over quantity
Why sound matters
And that if you want to win an Emmy, you shouldn’t try to win one…
Due to the prestige Emmy Awards have, there has always been an air of mystery surrounding them… Until now! Let 88Visual demystify the process of how to win an Emmy Award!
Craft a winning story arch:
This might seem obvious, but crafting a compelling story arch is one of, if not the most important part of the process. If the narrative of your story isn’t engaging, interesting, and most of all authentic, the rest of the video doesn’t matter. You can use the best cameras, have the best color grading, and use the best editors — but if the narrative and overall story arch of your video isn’t the foundation holding the video together, it will fall apart. Remember, while videos are a visual medium, it still exists to service the story. When developing your narrative and story arch, make sure to tell real, honest, and authentic stories. Follow your passion, let your intuition guide you, and combine them into a winning story!
A new perspective:
Something to think about when crafting your narrative and story arch is that the story itself needs to have an interesting angle. Your narrative has to tell a story that hasn’t been told over and over. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with telling stories that have been told before, but you need to make sure you’re bringing a new perspective to what it is you’re doing. A new angle. Better still, tell a story you’re passionate about. Passion is always evident when it comes to Emmy Award winners. They’re not telling stories to win an award, they’re telling stories to inspire, to invoke emotion, and to set change in motion. Try to shine a light on a cause that is near and dear to your heart. Bring awareness of causes and needs that aren’t well known. Highlight people doing amazing things within your community. By providing a new perspective, you can stand out amongst the other Emmy nominees, all while using your video for good! It’s a win-win!
Quality over quantity:
Alright, you’ve put the story first and your narrative is strong, authentic, and grounds your video — but that doesn’t mean that you’ll instantly win an Emmy… Yes, story is the most important, and the visual aspects of your video are there to service the story, but people will still be watching the video, after all. You need to ensure that your video holds-up in terms of quality when compared to other industry-leading professionals’ work. This means making sure your edits are seamless, that your color grading is on point, and that it watches as a professional video. Worry about making one amazing video, not churning out tons and tons of “good enough” videos to stack your chances — it won’t work. Invest in a singular vision.
Sounds matter:
The most overlooked part of any video is the audio. This can be the dialogue, ambient sounds, sound effects, or music. Remember, videos are an A/V medium. Audio and Visual. One of the fastest ways to point out an amateur video from a professional one is the audio. Dialogue needs to be clear, and understandable, so the use of proper microphones are crucial. Levels need to be mixed appropriately so there are no jarring sounds to take the audience out of the story. Music needs to match the themes of the narrative and support what’s currently happening on screen. A lot of artists focus on the video quality with excruciating detail, and they should, but then skimp on the audio. Audio can be the biggest downfall or put your video in a class of its own.
Don’t “try” and win an Emmy:
This might seem counter-intuitive, after all, you just read an entire article on HOW TO WIN AN EMMY! But, the truth is, that if you set out with the only goal in mind to win an Emmy Award, not only will you not win one, but you will lose an opportunity for your video to have real meaning. That’s what truly matters. The videos that win Emmy’s certainly contain all the things we’ve talked about above, but they don’t start out with the idea that the video’s sole purpose is winning an Emmy. The ideas start with wanting a call to action, wanting to bring attention to causes that are unrightfully shadowed to the public. Visual medium is very profound. It’s the ultimate evoker. It has the power to change and inspire. If that’s your goal, then others will inevitably see the value in that and resonate with your cause, and, in turn, might just land you that little trophy for a job well done.
Think you have an Emmy Award winning story and need help telling it?
Contact us at info@88visual.com for a complementary fifteen minute consultation with our creative directors to see how 88Visual can turn your vision into a reality!