A couple of weeks ago I was sent a really great podcast episode from an architect I know. It followed on from a discussion we were having about how he could connect with his ideal clients and get people to know more about him as a person and as a business, rather than people just knowing what he provides, which is architectural services.

A lot of what this podcast spoke about was different marketing methods and types of content architects can use to connect with people in ways that aren’t the usual ways they’re used to (which is generally still photos and some blog posts) but instead using something called narrative driven content or story telling content.

Given this is the exact type of content I recommend to almost everybody I work with I decided to create this video for you to discuss what exactly is narrative driven content and how it can be beneficial for you if you’re a builder or an architect and you’re looking at doing more to connect with people in your business and your marketing efforts.

Stick around to the end with this one because I’m also going to share with you a brilliant example from a friend of mine who had one of his architecture films recently blow up and in two weeks has amassed over 100,000 views on YouTube. Proof of exactly how powerful this content is.

Ok so as a content creator and a marketer myself I’ve decided to specialise in what I call people lead or narrative driven content. Essentially, storytelling content.

What that is, is a specific type of content that uses people to drive a narrative and help them achieve an outcome through their video.

I’ve been working with buildings and architecture for the better part of 13 years now and over time I’ve seen just about every type of marketing trend come and go. The one type of content that’s proven itself against the test of time is this narrative or storytelling type of content. Which when you think makes perfect sense as people have been telling stories since we were drawing on rock walls in our caves as neanderthals

The thing that really draws people to this kind of content is the characters and in these types of films you’ve obviously got the character of the builder or the architect who’s sitting down being interviewed, but the building itself becomes a character and it has it’s own story to tell.

Now you’re probably thinking “yeah so what, people have been shooting video of buildings for years” and yeah, you’re right. What this is and what I’m dedicated to doing is really elevating these videos to the level that the architecture deserves and the level that’s going to get people results.

There’s a lot of different ways that a building can be captured but a high quality narrative driven architecture film, you’re basically getting the energy of the film from the architecture and subject matter itself.

When you’re shooting good architecture, in a way, you’re giving it respect back and the respect it deserves. I see a lot of gimbal videos flying through the house and they never stop moving, they never let you rest and take in the space. And hey, if that’s what you like to do and if that’s what you like to watch thats cool. I’m not knocking it but to me, those types of videos, while they’re ok for real estate, they don’t give the architecture the respect it deserves.

They do nothing to tell the story and to immerse the viewer to give them a taste of what being in that space actually feels like.

The architecture and the building itself, definitely dictates the direction a film is going to go.

It’s about responding to the context of where the project is and also what the light’s doing you know. When I shoot a project I’m playing with different lighting and different materials, different textures.

The single biggest difference between these types of films is the time spent to create the shots that you’re seeing in the finished product. When you’re not under a time crunch of like “hey, we need to be in and out”, you can really create something special and something beatiful.

When you’ve got time, you’ve got the opportunity to shoot it in a variety of different types of light, so from early morning right through to dusk. When there’s time to not have to rush through a project that can really help elevate the overall production value of what the client is spending their money on.

With a lot of these projects there’s only a day to shoot it so you’re there as early as possible in the morning to get good light and then staying as late as possible to get the last of the light. Within that timeframe it’s literally about making the most of every second you’ve got and you’ve got to be opportunistic with how the light changes.

For example, sometimes it’s going to be raining and pretty miserable outside and you just have to lean in to that so you’ll be capturing rain and water, close ups of rain drops and things like that and you’ll be getting more textural details.

If it’s a bright sunny day that’s awesome because then you’ve got contrast in what you’re creating. There’s light and shadow that play off of each other and these are things that the architect has had to consider when designing the home, how does the light change throughout the days and the seasons and how does that impact your experience within the home.

I know theres a lot a photographers out there who prefer cloudy days and that’s kind of a photo versus video thing but when creating video content and telling stories through these films you’re at the mercy of whatever the weather’s doing outside and you've got to be flexible with that

Personally I wish that every day was sunny or golden sun because that creates nice shadows but unfortunately it’s not like that all the time and it just means that when I’m on a shoot day things are constantly changing and light is constantly changing so I'm always on the lookout for a spot where I can stop and be like oh my god this is going to be a good timelapse spot and I'll set something up for that.

