Jonathan Priest

Down the rabbit hole

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:50:38 +0000

Down the Rabbit Hole with David Galipeau

A meeting organised by the London Communicators & Engagement Group 27/01/01

The evolution of the internet is entering a new and much darker phase. Decision making will become centralised. Totalitarian and not so overtly totalitarian regimes (such as the French apparently) are engaged in a vicious regime of cyber attacks and counter hacks. Industrial and of course political espionage is rife. Not even our secular deity Google is immune. Established ivory towers of corporate power will be consumed by the billowing cloud; it’s a winner takes all game fought in cyberspace and brought to your door by crowd sourcing. The echoes of this battle are already reverberating across our screens; that slowing of Twitter feeds and Facebook updates you experienced yesterday was the fallout from 40,000 DOS attacks taking place across the world. The good news is, we are lucky to be alive right now, to witness the dying embers of individual freedom. Enjoy it while it lasts.

With the arrival of the new internet protocol (IPv6) we will enter an ‘Internet of Things’ where ‘Locality’ is all and every pebble and household implement will have its own IP address. Your door knob will be engaged in a dialogue with your refrigerator and, should you be foolish enough to step on the bathroom scales, a Denial of Supper attack will inevitably follow. We should be worried. You have been warned. It’s time to brush up on your Mandarin.

中国下一代互联网

Though some of us struggled to grasp the central premise of David Galipeau’s presentation, the influence of technology on management structures, we knew we were in the presence of someone who has their finger firmly on the fibre optic pulse, who advises governments and corporations on how to concisely time their communications to exploit the Earth’s rotation to avert financial meltdown. We were all so impressed none of us thought to ask, ‘So what should we do?’

Just as were about to reach for the Prozac who should appear like a knight in shining armour but John Smythe, doyenne of employee engagement. The idea that decision making is becoming centralised is complete piffle; everyone knows that the most successful companies have democratised the decision making processes. When challenged to cite his research that proved the opposite, Darth Veda could only mumble vague references to unpublished research commissioned by the very same forces of darkness that are plotting our digital enslavement. Smythe had tasted blood and challenged Galipeau to a public debate, which he somewhat grudgingly accepted. Watch this space.

http://www.galipeau.com/blog/

#rabbithole

The creative writer’s pack

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:16:01 +0000

A short story

There’s a guy in reception to see you, he’s got a big black box.

What does he want?

He says he’s a creative writer.

I thought all writers were supposed to be creative.

I dunno, maybe it sounds better than writer on its own.

Whatever, why does he want to see me?

He said he’s really optimistic about our company.

I am pleased to hear it but what has this got to do with me?

Maybe this is how he chooses his clients.

I see, he just hangs out in reception of companies he’s optimistic about?

He did seem to believe he had a good reason to be here.

Spooky! Anyway what’s his name?

He didn’t say.

Can’t someone else see him – I’m busy.

He insists on seeing you.

We run an open company here, we have no secrets.

Shall I ask him to leave?

I don’t need a creative writer, everyone around here can write, okay!

He wants to help us to communicate our philosophy.

That’s what marketing does isn’t it?

Do they? Anyway I’ll ask him to leave.

Tell him I’m busy but he can leave his box of tricks. I’ll take a look at it later.

He may not be prepared to do that.

Tell him he can pick it up tomorrow, any time.

Here it is. He hopes you find it useful, it’s yours to keep.

Really! It’s huge …‘The Creative Writer’s Pack’

Go on, open it up.

I can’t, it’s locked – is he still out there?

No he left immediately, he wasn’t at all put out.

How I am supposed to open this?

You’re not going to believe this. He said, ‘Tell him to say Abracadabra.’

You’re kidding me – that’s a joke …Abracadabra!

It’s not, look it’s opening, the lid is opening!

It could be a bomb! Quick….

No, it’s full of books, old children’s storybooks…

Yeah, and they’re all crumbling to bits. I’ve had enough – tell him to come back for his box right now, call him on his mobile.

