Get the Picture?

They say, "A picture is worth a thousand words."  Well how much is a video full of pictures worth? In this video, pictures are combined with music and narration in order to convey an inspirational message: "If you've never failed, you've never lived."  We all face times when we want to give up.  When things get too hard, or we've been rejected one too many times.  Well, this video suggests that that rejection is want makes success.


Lucille Ball, The Beatles, Ulysses S. Grant, Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, and Abraham Lincoln- all different kinds of success, but one thing in common: they've all experienced moments of defeat that would've made other give up.  But not these renowned names, because they accepted the challenge.  Whether being fired, cut from a team, or given a discouraging note, these legends overcame the downfalls which came to fuel their success stories.


The images utilized by the video contribute to its pathos.  When talking about each legend, the appropriate pictures come up- a basketball for Michael Jordan, and a stage for Lucille Ball.  This reminds the viewer of what their success was which provides clarity.  The music in the background of the narration is thought-provoking and in sync with the narrator and images which makes the video seem more fluid.  Along with the images and music, certain words are displayed when talking about each legend: "turned down," "failed," "cut."  These words are words that average people experience throughout life.  This makes these legends seem relative to our own lives, and our own defeats.


Discretely, a bandage is shown on a child's knee as the narrator says, "If you never failed..."  Followed by a child riding a bike saying, "you've never lived."  The bandage represents failure, or being wounded from rejection.  The child on the bike represents the success of learning how to ride a bike.  After falling and getting back on the bike again, success eventually comes.  This metaphorically represents challenges that everyone faces throughout life.  When we fall, we must get back on the bike in order to fully experience the road ahead.


After losing your fiance, failing in business twice, and being defeated in 8 elections, you would not think you could ever appear on a penny.  Well, Abraham Lincoln probably didn't think so either.  With these examples, anything seems reachable.  Through the use of images in sync with music and narration, this video successfully conveys a powerful message of never giving up.  When being rejected, you may feel that you don't have what it takes to succeed, but this video shows that everyone has what it takes- the difference is if you believe that.