So you have to be opportunistic and flexible because ultimately we don’t have any control over weather conditions so that’s why you have to be committed to being there at dawn and going home at dusk so you’ve got this huge expense of time in the middle of the day where you’re basically just kind of sitting there with a lot of time to think and absorb and take in the building and try and look for those things that maybe you don’t notice in the first half hour that you’re there but by our five or six or seven you’re starting to pick up on extra things that are happening within the project

The reality of a film shoot like this is that I’ll often run around and spend the first half of the day shooting a project and then the light will change or in the afternoon the sun will break through the clouds if it’s overcast and then you essentially have to rush through like a bit of a mad man trying to re-shoot everything again because it looks completely different but that just gives you so many more options in the edit

Essentially no matter what the weather is doing you have to lean into it and that’s just the commercial reality of filming these kinds of films and these types of projects. You simply can’t let the weather ruin a good shoot and the weather is what makes it fun.

Some of my favourite videos that I’ve seen perform really well when it’s been like pissing down all day and then it gives the building potentially a sense of mood and that’s not always a bad thing so you really do have to roll with the punches

In the chunk of time that you’re there you’re trying to shoot the building you’re trying to do interviews and you’re trying to deal with potentially homeowners in their schedules and the kids coming home from school at 3 o’clock and all of these kinds of things and that’s what makes a great film maker good at what they do and what I hope people appreciate is that you have to be pretty flexible and in that sense you have to roll with the punches

I’ll always do what I need to do to accommodate people but anyone who works with me should also know that I’m very committed to delivering the best finished product that I can and I’m quite uncompromising in pursuit of that sort of excellence and I work my guts out to try and capture a project in every angle and every lighting condition

I speak to a lot of architects and talk to them about what’s attracting them to the idea of actually getting a video made about one of their projects and what they love about it I think is that it’s that sense that you do get the feeling of that changing light and the changing conditions in the rain and the variety of different ways that you can expect a home or an architect designed home and how it can change throughout the days and the seasons or through the week it’s not something that you ever get to see unless you’re living there and you don’t get to feel that through stills photography.

Traditionally on an architectural photo shoot everything is hyper perfect and hyper curated to get the perfect moment in time but what a lot of architects I’m finding thing is really missing is the actual feeling in the experience of being in the space, so it’s just interesting hearing about those things and picking up on that because I think it’s that sort of more emotional feeling you get when you’re watching these films and great feelings about architecture is that sense that things change and that’s almost a bit of a byproduct of the way you have to shoot in a day and be flexible and that’s just what happens

Often with architectural photography they’re very considered frames right and it’s processed within an inch of its life and it’s not necessarily reflective of what the space actually feels like where the video is a little bit more honest and it’s a little bit raw and it’s harder to kind of hide things like you can sometimes do with photography. I often say there’s no Photoshop with video

There’s been some shoots that I’ve done where I go there and everything is ready to go and styled and it’s absolutely perfect or there’s other shoots where there’s things that haven’t quite been finished or where there’s a stylist there and they’ve just taken out all the homeowners furniture and they put in photo shoot furniture and photo shoot styling and sometimes the stylist is like “oh are you going to shoot in this direction or the photographer shot from over here looking this way so we put all the mess over there out of shot”

I’m often like no no we need to shoot 360° as in every room every space every angle and I mean obviously this is within reason you know so I’ll often find a trash room to hide all the unwanted furniture in but video content like this is a lot more realistic and photographers will often jump from room to room to room where I’ll go back and forth as the light changes and I might end up visiting a space two or three times throughout the day where is photography doesn’t quite work like that

Realistically one of the biggest challenges on the day of the shoot is either clients who live in the house or the actual person being interviewed or the architect and it’s giving them the idea that I need to be able to jump at any moment and go into any room and shoot that again or shoot a particular space through a reflection or through a doorway so one of the biggest things that I find myself sane is getting people to stop moving because of their reflection when they could actually be behind me and around the corner thinking they’re out of the shot when in reality they’re not