I don’t think that’s a good idea.

Are you telling me you know what this is about?

Perhaps it’s about how the power of language can create the world we live in.

So we have got to start telling each other kids stories, ‘Once up on a time there was a petrochemical company that dreamed of world domination.‘ Get real.

It’s not that simple. The creative writer uses language to help create the company we want to be.

We have a mission statement, thank you.

It’s not a mission statement, more a dialogue with our vision of the future.

Hang on a minute, I remember that book, my mother used to read that to me. How could he possibly know? I am not kidding you, those are my actual books! Those are all my books!

So what do you do for a living?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:13:10 +0000

A reply to the killer question

Anyone who works in corporate communication can relate to this. Someone pins you against the wall at a party and asks what you do for a living. The strained expression on your face tells your interviewer they have stumbled on to sensitive ground. Perhaps you have just been made redundant or worse. What your slightly sozzled mind is actually trying to formulate is an answer that avoids the dreaded follow up, ‘So have I have seen anything you’ve done on telly?’ As you race through the limited glossary of terms that describes our profession, all you can do is eliminate.

The first term to eliminate is ‘corporate’. It smacks of smoke stack factories and armies of pen pushers. ‘Video’ has connotations of weddings or You Tube and is likely to lead to a tedious conversation about digital cameras. And if you dare mention the word ‘training’, the words John and Cleese bubble up from the memory of some long forgotten course on telephone etiquette and you are dead in the water.

‘I work in communications,’ you offer lamely. Your interviewer immediately asks whether you know of a fixed-price, all-in-one, totally for the rest of your life mobile phone and broadband package. You stop that train of thought with the qualification, ‘business communications’, or ‘business to business communications’ or, in total desperation ‘public relations’. Still none the wiser, your interviewer suddenly realises her glass needs refreshing and you are left standing there like the gay vicar at the garden party. ‘Next time,’ you say to yourself, ‘I really must get my script for this conversation sorted out. I need a reply that eliminates all confusion and makes me look cool.’

‘So what do you do for a living?’

‘Government and private sector communications, you know, high end stuff; behaviour change, product launches, environmental awareness programmes.’

Note clever avoidance of words industrial or business and the conflation of totally different types of communication.

‘What sort of communications are they?’

‘These days it’s all about mixed media. We use a combination of live action, dramatisations, CGI and of course it’s all integrated at the back end using Web 2.0, social media, online collaboration tools, you know the sort of thing.’

Your interviewer looks at you wide eyed, she hasn’t the faintest idea what you are talking about but it sounds very cool. You quickly intervene before the next question.

‘For instance I am just working on a regular communication for a pharma company. They need to get the rank and file up to speed on their new blockbuster molecule. The whole thing is shot in a dedicated studio (virtual of course) with VT links to our roving reporters across the world. They won’t get much change out of half a mil.’

‘Sounds really impressive, how exciting.’

‘The communications industry is big business these days; turns over around £3billion, bigger than advertising. But we like to stay in the background, (taps nose conspiratorially) our clients are the stars.’

The communications industry is more impressive than corporate communication and never ever say, ‘but no one has ever heard of us’.

‘So what is your actual job?’

‘Nothing really, I just come up with the ideas and stop the client from making too much of a hash of it. Our job is all about managing expectations.’

Quit while you’re up, never let the conversation stray into specifics, move on ever so quickly.

‘So what do you do, anything interesting?’

Jonathan Priest does something very interesting. He’s a creative writer working in high end, back end, end to end communication solutions.

Video FAQs

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:13:09 +0000

If ever you become involved in commissioning a video for your organisation, here are my thoughts on some of the questions you may have. You can also read my Reports Corporate Video and Treatment Scripts & Storyboards which provide insights into the commissioning and production processes.

