What makes for a winning video proposal?

The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee and the Cabinet Office, have recently selected their design for the Queen Elizabeth National Memorial. Looking through the proposals, I thought there was quite a lot to learn from them, and so in this article I am putting my thoughts to paper. I ​w​on’t ​focus on the designs particularly, because they’re all fantastic and worthy, but I want to talk about the​ ​90-second ​proposal videos.

Of the five​ shortlisted for the public, there​ were two big names. We’ve got Norman Foster, and we’ve got Thomas Heatherwick, and then there are three others whom I’ve never heard of before, and will probably never hear of again. With each of these, I am mainly concerned with who speaks, how many people speak, and how the story is told.

Above: an example of a video proposal with too many people speaking in the voiceover

Of the less famous names who put their proposals in, I have picked this video to show you as an example for all three, because they all share one fatal flaw; they don’t have one key person talking directly to the camera. This annoyed me as ​I​ found it hard to connect with who was speaking, and ​in a couple of ​t​hese videos, they had three or four different voices, which really confused me as a listener because I didn’t know who was saying what and why.

Sir Norman Foster (WINNER)

​To my mind, this 90-second video is a masterclass in video proposals, because:

  1. A trusted, singular, key person, talking directly to camera, with minimal background music
  2. A beautifully lit scene, with a well-dressed environment (drawing board, no computers)
  3. Sir Norman Foster shows his personal connection to the subject matter; The Queen
  4. He shares some photographs of them meeting over the decades
  5. It’s 30 seconds before we even get any mention of the design proposal, whereas many of the others can’t resist talking about themselves or the designs within the first 10 seconds
  6. When we eventually see the proposal, it’s simple and relatable photo-reliastic images, not 3d animations.

Thomas Heatherwick, the designer’s designer!

​O​n to Thomas Heatherwick’s video proposal, he started by talking about their design. In his video, he had a lead designer who was being given some airtime, but didn’t actually add much value in what she was saying, and I felt that that confused the story somewhat​.

Heatherwick’s designs have to be mentioned though, as true to form, he has delivered a sensual, beautiful memorial. Yes, it would probably cost more to make and need a lot more permissions to create, but it’s head and shoulders above the others in terms of originality. But this further proves my point about reading the room, and simplifying your proposal to meet with the audience, in this case, a rather reserved royal family.

In conclusion, I feel it is better if one person narrates it. That person should respect the history and focus on the existing status and history of the park and build on what is already there. You’ve also got a bear in mind that of the five designs, the winner was by far the biggest name and the safest pair of hands.

Learn more about the Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial here.