So one of the first things that I do on a days I’ll go through and clean up whatever we need to, get rid of all the mass hide all the doormat and then just essentially let everyone know where I’m going to be shooting because let’s be real people basically want a home back as soon as possible and usually there’s someone at home wanting to chill and hang out and I’ll get them to go in the most convenient spot for me which is usually basement wine cellar or a garage just so I have that flexibility to be able to bounce around the home at any given time as I see the light move

The whole point of what I’m doing is trying to make the space for the home feel more honest and try and show what it’s like to actually be in that space a little bit more. And that’s not to say that photography can’t do that and photography is still super important I mean I still do architectural photography and it’s still definitely important for architects but if we’re talking specifically about marketing for architects I can’t express strongly enough about architectural films and narrative driven films so obviously I’m a little bit biased there because it tells a bit more of the story of the space

When you watch a film or a narrative driven film you know you want to be able to feel what it’s like to kind of move through that space as well as telling that story for the architect of how they’ve kind of designed and built this and why they’ve made certain choices and to be able to show that through film is really powerful and that’s why so many people like watching architecture films and the audience for this is so big

For whatever reason it’s just really compelling content.

The other really important thing with these types of films other than being able to adapt to changing weather conditions is the working relationship with the architect and the dynamic between the architect and the filmmaker or the builder in the filmmaker if I'm doing one of these films for a builder

What often happens is the architect or the builder will often come in having these expectations about what shot they think a good shot and maybe trying to exert some control over shot choices and sometimes when an architects working with a photographer, depending on the photographer that dynamic and that power might shift one way or the other depending on who they’re working with

However when it comes to working with video it’s sort of a different beast where you’re kind of saying” look you might have these five perfect shots but it’s not really about that I’m kind of doing something different”

So it’s a bit of a balance and obviously you take guidance from the architect or from the builder and take that into account with your decision-making but it’s definitely a bit of both and I mean I totally get it because the project is like their baby so they’re obviously a bit nervous and they might not have worked with me before or done any video before.

Sometimes the client will come in on the day and they’re “all you’re going to shoot this and this and this right?” and I have to just pretty chill in my approach and obviously let them know that yeah we’re going to get everything they want and more but there’s also a process that I have to work by because obviously some of these ideas aren’t going to be so great and at the end of the day it’s video that we’re shooting and we shoot so many shots that it doesn’t really matter and it’s not going to hurt me to get whatever they want and then when I sit down during the edit process if those particular shot suit the storyline and it’s there it’s going to get used and If not there’s going to be plenty of other shots that we can work with, so it’s going to be fine.

My kind of ideal scenario is when I get to a project I get there in the morning, the architect is there all the builders there and they give me a walk-through so I actually get to see the project through their eyes first, and they're going to point out things that I'm not going to see in 1 million years.

Are you going to point out processes or tell me a story about a process or something like that or something behind a section of the house that’s not super obvious at first and it’s amazing when they can do that because it’s like I’m actually getting an insight into what they’ve done before I even start shooting and that means that I’m going to be able to shoot it better because I’m actually honing in on these areas that are important to them

When that doesn’t happen and they’re just like yeah they’re a bit busy and sometimes I just have to roll into the interview and roll out I’ve still got the rest of the day to focus on those key points that they’ve highlighted but yeah it’s funny because sometimes they’ll be very practical with what they’re talking about or sometimes it’s a way more top-level explanation and they get very arty in their explanations and I really love that and I love getting into their hands and understanding those types of processes

But that totally depends on what they’re talking about and that always changes but once we know what the actual story is it’s easier to then going to create and put these things together and back that up with visuals because that’s obviously the other piece of the puzzle. To be able to back up visually whatever they’re saying in the interview is super important and requires a pretty high degree of trust.

At the end of the day I know what I'm trying to achieve because of my process leading into these kinds of videos so it's really important for the client to understand that you kind of need to be left alone without being micromanaged because that can really seem to the process even just in terms of time

Obviously it’s crucial to have a brief so you know what you’re trying to do and what the outcome is that they’re trying to achieve with the video but there has to be a certain level of trust there to execute.

