How To Tell Better Stories | Begin With The End
There are a lot of different storytelling techniques out there. While some people may say things like “Do this one thing” or “the best storytelling technique no one ever told you about, but here it is” I intend not to be overly dramatic.
While there are some things you should always be doing with your stories (like the three-act structure) some storytelling techniques don’t need to be used every time. Nor are there any that are “the best”.
Why I tell stories
Storytelling is an ancient art form and a way for humans to express themselves. If you go back to the days of neanderthals you will find the earliest form of storytelling: cave paintings.
There’s a saying….
“Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you heard their story”
I love storytelling. Being able to inspire, entertain, and connect with viewers is something I absolutely love. It’s pretty dope.
My mission is to inspire, entertain, and connect with viewers while showing people my perspective of the world.
I think it’s so cool to be able to make something that gets people to feel a certain type of way. In today’s fast paced world, it’s an honor to get people to slow down and take the time to watch something.
Not only that but to get them to walk away feeling inspired or entertained is a big W in my book.
script for Begin with the end
“So I very intentionally did not title this video something like “The Best Storytelling hack” or something along those lines because one thing I don’t want to do with this channel is to have the same title techniques as so many other content creators.
I understand those are SEO tactics and while I do love some good SEO……that’s just not my style.
In this video, I’m going to be talking about two short films I made where I used a common storytelling technique and why you should too. This technique is very heavily influenced by one of my favorite Ted Talks from Andrew Stanton, who is an amazing storyteller and writer for Pixar.
While there are a lot of storytelling techniques out there, this one is not necessarily something you need to do for every film you make.
Also, it really just comes down to your style.
The biggest perk of beginning with the end is to pique interest by giving a great hook point. It also follows another storytelling commandment that Andrew Stanton gives in his talk (make a promise).
Forrest Gump and Fight Club are two examples that follow this technique.
I used this technique in my short films The Beekeeper and Full Circle.
The Beekeeper was made as a part of a competition to send the winner to Africa to work on a documentary with an established filmmaker. Each film had to fit under the theme of “someone doing good in the world”.
Pretty broad BUT the kicker is it had to be under 3:00 minutes long. Which did not give me much time to tell a story about someone I just met the week before and had less than a week to film and edit.
My other film Full Circle was about an artist, who now has become one of my best friends, whose work is inspired by epic adventure.
Jason has an amazing story of being an art teacher in the Midwest who one day sells everything he owns and goes on a 6,000-mile transcontinental cycling trip.
His art begins as sketches of places he’s gone and then is digitized and made into t-shirts, prints, and canvases. This was the first time he hung his finished art in an outdoor gallery, creating the full circle experience of art being returned to the nature that inspired it.
While Jason has an incredible story, the film has a slow cadence partly from my experience at the time. And because of that, I wanted a way to hook people who did not know Jason or me and may have needed a little extra reasoning as to why they should watch this film.
Again… “Make a promise”
The Beekeeper is about a National Geographic Explorer who creates a sustainable honey tourism route in remote Turkey.
More and more villagers were moving to larger cities so they could make an income, so Cat created a tourism business so people could stay and more people could come to visit. During her time Cat became very very close to the people who lived here.
Because this was a competition, I wanted to make sure I could hook viewers as soon as possible so that’s why the story begins with….
“That’s why I ended up in Eastern Turkey.”
Hearing the words… “that’s why I ended up in Eastern Turkey” immediately hooks us. Instead of starting the story off with an introduction or going over the background viewers immediately hear something that piques their interest. Right off the bat, it makes them question, “why did she end up in Eastern Turkey?”
The only way you will keep people watching one of your films or videos is……you gotta keep their interest! The sooner your audience is asking themselves questions the more invested they become.
The more invested they become, the more they are going to want to watch. There have been times when I’ve watched something that I had a great story….I just lost interest in how it was being told and signed off on watching the rest.
For the film Full Circle, I instantly hook viewers with two things:
First Jason is talking about hanging his art in the trees along a trail…which also happens to be where the story ends. And second, you see a gallery of prints hanging from aspen trees as someone bikes through on a trail.
I could have started with Jason talking about his inspiration from nature and riding his bike around the world, which is still very interesting and would likely get people interested in watching more buutttt….
Starting off the film by showing the outdoor art gallery was a really cool way to hook someone because well people aren’t used to seeing an impromptu art gallery in the middle of a forest. It sets the tone and shows viewers where the film will ultimately end up.
I grew up listening to my dad say “Begin With The End in Mind” in relation to everyday tasks and it is something he continues to drill into my head.
For instance, now that I live in Colorado I always remember to dress in layers because YOU NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH THE WEATHER IN COLORADO WILL CHANGE ON A HIKE.
His words of advice during my childhood ring so true today as I continue to build my career as a filmmaker and content creator.
As I mentioned “Beginning With The End” is an artistic and personal choice when making any sort of video, film, or documentary.
There are lots of other techniques you can use, but it’s all about your style. Sometimes it may not even be your style, but it just happens to work for one specific project you are working on.
As anyone who has made a documentary, you know that the story changes from pre-production, during production, and in the edit.
So while you may not intend to begin your film with the end, it might make sense to do so while you are trying to piece your story together in the edit.
Conclusion
Everyone loves a great story. We grew up being read books and watching cartoons.
As adults, we continue to read and binge-watch our favorite Netflix shows.
Anytime we get together with old college buddies, we retell tall tales from our “good ole days” over a few beers.
Stories are how we connect with people. Not everyone is going to notice the best camera moves, newest gear, or standout lighting and color grading.
But everyone can understand a good story. And that is why I love it.
Call Me Brende
I’m Josh Berendes (Brende for short), a filmmaker, drone operator, and creative entrepreneur based in Denver, CO.
My mission is to inspire, entertain, and connect with viewers while showing people my perspective of the world.
My camera has taken me from Red Rocks shows and Super Bowl parties to deep canyons and high mountain peaks.
I’ve also been fortunate to work with brands like EA Sports, NFL, The Matador Network, and TDE.
My work ranges from raw emotional storytelling pieces on people and places to exciting visually dope bite-sized content.
I’d love the chance to bring your video ideas to life—let’s connect below.
