A Video, A Visual Narrative
I recently had to tape a Quraanic Competition run by FAYM (see below to find out what a Quraanic competition is) and began wondering about the oft-overlooked “Three Act Structure”. The basic concept behind this is that every video you make is a story, and you should plan it and present it as such.
You can see my post on MuslimYouthMusings about editing, which includes a little info on this as well as Belal Khan’s (of Leechon Films) commentary on it.
So, I began to ponder on how to apply this concept with the taping of a live event (like a Quraanic Competition, or even a lecture).
Ergo, my tweet (twitter update):
And Belal Khan responded:
And Abdullah Jangda responded:
By the way, that link really was helpful, you should check it out for info on the Three Acts: http://j.mp/m3kuZ
Although I didn’t get a specific answer to my situation (Twitter’s 140-character cap can only convey so much), I did gain some insight on it. Unfortunately it wasn’t until after the taping that I’d thought of a way to present the Quraanic Competition.
First, let me explain what a Quraanic competition is. There are two categories: memorization and recitation (reading from a mus-haf, or copy of the Qur’an). Within those, there are subdivisions based on age (each age group having to know or read from certain areas of the Qur’an). We usually hold a preliminary round here in south Florida, then the finalists move up to the finals in Orlando (it’s a statewide competition). Contestants are tested on tajweed, fluency, and style.
Now my idea:
Act I
Introduce a brother that plans on entering the competition. Let him speak on his experience in the competition in past years. Take footage of him practicing his Suraat and such.
Act II
Competition Day – show the brother’s nervousness, jitters. Bring in first culmination (see here), showing his competitors reciting, receiving high scores. Then he goes up and is a finalist (or not, depending on what happens).
Act III
Show the finals in Orlando, the drama that ensues and him practicing. Finally, the climax showing his recitation and the final outcome (1st, 2nd…etc Place).
His reflections on the whole experience.
That could have been an awesome short documentary. But I’m trying to start adding more depth and applying a structure to my videos as opposed to throwing some footage together and putting effects and graphics on it. The content is far more important than the technology that makes it.
At the end of the day, a video is only a medium to convey a larger message.
Got any thoughts on this? Leave a comment.
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Filed under: Educate, Film/Video | 7 Comments
Tags: Belal Khan, Dawah Gear, faym, film, florida association young muslims, jak productions, Leechon, plot, qur'an, quraanic competition, story, three acts, Video
Jawaad Ahmad Khan
Muslim. American.
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Just some tips:
To add depth, add more characters and substories for each character that push the mainstory forward. For the stories add real conflict
Perhaps profiling two contestants in the same category? Along with snippets of others to lightly capture the competition as a whole?
To add conflict, it’d depend on the person’s situation; but things like “I can’t get a ride to the finals (which is a 3-hr drive” or “Its a tie for third, who will go to the finals (because only the top three go)” come to mind for creating more conflict. Thanks for your thoughts, though.
its best to make conflit something more people can relate to. not many people have experienced the thrill of stage competition.
people have experienced the conflict of family member/friend keeping them from their dream.
throw some fiction/roleplay into the story. What if one of the competitor’s family member gets sick or injured – leading to character needing to make a decision of whetether they should go to the competition.
or – maybe someone jealous of the contestant, does some black majig on the kid…or just slashes the tired of the car and now has no ride…
…or faces all 3!
let your imagination go wild
Lol, I was thinking more like a documentary, staying true to reality, which is where the problem of making the video into a story comes in (as live events aren’t always as interesting as fiction)
though, if I just wanted to make a short film, I’d let my imagination loose.
What do you think will be more impactful on the viewer – a boring reality based doc that most people cant relate to or a mixed genre with dramatic elements that many connect to?
Go back to the question, whats the purpose of you making the video? what are you trying to achieve – personally and professionally?
True. I guess it always does come back to the goals and objectives of the video. I guess a video is just like any other project (or Islamic event or anything), you got to start with WHY you’re doing what you’re doing.
Hmm…with this video, I originally intended to portray more about the event itself to those who weren’t able to make it (due to excuses). I wanted to make it seem to them that basically they’d missed one of the most amazing events in their area and they should keep an eye out for it next year.