Question	Answer

Anyone with a camera and a laptop can make a video these days, why use a professional film maker?	Your video is another expression of your brand and should reflect your values in terms of quality and creativity. If you received a video from BMW or Sony, you would expect it to have the same production values as their products. Only an experienced film maker knows how to put that quality on the screen. The challenge is how to exploit the power of video to maximum effect, not how cheaply you can fill the screen with images. A poorly conceived and executed video will do more harm than good.
What is the best criterion for making a video?	Because you can’t find a more effective or more economical way to get the message across.
What is the best use of video?	Showing people things they couldn’t see otherwise in a very memorable way. Video is a medium for telling stories, for creating a narrative journey using themes and visual metaphors. It’s good for the big picture, weak on detail.
Is a video like a website, do you need one to do business?	No. But used strategically, they can be very effective tools. Video is most effective when it is supported by other marketing activities, say as part of a presentation.
What is drama best for?	Changing behaviour and attitudes by revealing and resolving conflict through your characters.
What is documentary style best for?	Advocacy, demonstration, explanation, PR, recruitment, staff induction, skills training.
What is drama documentary used for?	Drama documentary can be a very effective approach and is often used for training and public awareness campaigns. The drama elements can be used to re-enact historical events or possible future events (i.e. accidents) or reveal conflicts between different points of view expressed by characters in a drama. These underpin and drive the documentary exposition element of the video and bring the subject to life.
Is it worth doing a drama with inexperienced actors to save money?	Inexperienced actors lack credibility on the screen. Unless they are famous, experienced actors don’t cost a lot more. They will bring their characters to life and it usually takes them less time to shoot their scenes.
When is it best to use a presenter?	When you need to engage a particular audience in a very personal way and keep them very focused on your message. Regular communications can be helped by having a familiar face and a presenter who has knowledge of the subject area can also add value. The presenter can play the role of storyteller, advocate, investigator or clown but the success of the video hinges entirely on the effectiveness of the presenter.
When would it be inadvisable to use a presenter?	Say you are trying to reach a very diverse audience, not everyone will take to a particular presenter who inevitably brings his/her own class and cultural associations. You can’t risk alienating any percentage of your audience. There needs to be a compelling case to use a presenter; the default position is to use voice over.
Is it worth spending £5-10K on a well-known presenter?	Using a well-known presenter shows you mean business and demonstrates confidence and credibility but the cause has to be important enough to justify the investment. The rest of the video must have correspondingly high production values to ‘honour’ your presenter and maximise his/her impact.
Where does the production budget go?	The factors that affect the budget most are the number of days shoot, travel, and accommodation. You pay the crew the same for travelling as shooting, so the fewer and closer the locations, the better. If it’s a drama, the number of actor days is a major cost. Graphics and especially animation are also expensive.
Should I make my video longer to get better value for money?	No, the law of diminishing returns applies on audience concentration. Less is more. It takes real craft to make a short, punchy video.
How much does a minute of video cost?	The idea that videos can be priced by the minute has been around for years. It’s as meaningful as pricing a picture by its surface area.
We want to put the video out to tender, how many companies should we ask to submit?	Three is ideal, five max. Any more and producers have less incentive to really work at the pitch. Provide your communication objectives, a face-to-face brief and as much background information as possible. Also give a ballpark budget so producers are competing on creativity and production values rather than price.
Should I tell the producer how much I have to spend or will that encourage them to up the price?	It’s better to be up front about the budget. A good producer will always try to give good value for money which means putting as much of your budget as possible on the screen. After all, they want to win your next job.
Is a script always necessary?	Not always, depending on the programme style. A set of objectives and/or a list of interview questions may be enough. The video is then crafted in post production. You will need to sign off a full script for a drama, presenter or voice over commentary.
What value does a scriptwriter bring?	A scriptwriter doesn’t just right the words. He/she will develop a visual theme or metaphor to frame your message and help bring it to life. A scriptwriter will know what approach works best for different topics and different audiences and develop a creative concept that immediately connects you’re your audience.
What is the role of the producer?	The producer is the project manager and the client’s main contact. The producer manages the budget and puts together the production team. The producer then acts as a creative midwife who brings the project to life and makes sure it’s the one you wanted.
What is the role of the director?	In video, the director is responsible for everything that happens in front of the camera, the choice of shot, the performances of the actors the overall visual style of the video. The director also supervises the edit and the production of any graphics during post-production. For events, a director has the same overall creative control.
Can we use our video to reach more than one audience?	The more targeted the video, the more effective it will be. However, if you do have multiple audiences, make that clear in the brief.
People say it’s bad to use talking heads, is that true?	It has been regarded as lazy way to make video but talking heads can be very effective; it’s all down to quality of the interviews and the editing. They are most effective when used sparingly and intercut with other relevant interviews to build a case. The use of relevant cut-away shots is also important.
What is an off-camera interview?	The person asking the question does not appear in the shot (i.e. they are off camera) and their questions are usually cut out. This means the interviewee must provide answers that make sense without the question.
We are recording a video our annual conference, could we turn the speeches into a DVD?	You can use snippets as cut away shots to separate off-camera interviews, but a video of a slide presentation is worse that watching paint dry.
Can we widen our audience by web streaming a conference or discussion panel?	You can but there’s no point putting up a single camera and hoping your audience will stay with you. The event needs to be professionally produced with multiple cameras, on-site vision mixing.
What about mass mailing DVDs?	Most people tend not to watch them, there’s always something better to do. Invite people to apply for them, that way they are likely to watch them.
Is it a good idea to put a video/s on my website?	Not just for the sake of it. I see web and video as somewhat conflicting media, they offer very different narrative experiences. A video, especially when it’s on the home page, can disrupt the experience of your well-crafted website.
What is more important, the quality of sound or vision?	Viewers will put up with poor quality images, but poor quality sound is unacceptable. That’s why you can’t get away with using the gun microphone on a camera for interviews. Use a tie mike or boom.
My MD wants a video of him talking about our products.	Talk him/her out of it unless she/he’s is very natural in front of a camera. It could put people right off. If she/he insists, do it as an off-camera interview, not directly to camera.
He says not to worry, he’ll use a teleprompter.	Bad idea, it will make him look wooden and shifty. Teleprompters are strictly for professionals.
Which is more important, the producer, writer or director?	The producer, he/she chooses the other two.
What is the best advice you can give about video production?	As ever – good, quick, cheap – any two.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about video or need help with a video project, please email solutions@creative-writer.com

