Did you hear the one about the business owner who put off making Instagram Reels…..
A guest article by Emma Spellman of Oojamaflick
Emma is a powerhouse of creativity. As a friend she has the immense skill of lifting every room and every mood, and as a film maker she does the same. We are all a better version of ourselves with Em in the room. For many years I’ve admired her work, but only recently have I called on her to try and shake the dreaded Reels collywobbles… and she was brilliant. Knowing many business owners struggle with the same, we asked her to guest write an article to share her advice.
I think this article is a great read… but you can get even more of Emma through the links at the bottom of this page.
My best-selling memoir of a life in TV will cover plenty of B lister tit-bits from the green room, but that will have to wait! What I want to touch on is how my years as a factual documentary filmmaker have defined the way I create my instagram reels. Every documentary I’ve crafted has told a story with three crucial ingredients and there is no simpler model. A story needs a beginning, middle and an end. As simple as that sounds we struggle to commit to those three elements online.
When I became a Mum I couldn’t make the relentless hours of TV work for me, but then I realised I had a transferable skill - I was a storyteller. I set up a filmmaking and photography business called Oojamaflick and its ethos was to help businesses tell their ‘own' brand story. I realised pretty quickly that business owners had no shortage of stories, passion and inspiration but they were stumped by the heinous ‘block' of telling their ‘own' story on camera. This made zero sense to me. This is your business. This is your story. This is your beginning, middle and end. But from client to client the negative feelings were loud and clear - there is NO WAY.
My answer was this - "the thought of actually standing in front of a camera and telling your story is sabotaged and thwarted by inexperience and inexperience alone". As soon as that message hit home the stories came...
I could talk all day about overcoming camera anxiety and mental blocks, but in a nutshell it’s as simple as 'practice makes perfect’. Record your story - then delete it. The next day - record the same story and choose just one thing you can improve. Keep up this routine for a week until you feel like you’re improving and then it’s time to post that story.
I could also talk all day about what to post, but I simply say to my clients, "no-one knows your brand’s story and message better than you". Brand storytelling is about creating an emotional, value-driven connection between your customers and your brand and you’re a huge part of that creation. Instagram reels are immensely powerful because we are visual creatures with so much of our brains dedicated to visual processing.
The most powerful stories are authentic, which means you shouldn’t change who you are on camera, but you can improve on how you deliver those stories on camera. Practise makes perfect and I do feel that needs another mention, because it might just be the ’thing’ that’s stopping you from showing up on Instagram. All you need to do now is get those stories out there and make them look great. Here’s my top 10 filmmaking tips to elevate that story and widen your reach.
1. If your message doesn’t have substance - don’t record today! Tomorrow’s message will be stronger and worth watching with more thought given to it.
2. Start to re-wire your brain to turn everyday business and brand-based ‘moments' into creative little stories you can feedback to your audience. How does this story align with your brand values and does this story enrich your audience in some way?
3. Plan your story before you record it - jot down bullet points to empower the message and keep it on track (what’s your beginning, middle and end).
4. Find the light! Make sure you are sourcing great natural light by a window, that washes over your face, or use a ring light instead (or both). Light IS photography and filmmaking and finding it will elevate your shot ten-fold and give you much more confidence on how you look and feel on camera.
5. Always talk to the lens (that you’ve cleaned) and never back to yourself. Eye contact is the key to customer engagement - if you’re not looking down that lens, you’re not connecting with your audience.
6. You have three seconds to make an impression so make that shot and intro count. How can you stand apart from the noise on instagram? How is your background looking (no bins, bags, paperwork), are you smiling, not whispering and does your message have substance?
7. Take a deep breath and be authentic. Your delivery at first doesn’t have to be perfect but it does have to be good enough.
8. B-roll is your greatest friend - in the film world it’s known as secondary footage to splice over interviews and it’s crucial for reels. Make your product shots look amazing by keeping the camera still, using different camera modes (portrait, cinematic) and use the different lenses your camera phone has to offer (wide .5, 1x, 2 and 3 marked at the bottom of your phone in camera mode) and use a tripod where possible. For product shots invest in some flatlays - there are hundreds online, which can really elevate your shot.
9. Be brand aware all the time. Can you be subtle with what you wear on camera to be cohesive with your brand colours and don’t forget to feature your logo creatively.
10. Be brave. How can you elevate your shots, your angles? Get high, get low and move. Don’t settle for bland; just like your food - you want every reel to have some spice, flavour and be memorable.
As well as working with her clients on their brand stories, Emma runs lots of online and in-person workshops. If you’ve got a brand you are proud of, and a story to tell, but are awkwardly cowering behind your phone deleting everything you record, I highly recommend following her on Instagram to see when the next workshop is available (they are HUGELY popular!).