I’ll never make the project look bad and that not only extends to how I shoot it but in the edit process as well when it comes down to things like the music selection and shot selection and all of these different elements that come together to make a film.

The way to get the best result with these kinds of things is to engage a good supplier that you do trust and that you can trust and that specialises in these kind of things and then trust them to do their thing. And not everybody out there with a camera can create this kind of content or created well and in a way that will deliver the desired outcome for the client

So by all means give the supply a brief and have an idea about what you like don’t lie but the best way to get the best finished product is I think to trust your supplier to do what they do well and then get out of the way

An example of this and something that comes up quite regularly is people usually get very picky with what interview frame they have and where they’re sitting and what’s in the background. Sometimes they’re really like what I like and how I want to shoot and sometimes I’ll definitely entertain their ideas within reason but there have been times where I’ve had to say no, that’s actually a terrible idea I don’t want to shoot backlit into a window because it’s just going to be blowing out and terrible and to everyone’s credit who’s had that conversation with me they’ve listened and have loved the end result.

Sometimes in that process I’ll give them a choice and I’m like it’s this or that and they’re happy with that so I’m always flexible and you have to be but I’m also pretty biased and if you trust me and let me do my thing you’re going to get a good result

Video content is starting to get a lot more popular now and because of that I’m starting to notice a trend of a lot of architectural still photographers who are trying to hand that video and it’s really interesting to see them go through this kind of evolution where they’re setting the camera and the tripod up basically exactly the same as you would for a normal stills photo and then hitting record and waiting for a curtain to blow or something like that.

I find there’s this gradual evolution over time where you have to let go and not be afraid of being a bit more free and a bit more creative and I don’t say too many people have come from the stills background actually completely making that plunge into the deep end of not setting up those perfect sort of immaculate shots like you traditionally would for a Stills photo

So I guess the natural kind of thought process or reaction is to do the same thing as you do for a photo which is chocker camera on a tripod and wait for the action to happen. I don’t know if that’s from a lack of experience of working with video because I obviously have sliders and drones gimbals and all different kinds of things that you can use to move the camera through a space and that’s just something that comes with time because then you see them go the complete extreme on the other end and the camera never stops moving and it makes for a really unsettling video where your eye never really gets a chance to rest and really take in and absorb what it’s seeing.

And then the project itself can determine how much or how little a camera will move throughout the space. For example if I’m shooting a project that’s got heaps of different textures and stuff like that I want to focus on more of a macro level I’m getting close-ups of concrete and close-ups of woodgrain and all of this stuff that doesn’t really need to be moving much so it is a lot more like a photo and then there’s other spaces that are so grand and so fast and almost lacking detail because the detail is the space itself that you have to move the camera a lot more to make the shot a lot more interesting because there’s not really as much there.

So if you’re a client and you’re an architect and you’re looking at suppliers and trying to figure out who do you want to work with to make a film and who would you trust and feel comfortable getting to do that kind of thing, there’s of course those regular sort of household names the people in the industry know of and some of those guys are starting to venture video a little bit more.

So there’s that question of do you work with someone with a very long track record in architecture which is sometimes seen as a bit of a must have thing to do and then you’ve got some of these other guys like myself who aren’t your go to household big names for photography that you see in all the magazines but who have really dedicated themselves to learning architectural film making. Guys like Veeral Patel in Melbourne or Nick from Ravens at Odds in QLD, while yes these guys can take a nice image their film making is really next level but they might not be the first name that springs to mind for an architect wanting to venture into getting their first architectural film made.

And I think that’s where the industry really kind of lets itself down. A lot of people tend to think that “these guys here” are the must have names on your project if you want to be taken seriously. And yeah, for photos a lot of the time it works out and the end result is great but there’s a lot of newer guys who’s names aren’t as well known who could probably out film these guys because it’s what they’re dedicated to.

