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Category:
Videography
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Date:
Jul 2021
Overview
Communitails is an organization that advocates for animal-assisted therapy. The introduction video explains all you need to know about Communitails. This includes their founding story, their members, what they do and offer, and even their awards and acknowledgements for the past years.
Problem statement
Most people always have the impression of Communitails as just an organization with dog therapy, particularly solely for mental health. However, there are still more to the animal interventions that they wish for the people to know. They want to share the different kinds of services and their benefits without them saying it over and over every time they introduce themselves.
"We want people to understand the organization...understand animal-assisted intervention...we coined the term 'mutual healing' and we reall hope that we are able to share this message..." — One of Communitails' founders
The goal of this project is to provide a video that encapsulates everything you need to know about the organization in just a few minutes. This will be used for future partnerships or clients that are interested in working with Communitails.
Role & audience
I am the sole videographer for this project as well as a co-writer for the script. The video will first be shown in Doquity, a medical platform. However, they wish to use this in any event that would need to introduce themselves.
Process
Initial meeting
I had contact with two co-founders of Communitails. We first had our initial meeting through Zoom, and they shortly briefed me about what they wanted for the video. They want to introduce the community in a short video that explains their vision, mission, services, and history. For how it looks like and the peg, they honestly left it up to me. I was overwhelmed a bit because in my other projects they already had a script, flow, or inspiration, which is why for this one I knew I had to do more research.
Survey questionnaire
After the initial meeting, I gave them a survey questionnaire. This questionnaire allows me to understand who they are and assess what kind of video would be best for them. This initial research will help me and the client know which path to take for the video.
From here already, I found out that the community's image and identity and how they are professional yet still fun. After further research, I thought it would be best to have a video that has both montage, typography, and live action testimonials.
Brainstorming meeting
I presented my research in a FigJam and shared the file to them for easier brainstorming about the final production brief and creative approach given the collaborative live platform. There was an exchange inputs as I gave suggestions while the clients share their thoughts on each. They also help me understood more about what they do, what the animal-assisted services types are, and how they really want to highlight this learning for t he audience. The clients and I also really agreed upon the fact that the testimonials are a must. I suggested for them to invite their clients in the past years and find a voice-over for the video to better narrate and explain the org. They already had nominations in mind, which is a good sign! Lastly, they really wanted their therapy dogs to be shown in the video, and I couldn’t agree more. Aside from the fact that it will add some emotional appeal to the audience, it showcases their advocacy as a clip of an owner and their dog will allow the audience to see how powerful the bond between them is.
Survey questionare results, research notes, and brainstorming results on a FigJam
Script writing
I started writing the script with the mindset of highlighting the Communitails’ services. I wanted the testimonials to show the first-hand experiences of working with Communitails. Their words should explain the benefits of such advocacy about animal assisted interventions, and strike an emotional impact for the viewers. Meanwhile, the voiceover and the accounts from the team would then be more about the information and formalities. After multiple revisions and help from the clients themselves, we were able to come up with the good screenplay.
Editing
I heavily followed the screenplay we had and used a vibrant animated background to still give off the “professional but fun” vibe they wanted their image to be. I chose the photos and videos that reflected each line spoken in the voice-over and testimonials. The montage at the end showed all of the Communitails' members, and I did it in the way that they all say their slogan together to signify the strong community that they are. This closes with a little animation at the end to show the dynamically show the motion between the person and dog in their logo as well as to properly end the narrative of the video with a brand mark.
Communitails' motion logo
Results and lessons learned
The clients liked the video! They highly appreciated the animated background and ending montage of the team. One of them even said that she had shed a tear or two during the part about their late founder.It was good that I had a healthy communication with the clients and they provided me proper feedback every time I send over a draft, even listing the timestamp for the each comment! They just had a couple of comments in terms of text and wanted a brand bug for the video.
The video had a total of 3 revisions before having the finalized one. With this output, Communitails can now easily explain to their future clients or to anyone who they are and what they can do just by showing this video.
Project takeaways
For this project, they did not have any peg, flow, or script in mind for the video which is why in the first meeting when they asked me on the spot on what could be nice I wasn’t able to answer straight away and told them that I will jus be sending a questionnaire afterwards. This made me realize how I should still be prepared to have questions in the first meeting. I always rely on the survey questionnaire I send to the client, but I should also learn to ask questions betterto really get out of the clients what they envision for the video.
As mentioned, one of the members of the team was a CNN journalist and from her I learned a lot. Her comments were precise and with reasoning, she explained thoughts like why music is essential in story telling, how brand bugs are important to mark the videos, etc. It was interesting to personally work with such a talented person, and it helped me to have a better eye for future video productions. This reminded me of how feedback really promotes professional growth. The littlest comments of other experts allow you to think and perform better next time you encounter a problem.
Thank you so much to Ms. Ginger, Ms. Hani, Sir Ron, and lastly to Ms. Mitzi of Communitails for being such wonderful clients!
Watch the Communitails organizational video below:
Made with Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects
