Viral Storytelling On Britain's Got Talent. How'd they do it?

Talent shows are a polarising experience for the audience, the judges and also the performers.

A lot of things can go wrong. It's a live show. Things don't always go to plan.

You get a mix of talents showcasing fun, cute, sad, crazy, dangerous, funny, sexy, scary and mystery all in a pot.

Despite the challenges of producing live shows, Britain's Got Talent is still popular and it has done so over the past decade.

As a viewer, watching the videos on YouTube feels somewhat effortless, and better yet, a lot of what you see online goes viral.

The secret formula for success comes down to the incredible team of producers and editors working behind the scenes to perfect their storytelling formula.

In this video, we will explore some of the dance acts in the past that have gone viral

Meet three lovable dance acts that some of you may be familiar with:

1. Paddy and Nico: 

2. Old Men Grooving:

3. Steven Hall:

In the examples above, all the acts achieved huge success in its virality.

What you may or may not know is that all the three acts are actually based on the same storytelling formula.

Yep, that's right. Let's break it down:

A) The Stage:

• It is a place where the audience and the judges anticipate new acts to audition
• When the characters walk in, the camera goes full wide angle to make the characters seem smaller and vulnerable
• As the characters approach the centre stage front an centre, you get a glance of how plain and normal the characters are
• You start to judge the characters based on their physical attributes

B) Assumption (the judges)

• The judges will act on behalf of the audience to introduce the act. The questions are carefully crafted by the producers.
• A typical question asked would be if the acts have day jobs to affirm that the characters are unpretentious
• Then, the last question is the money question such as "Can you win the show?"
• It makes it start to feel like you are watching normal characters wanting to win a talent show with little to prove

C) Doubters (the audience)

• This would be followed up by extreme close-ups of members of the audience to highlight their facial expressions
• Most of them will probably look in disdain
• You may also hear sarcastic giggles

D) Talent (the act)

• The acts will usually start with cliche moves to make you believe that your assumptions are right
• Before you know it, the act takes a dramatic turn to surprise the audience with godlike talent
• You may start to see the extreme close up shots again of the audience with their jaws dropped or in a state of surprise
• You start to get hit by this energy and excitement that lasts until the end

E) The participation

• As the acts end, the members of the audience and the judges raise their hands in jubilation
• The characters come have come from zero to hero
• The emcees interview the characters again to tap into the characters for some insights about how they feel to give you an instant connection with your new heroes

The key takeaways for storytelling

1. Most of the hard work is done at the start before the action even begins to give the audience context.
2. The character is being presented with a challenge which seems impossible i.e."Can you win the show?"
3. The entire sequence is carefully edited by the producers using the stage as the focal point
   
4. Storytelling is all about editing and directing the attention and the emotions of your audience
5. Initially, your expectations were suppressed by the unpretentious looks of the characters
6. People draw inspiration from the characters and their heroic acts because they believed in themselves when nobody would
7. Virality is all about good timing/coincidence without repeating two similar acts one after the other. The characters gained the most traction when they performed something authentic and heartfelt.


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