As a photographer myself I definitely see it from that perspective and I think a lot of photographers fall down in some of the elements of delivering a compelling video in terms of storytelling

Where I consider myself quite lucky is I’ve been lucky enough to spend the better part of 10 years also working in the film and TV industry which is driven by storytelling. Just as a very short CV you know I started in the industry working on the crew of Home and Away, I worked on packed to the rafters for a little while, I worked on the block and even worked on one of the Marvel Wolverine movies so I’ve been really blessed to work with some really amazing storytellers and I’ve gotten to see their work from the inside so there’s definitely things that I take from that and put into my own storytelling films.

You see, shooting the content and having a great selecting of shots to work with is only 50% of the battle. You might have a great interview, great lighting and everything’s gonna planned but then you have to sit down and do the edit and if you don’t understand how to put a story together, it doesn’t matter how good your shots are, it’s going to fall apart and thats why I consider myself really blessed to have come from the background that I have outside of my architecture work.

Because it’s not always easy. Film makers often joke that editing is made up of 10% shooting, 10% editing and the other 80% is just finding the right song to use. I’ll often spend HOURS searching for music to the point of nearly going insane, so there’s a lot of these behind the scenes things that the client doesn’t really know about but it all has to come together perfectly to get them the result they want so it’s super important that they make sure they’re working with the right people when it comes to this type of content.

The other part that you have to know how to handle is the interview. Most of the time you’re sitting down with someone who’s never been on camera before, they’re nervous, they’re anxious, they want to make sure they deliver because they know they’re spending a lot of money of their boss is spending a lot of money on this so they don’t want to stuff it up and there’s this enormous pressure on them to deliver and to get it right.

So it’s super important to know how to handle that and how to bring them out of that and into a space where they’re relaxed, they’re themselves and they’re not in their own head worrying about what to say so that’s where the person conducting the interview really has to know what they’re doing.

It’s all about getting them out of their own head and getting them comfortable camera and you need a certain level of emotional intelligence for that.

You want them to go from a place of being nervous to being able to walk away from that interview going wow that was really fun and I can’t wait to see the end result

So the interview itself might go for 45 minutes or an hour and within that you have to find those 5 or 6 minutes or story that’s going to represent the project in the right way and it can be really easy to go down the wrong path and fall flat. So as the interviewer, you want it to be interesting, you want it to be informative and engaging but you also have to be able to carry a story out of it and you might have two or three of these on the day depending on the size of the project or the number of stakeholders involved.

So when you’re doing these interviews you basically don’t even want them knowing that the camera is there and you basically just want to be having a conversation with them about the project. So I want to be talking about things I haven’t heard before and what’s unique about this architects or this builders approach and what’s actually going to be interesting to the people watching this film at the end of the day.

So you obviously have a few standard things you want to cross off in your conversation but there’s been plenty of occasions where I’ve thought I know how an edit might go but when I’ve put it into the edit suite and listen to the interview again and start cutting I’m like “oh where did this gem or this line of thinking come from” and then the storyline that comes from that has really driven the rest of the film. So sometimes it really can sneak up on you.

The main thing here is we want it to be authentic. Authenticity here is everything because you might have a developer involved and then there’s an architect or there’s a homeowner and you’re trying to find things that the others can reinforce because that adds authenticity to the film and it adds honesty because everyone’s kind of talking about the same thing

And it can work the opposite way too. There’s been times where I’ve really liked a particular part of a project and thought it was really cool and the person who I’ve been talking to has brushed it off and not wanted to talk about it because it didn’t come together exactly how they wanted it to and thought it’s terrible and embarrassing.

So you definitely have to be flexible with how you conduct the interview if you want to get the most out of it.

There’s been times where I might have spent a solid 45 minutes filming something I thought was amazing and the architect has been like “nah I don’t want to talk about that” so you know that footage is never going to see the light of day.

Sometimes the things that an architect or a builder doesn’t like are hilarious because they’re things that the average person would think are really neat and interesting too. So it can definitely be an interesting balance and dynamic but it’s part of what I love about it.

I guess it just comes back to the fact that things are subjective and we all have our own personal taste. I think I’m pretty lucky that I’ve been exposed to such a huge variety of projects. I’ve shot mansions in the hills district that are well into the tens of millions of dollars that you might think has a lot to offer that personally I didn’t find too interesting and I’ve also shot small converted garages in parts of the south coast that I’ve absolutely fallen in love with and could spend days in without getting bored.

