HMH wanted to attract more aligned clients by highlighting their top projects. Instead of creating a classic testimonial, we opted to tell an Impact Story - a story that highlights the impact a company has had on a person or employee. In this case, that 'person' was HMH's wonderful clients, Mimi & Philipp. We were able to uncover their positive relationship to 'change', and how their decision to move to Denver was supported through HMH's incredible work.
Location
Denver, USA
Archetype
Impact Story
Runtime
2 mins 39 secs
HMH
What stood out about this story?
What excited us to be able to share this testimonial for HMH was how Mimi & Philipp welcomed us into their lives, to their backstory, and subsequently how they ended up in Denver and hiring HMH.
We were overjoyed to have found a throughline of their positive relationship to 'change', and in turn how HMH embodied that same value in the way they design their homes. This throughline allowed us to delve a little deeper, and not just talk about their home.
Not only this, but we're grateful that this project started off as a classic testimonial and transformed into something deeper as Mimi & Philipp began to trust in us, our energy, and our process.
Why did you build out the story arc in this way?
Even though this is a shorter testimonial piece, it was important to stay true to our storytelling process and 6-act story arc, the same arc we use in longer brand films or even documentaries, to ensure the story we brought forward made sense and engaged the viewer.
We opted for a strong hook that tied to the emotional energy that was present in Mimi & Philipp's lives as they considered moving, removing the burden of Philipp's commute. HMH's audience is more likely going to relate to the emotions felt by similar-minded customers, and not about the design of the home, or the walls, or a room.
The narrative arc continues to share their move to Denver, finding HMH, and connecting deeply with HMH's process, enabling us an opportunity to share HMH 'in action'.
Finally, the Resolution brings it back to their newfound connection now Philipp isn't commuting anymore, answering the 'question' from the hook, completing the question / answer arc every story must have to be considered a story.
Can you elaborate further on the cinematography style and color choices?
We were pretty set from the beginning that we wanted to visually portray this in a completely different way to how regular architectural videography is done, i.e. recreating the same shots the photographer took.
Rather than putting a lot of attention on the house while the characters spoke, creating a subconscious disconnect between their words and the visuals, we opted to 'romanticize' various moments of the plot through recreation or visual representation.
We felt the solidity of Mimi & Philipp as a couple, so using a tripod was crucial in many shots to show their solidity, along with the solidity of their home, but tactfully went handheld for several moments where we show them flowing together.
We intended to find different angles that weren't captured in HMH's photography, and we believe we successfully did so.
For the colors, we went for a punchy, yet refined color grade with a strong grain and strong contrast. This further differentiates this piece from the digitally sharp, clean shots found in architectural photography.
