“No one will want to watch this.”
“We’ll make them watch it.”

I don’t even remember the topic of the script anymore, but this was an actual conversation I had with a client that still echoes in memory.  I do recall that the manager was determined to cram as much data into the video as he could, and either didn’t realize, or didn’t care, that his intended audience would tune it out, overloaded into apathy. Important messages would be lost in an unrelenting deluge of instruction, whether the audience – his company’s employees – was required to view the video or not.

As a television writer and producer, I grapple with the problem of how much information is too much information all the time, and it’s a dilemma whether you’re writing documentaries or instructional how-to’s.

I believe that I’m thought of as a quick study and a meticulous fact-checker, great credentials to be sure in a documentary producer or a corporate video writer.  And having a consuming curiosity is always an essential trait in any creative endeavor.  For me the hard part is not grasping the material, but finding a balance between what the audience needs to know and wants to know.  As a writer, producer, or manager hiring such talent, it’s important to remember the need to engage both the intellect and imagination.

Here are a couple of techniques for keeping your production both engaging and informative:

Maintain an organic process of brainstorming and structuring throughout the process.  Outline the flow of the information or the unfolding narrative, and keep the momentum moving along that through-line, but don’t allow that structure to pre-empt new concepts or creative ways of visualizing the material.

It’s essential, and yet sometimes near impossible, to maintain this kind of flexibility when you are working on a project by committee, especially if new members join the advisory group mid-way.  There’s a tendency – quick study and responsible “creative” that you are – to internalize all those voices so that finding your way back to the basics can be difficult.  Remind yourself, and your supervisor or the consultants, that the ultimate committee is the audience.  If the intended viewer needs to know something, you need to make them want to know it by piquing their curiosity, engaging their emotions, and making clear what’s at stake if they don’t have this information.  Simply seating someone in front of a television or computer screen does not automatically lead to understanding. 

Trust your instincts – what catches your interest or stirs your emotions will probably do the same for the audience. To be sure, you can get sidetracked by arcane detail that will bore your audience, or you may need to present arcane detail that you fear will bore.

If you’re awash in research or detail, try laying out all the minutia in rough form, then look for repetitious sentiments or data, and choose the quote or piece of information that is most potent.  Set yourself a goal of reducing the content in this way by thirty percent or even fifty percent.  Give yourself limited time to do this – ten minutes for a ten minute script, for instance.  You’re relying now on gut instinct and experience.

Then set aside the long-winded and the compact versions for a time, even if it’s only for a lunch break.  When you return, read or view the short version first – you are putting yourself back in the position of the audience who is seeing it for the first time. Chances are you won’t remember what’s missing — though your client might.  Add back only what is too vital to lose and be sure you covered the client’s key themes.  Remember that with video and other visual media productions, information and emotional cues are also powerfully conveyed by visuals and sound effects, including appropriate music.

Keeping creative within the constraints of deadlines is always a challenge.  It helps to begin honing the closing statements early on – maybe not before you write the open but soon after.  You’ll be more efficient in organizing the rest of the material toward that grand finale – and you won’t be too tired to inspire by the end. 

Susanne Stahley can be contacted at scstahley@comcast.net