So it just goes to show that everyone’s taste is different so it’s important when going into one of those things that you understand that you can’t be all things to all people.

For anybody who is looking at tipping their toe into this style of filmmaking for their projects my biggest piece of advice would be to really sit down and have a think about what you want your outcome or your desired result to be and then we can try and back everything else in to that

And what I mean by that is do you want something that’s really going to show the level of intricacy and your expertise in delivering a really detailed project or do you want something for a bit more brand recognition and to share on social media or do you want a specific case study to sit on your website and use it as a sales tool?

Just touching on that briefly, video is such a great sales tool and especially this type of video because building a home or engaging an architect is such a personal process and working with the right person is just as important to the client as it is for the architect or for the builder.

They are in this process for a long time so they want to feel comfortable with who they’re working with and they want to know who they’re working with is trustworthy and this type of video plays such a huge huge role in that so video should definitely be used as a sales tool.

I often get asked the question if we can do a video like this without the narrative and without the interview and to be honest he just doesn’t convey the same type of message if you’re just doing music only. It’s like there’s a missing piece of the puzzle.

They lack connection, they lack emotion, and they lack the ability to really grab someones attention and get them engage. This is why I feel so strongly about having that interview and that narrative lead storyline because it really is what works best for the client.

So yeah when we know that and when we know what the desired outcome is you kind of work backwards from there.

If you were to jump into the YouTube comments and listen to every armchair critic on the Internet you’d be putting out content that’s completely garbage and would just be a total waste of your money which defeats the entire point of what we’re doing

So that’s where I always start this process is by asking what the outcome you want to achieve.

Once you can identify the key messages that you’re trying to get across and what was special about the project or what did you have to do or what did you have to know about the project in able to deliver it for your client or even what makes it special, if we can kind of a list of 5 Key messages then you can start to think about questions for the interview and ask specific questions that will at least that answers that speak to those kind of key messages that you’re trying to get across

There have definitely been times where someone will come in and they’ve written the script where they talk eloquently about what they’ve done and why they’ve done it and quite a lot of the time none of that will even get used because the delivery of a prescription just doesn’t work.

I’ve often joked that I ban notes on set and have been like “oh cute notes” and thrown them in the bin. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have notes per say and it’s good to have a rough idea of key messages but reading from a script is super hard to do naturally and it never comes across the way you want it to because theres no flexibility to it.

The whole point of sitting down to create this kind of content is doing a really conversational authentic piece that really gets somebody to understand you because people like to know who they’re doing business with. There’s a saying that says people do business with people they don’t do business with businesses and that’s true. We’re trying to build a connection between the person being interviewed and the audience who’s watching. So whether that's a potential customer or client or whatever we want that interview to be really conversational so I'll often spend the first 10 minutes just breaking the ice and shooting the shit with them and they often won't even know that the camera has started recording when I launch into the questions that I really want to ask them

And again if I know what those key messages are that they’re trying to get across I’ve got questions that I know I need to ask and I know that this type of question will give the answer that speaks to the key message that they want to get out there.

It’s my job to make sure that this video is a worthwhile investment for them. I think the truth of the matter is that regardless of what industry you’re in people tend to look at video production as a really big one off expense so I really try and talk to clients about the notion of not thinking about this as a one off thing where you’re going to get one video that you can get a case study from.

I want them to start thinking of this notion of building an asset library so you might do a shoot where we are there all day or even on multiple days spread out over a few months but these all stack up to multiple pieces of content that you can pull from for years to come.

For example you can take 60 seconds of it here and there to create reels for Instagram where you can create short ads and vignettes for. You can pull things out to only address and speed to one certain point from one particular project or multiple things from multiple projects

So yes in reality a shoot might cost you X amount of dollars but you should be able to potentially create unlimited assets to re-purpose down the track so I really like to speak to clients about working long-term and essentially becoming an integrated partner with their business.

The benefit here is that I get to know their business, I get to know the way they communicate with their audience and what their brand values are and what they look like and the more I work with them the deeper the understanding I get and then I’m just able to create this asset library that they can essentially draw on for years to come.

