Visual Storytelling, A Beginners Guide
I have been telling stories and crafting narratives with my camera in this space for a while now and have fully embraced visual storytelling and how to effortlessly tell stories of slow-living that curate a sense of knowing and familiarity that are emotive, putting across core messages and themes to my audience.
I want to share with you the initial steps to start creating visual stories of your own, regardless of your experience or skill level, but first and foremost, let's define what visual storytelling is:
Visual storytelling is the process of capturing a story through photographs or videos, then piecing them together in a way that explores the narrative that you are wanting to curate and share. It can be loose and abstract or linear and defined depending on your preference and what works best for your audience but it should always feel emotive and familiar. It is about creating a final product that everyday people can relate to and associate with their lives and lived experiences.
You want to start by fully understanding the story you want to tell, what is the purpose of your visual storytelling? What are you trying to achieve by sharing a narrative? Why should your audience feel intrigued by your images? How does your art relate back to them? Once you have fully understood what you are trying to say and who this will resonate with, then we can start to curate a narrative and produce a visual story around it.
For example, imagine we are working to create a visual story for a wine brand. We want to tell a narrative about the history of wine and how the brand has grown its following. From here, we can start piecing together different scenes that explore this story and want to focus on its humble beginnings as a drink for nomads, to its current-day popularity as a beverage enjoyed by all.
What you don't want is just one beautiful image after another that struggle to tell a cohesive story, we want the images to be real and raw and stir something up within the viewer, so for our wine brand we are considering what composition we can put together to tell this story, we start by picking out a location that feels right, perhaps an old rustic barn that has been abandoned and the small rustic details create a cozy, warm atmosphere that takes our minds back to simpler times. Start by scouting this location and find the right angle and lighting that tells our story, as we want it to reflect nomadic themes we want gentle, subtle lighting that will give a dreamy effect. Now consider our props and how we can use them as tools to enhance our visual story. We want to be able to describe the wine and its creation through visuals, so why not include an old vintage bottle that has been battered by years of wear and tear? If you're looking for inspiration on props then pay a visit to your local antique shop or head online, I recommend Etsy, Facebook Market Place, and eBay and find something that makes that creative magic in your belly rumble.
“If you're looking for inspiration on props then pay a visit to your local antique or second hand shop.”
Although not necessary, having people in your storytelling images can really help to push the narrative along, and can be a great way to involve your audience by giving them somebody to connect with. In the wine example, we could have someone reaching in pouring the wine or placing a glass next to the bottle, consider what the person might be wearing and their age, we want to create a reflection and connection with the audience. By involving people in your images you are also creating a more emotive visual story, one that feels connected and part of something bigger.
Now we want to consider the composition of the props and how they are placed in the scene, is the positioning correct and perhaps highlighting certain aspects of your story? We could have someone holding up an old vintage wine glass to show off its intricate details or we can focus on the label of a bottle with our subject looking at it. By placing objects within your images carefully you are creating emphasis on what is important about the story you are telling and what the viewer should focus on.
Now potentially one of the most important steps in visual storytelling, editing, and post-production. We want to make sure the images are consistent in their style and create a visual story that is cohesive. Again it will all depend on what story you are trying to tell, but here are some things to consider when editing your final product.
The number of images? Try sticking with around five or six shots per sequence as this seems to look best and will give a complete collection to satisfy the needs of our audience.
Lighting consistency? After taking the shots, look at how you can match them to best tell your visual story. This could be through colour or mood so consider what will work best for your images and think about whether it looks too obvious that they have been edited together. Using a similar editing style throughout each image helps establish this consistency and keeps the white balance and warmth the same throughout.
Additional Elements? Consider how you can further the story, could you add fog or smoke to an emotive landscape or include particles of dust floating in the air to give a feeling of time passing. Look at what other elements you can add to enrich your story.