Food Secret

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:20:39 +0000

Food Secret is an up-market health food eatery in Soho and provided me an unusual project, just completed, to develop the content for a series of flat screen display panels about the ingredients used in their meals. For example, did you know that if you eat too much papaya the soles of your feet turn yellow? Or that the term grenade, as in hand grenade, comes from the French for pommegranite, la grenade? The original concept of Stories Revealed came from designer James Hatfield. I helped to develop it further and research and write all the captions. Great fun and totally one off. Click on the images to see the artwork. To see the animations, you will need to visit the restaurant on 59 Broadwick Street, W1. The food is great by the way, very healthy.

[View with PicLens]

The amazing power of three

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:08:52 +0000

Did you hear the joke about the Englishman, the Irishman and the Scotsman? Like the story of the Three Little Pigs or Goldilocks and the Three Bears, it follows the rule of three. Things that come in threes seem to be funnier or more satisfying. Adjectives are often grouped in threes to emphasize an idea such as my favourite edict about creative projects; ‘You can have it good, quick, cheap – any two’. Snappy dialogue often turns in threes as in, ‘Face it, Brian, I’m a bad father, a lousy husband, and a snappy dresser.’ Winston Churchill demonstrated the rule’s power in many speeches including, ‘ We shall fight on the beaches…’

The rule also works visually. On this site, I have divided my services between three panels. I didn’t deliberately set out to do this; this was how the cards fell once I had finished endlessly shuffling them. Designers generally advise you to use no more than three different fonts or three different colours. And then there’s the ‘three click rule‘ – that no content should be more than three clicks away from the home page, though for me that’s already one click too many.