I’ve got clients that I’m working with where I might be creating a video today but I’m pulling out content or something that we shot three or four years ago because it relates to what we are discussing in this particular video so I’m able to go back into the archives and stuff off the server to be able to serve our objectives today.

And I think that’s a really big missing piece when it comes to the media industry and content creators. They traditionally look at a finished project like a one off event and won’t speak to the client until the end of the next project which might not be for another 12 months.

With the system that I’ve got and the way that I work I speak to most of my clients on a monthly basis and I’m creating content for them on a monthly basis so I have a constantly growing library of content and assets that can serve them and their business and we stand a much much better chance of being able to deliver results and get them a return on their investment.

So yes it might be $X today, but over time this stuff can pay for itself over and over again because of the long term use we’re getting.

So it’s really important to not just go with the cheapest guy because it stings a bit less up front.

Working with a supplier who has really high production values because the last thing that you want to do is go back and re-film a lot of content because it doesn’t stack up over time.A lot of the time re-filming isn’t possible so there’s money wasted if it’s not done right.

You should really be able to get about 5 years out of your content if done properly.

That’s why it’s really important to in the time to work out what you’re ultimately trying to say and not just doing video because everybody else is doing it.

If you’ve only got a limited budget and this isn’t something you’d be able to do on every if not most projects, if you could only do 1 type of video to get longevity and serve you for a lengthy period of time, then I’d 100% recommend doing that kind of “about us” video and tell your story as your business.

Anyone who’s watched my videos for a while would have seen me talk about this a whole lot but for those that haven’t this is a particular type of video where its you as the architect or you as the builder basically telling the viewer why you do what you do. It lets them know who you are as a person and as a business, what drives you, what you want for them in their experience of working with you and ultimately you want it to pain the picture so well of why they should work with you that picking up the phone and speaking to anybody else just wouldn’t make any sense and isn’t an option.

The benefit of doing videos like this is those people who then do pick up the phone and speak with you are a lot more engaged and connected with you and your business and they’re likely calling or getting in contact with you because they’ve pretty much already decided that YOURE the person for them so the qualifying process and the sales process is a lot lot smoother because basically, these guys are your ideal clients and theres likely already that relationship there with them because they feel they know you after watching this video.

So if you can only do 1 type of video, then this is the video you should be doing and again theres a format and a process for this too.

Now the last thing that I want to touch on before we wrap this up is how you can make doing this kind of content a lot more cost effective rather than having to fork out potentially thousands of dollars on your own and thats bringing some partners on board to share the cost with you

It’s something that doesn’t get spoken about enough but cost sharing is such a good and viable way to not only bring the cost of a particular project down but also for multiple people to benefit from the work we’re creating. At the end of the day there’s ALWAYS more than just the builder or JUST the architect who wants to market their services and show off their hard work in creating a project.

So the basic of brand partnership or cost sharing is that whoever gets involved is sort of pooling money together to make the financial cost and the investment of making a really really good project feature actually work out in a much more cost-effective way

I often bring this up with people and there’s still a lot of people who aren’t necessarily aware that sometimes that’s how these videos that you’ve seen get put together. It’s not just because the architect or the builder sitting in front of the camera has forked out a chunk of cash, there’s actually often other people behind the scenes who are contributing money towards that video getting created

So to give you a little bit of a run through on how that works, when I’m speaking with a builder or an architect and I mentioned to them about bringing some partners on board that could be a brand partner for example, let's say you're a developer and there's a builder involved and the architect and the actual developer who are trying to sell a department or whatever it is

So I’m creating content that can be used between all the parties involved, even if the story is essentially the same. You can make small tweaks to the final outcome that will favour one party more than the other or vice versa

So I might go shoot the project, do the interviews and then you can sort of create three separate airports for not much more money than just creating one output. Alternatively you can create just one output and one film and make sure that everybody gets kind of an even spread and whether it’s through brand association or say one of the bigger part as might have a bit of following the new then you put that content on their platform as well as yours to give you and your business further exposure and exposing yourself to their audience as well as yours

