A Comeback Story
Videography +
THE CHALLENGE
As a video editor, my goal was to create a pitch video that told an emotional story of the experience and struggle of small businesses during the pandemic. To help these businesses get back on their feet, Adobe was offering support by making their services free.
ROLE
Videographer, Story Writer, Script Writer
ASK
• A pitch video compiled from stock Adobe clips
• Tell an emotional story
• Displays the struggles of small businesses during the pandemic
• Highlight Adobe's assistance through free services
OUTCOME
The final video was a heartwarming story of small business owners during the pandemic, showing their struggles and how Adobe was there to support them through their services. The video was well-received by both Ernst & Young and Adobe and successfully conveyed their message of support to small businesses.
70% of small businesses have applied for financial assistance during the pandemic, and 58% have received some form of financial assistance.
PROCESS
In our initial conversations, we talked about the project's scope. For example, determining the community for whom the message is intended and what small business owner stories must be included. The Adobe team also contributed some photographs as input for a look and feel that I used as an extra visual cue.
Anchoring the intended look and feel of the video were images of small business owners and various scenes of “slow” business during the pandemic.
Although the video visually illustrates the experiences of small company owners throughout the pandemic, voiceover functions as the primary means of communication. Therefore, several revisions to the initial narrative script were made to appropriately represent and appeal to small businesses.
I created a storyboard, complete with near finalized script, to help me nail down the desired look and feel of the video. Thumbnails from stock videos would also be used as a placeholder to illustrate the possible visuals to be used. It was presented to the team which would then undergo several evaluations and revisions with additional stakeholders
The next step would be to create a sample video with options for background music using the storyboards that had been approved. Additionally, I incorporated an AI-generated voiceover to offer a more comprehensive experience. A complete first draft with a professional voiceover talent would be produced shortly after.
Founders
In earlier iterations of the voiceover story, the emphasis was on referring to small business owners as "founders." We chose to take a different path after discussing and defining the project's target audience. This is a preliminary draft of the script, which was edited in Adobe Premiere and used a voiceover created by artificial intelligence.
A first draft was produced once the ideal voiceover style and soundtrack were chosen. After that, I continued adjusting the narration to improve its rhythm and natural flow.
Finally, a finalized video was produced and submitted to the Adobe group. Again, the team did a fantastic job bringing the idea to life and creating a high-quality, visually appealing finished product.