Why these holy trinities are so compelling lies buried deep within our psyche. After all, when we come into this world we form a trio with our parents. It is the perfect relationship, it implies protection, belonging and love. Perhaps we are always trying to re-discover that state of perfection and therein lies the power of three. So if you have a communication challenge – good, bad or indifferent – trying thinking in triplicate.

Movies and marketing

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:18:14 +0000

What was the last film you really enjoyed and do you know precisely why it was so satisfying? You obviously don’t need to know why it worked to enjoy it, but the reasons are likely to relate to plot, character, structure and most cryptic of all, the controlling idea, the movie’s basic premise. The qualities that make a good movie are so well documented, one wonders why bad movies ever get made. As we know, the majority fall down for various reasons. The trick seems to be to follow the conventions of screen writing while being highly creative in their interpretation.

So what has all this to do with marketing? If you apply the fundamentals techniques of screenwriting in developing your marketing communications, you’re unlikely to go far wrong. The goals are fundamentally the same; to provide the audience with a satisfying and memorable experience. Small wonder so many successful screenwriters did time as advertising copywriters before branching out into movies. Here are some of the qualities screenwriters are aiming for:

A good script has a strong premise
A good script hooks its audience
A good script has a theme
A good script is entertaining
A good script ends with a satisfying resolution

Where appropriate, replace script with campaign, premise with consumer insight and resolution with call to action. Looking for a screenwriter anyone?

Pitching to win

admin — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:15:40 +0000

There’s no point winning the creative battle only to lose the business war. You pitch to win, no holds barred. I have learned a lot about pitching working with the industry’s top producers and my discoveries are summaried in my report Pitching to Win. At the very least, it should considerably reduce your chances of losing. The report covers:

Analysing the brief
Observing the corporate culture
Choosing the right creative approach
Developing the theme
Constructing the document
Bringing the proposal to life
Planning the presentation

I have a good track record helping companies to win pitches. Earlier this year I helped win a £100K project for a training DVD. I also like to think I help companies keep their clients by delivering a very professional service. Click here for a free (no obligation) copy of Pitching_to_Win.

Tell the story backwards

admin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:17:11 +0000

‘Not all scriptwriters are able to conceptualise,’ said Des Good of CEO Grosvenor Productions. This surprised me; I thought that was what scriptwriting was all about. Fortunately, I am one of the ones who can. If you need a cracking opener, a magical metaphor or a thoroughly thought out theme, then get in touch. Getting down to specifics, here are some areas where I can add value:

Medicine and the pharmaceutical industry
Science and technology
Programmes requiring drama and/or humour
Compliance, financial crime and legal training
Local Government
Skills training for the transport sector

On the production side, I can help with:

Off-camera interviews in English and French
Off-camera interviews with doctors and patients
Translating and subtitling from French to English
Supervising post production
Supervising animation storyboards
Pitches and proposals

Thank you for visiting

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:50:11 +0000

Thank you for visiting my new web site, launched 18/08/2009

The site is aimed at video production companies, creative agencies and individual business people and demonstrates the variety of my video and marketing work. I hope it will also give you an impression of the professional approach I take to my work. Many of my clients have been with me for 15 years or more.

I would like to thank Luke Burford of Lunamedia for suggesting this platform and for so diligently building the site and accomodating my requirments. I can highly recommend him. I would also like to thank Tia Azulay for her help in developing the concept and keeping me honest. In less than a month, the site has rocketed to top of the Google rankings for ‘creative writer uk’ which is brilliant.

Google Analytics tells me I have visitors from right across the world, which is very humbling. Being realistic, I imagine they may have been interested in a different kind of creative writing to mine. But don’t be deceived by appearances. I have just finished my first novel and there’s a screenplay and some short stories on the back burner. So if you want to share ideas about creative writing of the purely creative type, please get in touch.