Reel campaign

Lately I have been wondering what it would be like to go into documentary film-making. A longtime admirer and viewer of insightful, educational documentaries ranging from the political sort to those found on the Discovery Channel, I realize that when one is not bothered to read, watching a piece for an hour during which first-hand accounts are given and beautiful visions are portrayed up-close is more than sufficient to make up for the lack of attention span. It is easy to learn from film, and thus it should come as no surprise that teachers use it in the classroom and therapists use it in treatment. And with increasingly expansive media integration, cross-over creation, and ‘multimediary’ principles prevailing throughout the world of graphic design, advertising and technology, the combination of art, music and video oftentimes makes for a profound effect. Such an effect is precisely what is needed when campaigning for a cause, as demonstrated by the two videos below:

MTV EXIT/Radiohead: All I Need

MTV and Radiohead have teamed up in this video to address the exploitation and slavery of children around the world in various economic sectors as part of the EXIT campaign to End eXploitation and Trafficking. In the effort to combat the inhumane practices of selling children into the sex or enforced labor industries, ‘All I Need’ (In Rainbows) is featured in this MTV spot along with impacting juxtaposed imagery for sake of comparison in the hope of making a difference by spreading the message to its vast audience.

The Big Boost/Heard & Swain: Roots

Do you know where the flowers you buy actually come from? The animated film campaign Roots takes a look at where our flowers come from, how they are grown, and the effects that the flower industry has on its workers and the environment. Written and directed by Paul Heard and Rebecca Swain, animated by Paul Heard and funded by The Big Boost, it is a very creative and powerful portrayal of a serious problem that is faced today. (NB: Heard painted each scene element in acrylic on canvas, scanned them in sections and used Adobe Photoshop to render cut layers and After Effects for animation).