STORIES THAT RESONATE
WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

Capturing and keeping your audience’s attention is more difficult than ever. Stories have the power to break through the noise of everything else we’re bombarded with and create a deeper, more authentic connection. Stories speak to us on an emotional level. Here are a few examples of stories used to connect the viewers to a cause, a business or a product.

Click to watch the Hanford House Inn banner reel

This film was produced as a banner video to appear on the Hanford House Inn website. While not as “story driven” as our usual work, we employed a few story-like elements.  We incorporated a human element to help the viewer imagine themselves there. We also incorporated music that lends itself to the quiet sophistication of the inn.  Finally, a few sound effects in post production like the bike bell help immerse the viewer into the experience.

Click Here to read a more detailed case study of this project.

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How to you bring a human element to computer chips? You start by finding someone who has been affected by their use. In this case, Intel Corporation has developed a form of Persistent Memory that is the key component of a product being developed by a company called MemVerge. Like Ben says in the film, every visual effects artist knows they’re going to crash at least once per day. The Memverge device takes snapshots of the workstation’s state allowing the artist to go back to the last snapshot state instead of hard reboots, relying on autosaves and restarting all the software programs they use. It saves time and frustration allowing the artists to be much more productive. This film was produced as a marketing piece that could demonstrate a solid use case to the entertainment and media industry.

Character: Ben Looram; Founder of Chapeau Studios

  • Desire: to be able to focus on the artwork of visual effects instead of crash recovery.
  • Motivation: Ben is passionate about being an artist, but also within the constraints of solid business practices like timelines and budgets.
  • Uniqueness: Chapeau Studios is a premier visual effects studio with globally recognized clients.
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This film was produced as part of a series for the Government, Markets and Trade group at Intel Corporation to humanize the efforts of the individuals on the team. In this film, our character (Clifton Roberts) is on a personal mission to help the healthcare industry utilize technology to “put the care back in healthcare“.

Character: Clifton Roberts

  • Desire: to affect change in the healthcare industry through AI and data integration that could lead to higher quality care
  • Motivation: Clifton’s father was diagnosed with cancer which eventually took his life. His father endured misdiagnoses among other systemic failures which led to dying of a cancer that is typically treatable.
  • Uniqueness: Clifton is part of a team at Intel that works to lobby for policy changes that would allow the intelligent use of data to enhance industries like healthcare.
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This film was produced for Intel Corporation as a marketing piece that featured a user of their processors in a Media and Entertainment setting. Picture This is a producer of large in person events, but when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down their business, they pivoted to stay afloat. Repurposing their existing equipment to produce commercials and other videos in a studio setting required more computing power than they currently had.  So they reached out to Intel.

Character: Perry Loveridge; Founder of Picture This

  • Desire: to continue to be an industry leader in video production despite the Covid pandemic shutdown
  • Motivation: Picture This has been in business for 30+ years and employs a number of people. Shutting down would mean people losing jobs and a family-run business going under.
  • Uniqueness: Picture This is a small(ish) family run company that produces large scale public events such as NAB, CES and corporate announcement events.
Click to watch The Quiet Side

When we first met Steve, he was a new innkeeper having recently bought the Andruss Motel in Walker, CA. The Andruss had been around for forty years having two owners before him.

Character: Steve Wright; Owner of Andruss Motel – Walker, CA

  • Desire: To create a place where people can unplug, recharge and connect away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
  • Motivation: Steve was facing chaos and pain in his own life and sought refuge in the quiet side of California.
  • Uniqueness: Steve has a personal history as a Sheriff’s deputy, a pastor and now an innkeeper. From a certain point of view, they are all related when it comes to connection with people.
Click to watch Fresh Caught

Ever heard of a Fish Sommelier? Don’t worry, neither had we.

Character: Ryan Houser; Fish Sommelier at Mina’s Fish House – Oahu, HI

  • Desire: To delight Mina’s patrons with the freshest fish served delectably and with a side of education about what they’re eating
  • Motivation: A Hawaii native, Ryan reveres the ocean and respects is bounty. Growing up, he learned to only keep what you can use.
  • Uniqueness: Ryan is the world’s only Fish Sommelier.
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Rudolph and Sletten is a premier general contractor and was bidding for a contract to build a skilled nursing facility at the Cal Vet home in Yountville, CA. They personally committed to using as many veteran owned businesses in the project and wanted to let the interview committee know. We had each contractor introduce themselves and briefly describe what their military experience was. We asked them to also provide photographs of them in uniform or in service to drive home the message that these are veterans building the facility for other veterans.

Character: Various

  • Desire: to provide their unique expertise to build a skilled nursing facility for veterans.
  • Motivation: Each character is a veteran and is passionate about serving the needs of other vets
  • Uniqueness: Most of the contractors do not personally know each other, but have come together for this higher purpose.

This film was produced by a global group of filmmakers as part of Muse Film School. We were tasked with finding a character in Iceland and producing a film about them. The finished film is part of Muse Storytelling’s The Remarkable Ones series.

Character: Sigga Unnarsdottir

  • Desire: To live life in her own way, seeking adventure, while fulfilling her duties as a mother
  • Motivation: Sigga was raised in a traditional Icelandic home in which women were expected to marry and have children at a young age. It is expected they will stay home and raise the children.
  • Uniqueness: Sigga is pursuing her life as she wants to live it. Initially starting down the expected path, she quickly knew that was not the life she wanted.  She holds a Guiness World Record, traveled with a Romanian Circus and is a glacier guide.

We produced this film for Joshua’s House to help their efforts in opening a hospice dedicated to giving homeless people a place where they can live out their days with dignity and care. When we met Marlene, we were surprised to hear of her own personal journey and thought it would connect well in the various areas where they needed it. The effort to open Joshua’s House had been met with hurdles such as funding and community support. A personal story of the founder was the key to communicating the impact Joshua’s House would have on the community.

Character: Dr. Marlene von Friedrichs Fitzwater

  • Desire: Provide a place where terminally ill homeless people could live out their days with dignity and professional care.
  • Motivation: Faced with her own mortality and the care she received, she made it her life’s mission to change the way healthcare workers communicate with patients. After her grandson died on the street, she took that mission further to ensure no one dies alone on the streets.
  • Uniqueness: Marlene’s personal mission is unique in and of itself, but also being a Stage IV cancer survivor herself and using the experience to set out on a mission puts her in a unique category of people.