So basically you’re getting that video to more eyeballs and that’s never a bad thing. So brand partners could be a services for example it could be the timber flooring guy who helped out or it could be Hardy cladding or Dulux or it could be the interior designer who did all the interiors or the colour specialist who chose the colour palette for the interiors. Whoever else you can think of that is involved in the project could potentially be someone who might be interested in going in on this with you and spreading some of the cost

If you do a deal with some of those largest suppliers for example white Laminex or Hardy cladding who you know have a larger market in Spain that they can afford and there’s absolutely no drama and no harm in approaching them and saying” hey we’re looking at doing this video and I think it’s going to be great and it’s going to showcase your product and blah blah blah blah blah and there’s an opportunity for you to get some messaging in there if you like” and you can do that Soft sell kind of thing in a way that tasteful and people won't necessarily object to

Kind of the opposite to what you see on the block which is brand brand brand advertising advertising advertising because you know that they are all sponsors contributing financially toward the show getting created. The block is essentially one giant ad with a few contestants thrown in there to mix it up

If you do it like that people will call you out on it and it will leave a bit of a sour taste in their mouth but when done tastefully it can work quite well and these brands can get quite good results from it.

The flipside of this is you also get a little bit of unspoken credibility through brand association and people will see this video on that brands’s website and Will think a little bit higher of you and kind of elevates your position within the market been seen alongside some of these larger brands that everybody knows and can associate with

So it adds a little bit more substance there for you because you're associating with these brands

So yeah if you can get some of those prayer partners on board just to help spread the cost everyone kind of wins and I've done this on quite a few projects in the past and it's saved everybody involved hundreds of dollars compare to if they were to just pay for this by themselves

So cost sharing is something people should definitely consider because sometimes I think the financial investment might get people worried and think well if I don’t get my money back on this thing it was a complete waste of time. This is a way to spread some of that cost out and not make it as financially risk so to speak. So the more people involved, the cheaper it gets for each person.

It definitely has to be a little bit of balance to make sure everyones getting the right amount of messaging thrown in there but with a little bit of massaging to make sure it’s not too heavy handed to one party or the other it’s not too complicated to make sure everyone walks away happy and like it was a worthwhile investment of their money you can easily make it on brand with individual logos for different people and give everybody different deliverables as well. That’s another way that you can do it

Don’t be afraid to have that discussion with partners as the project is coming together as it can definitely have huge benefits for you.

So guys, that’s it for me with this video I really hope you’ve found it informative and that I’ve demystified what narrative driven or storytelling content is for you.

I'd love to hear your feedback on if this is something that you'd now consider now that you know a little bit more about it

If you still aren’t quite sure how all of this can work for you I have got a free workshop on my website that you can access at www.lightandlines.com.au where I go in depth on how this can work in the bigger picture of your marketing to connect you with your ideal clients and get you building those dream projects that you've always wanted to work on so check it out it's completely free and start with value

If you found this useful and informative I'd love it if you could give me a subscribe as it helps other people find content like this to further help them in their own business.

Let me know in the comments below if you are now considering creating a narrative driven architectural film for your next project

Now as promised at the start of this video, what you’re about to see is a video by a friend of mine who runs an architecture film studio in QLD called Raven at Odds run by Nicolas Struger..

Nic has worked with some of those big brands who we all know and we all love their work, studios like BVN architecture, The Local Project, Place Design Group and COX architecture just to name a few.

He’s been working on the Gold Coast Open House which is an architecture film festival and one of his recent films of Banksia House by Aphora Architecture has massed 108,000 views in two weeks and is proof that I his own words “ good architecture, a focus on story and cinematography that suits the subject yields engagement and a meaningful outcome.

There’s simply no need for gratuitous camera moves, fancy edits, pumping music or a sense change every 3 seconds.

This is architecture film. Slow, considered and subtle.

Now I’m not going to embed his video into this one because it’s a little bit unethical and I want it to get all the views and traction it deserves so what I’m going to do instead is put the link right at the bottom here so please, click the link, head over there and take another 6 minutes out of your day to enjoy what truly is a work of art.

So with that being said, enjoy…. Banksia house and I’ll see you on the next video

https://youtu.be/tIpDk0uB3II