Case Study: Space to Village with SERVIR

As a video-led digital marketing agency, storytelling is a part of our DNA. We bring brands to life by using film techniques to craft narratives and visuals that go far beyond the standard TV commercial. Long gone are the days of simply flashing your product or service across your audiences’ screens. It’s essential that organizations have a plan for keeping their audiences entertained with their messaging, and how that branded content will fit into their marketing toolbox.

Think about your audience and what resonates with them the most. Which emotions and visuals will spark their interest and make your brand unforgettable?

Last summer, we were tapped by SERVIR – a joint venture between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – to journey across the world to Thailand, Bangladesh, Kenya and Nepal capturing what the program encompasses and who it affects. Through the use of satellite-based Earth monitoring data, SERVIR helps developing nations combat environmental challenges from flooding to water and food security.

The organization’s immense impact on nations across the world warranted a film that took an out-of-the-box approach to the traditional way in which government videos are produced. We accomplished this by…

Taking a cinematic approach

• Live action scenes: used throughout the film in order provide a more natural depiction of the citizens within their environment.
• Unscripted interviews: we include multiple interviews from SERVIR representatives, including NASA SERVIR Coordination Office Director Dan Irwin and USAID Climate Change Specialist Jenny Frankel-Reed, in order to have multiple voices driving the narrative.
  • The unscripted interviews also help convey the passion SERVIR employees feel about the project, which really helps bring the story home.

Each of these elements make the film feel like more of documentary as opposed to just another informational video.

Providing emotional value and scope

• Connectivity: The film’s genuine connection with the audience is established by having our subjects looking directly into the camera and speaking from the heart.

• Scope: We play up the global scope of the project by opening and closing the film with steadicam shots of subjects walking away and towards the camera in their natural environments.
  • The film wraps with a video collage of hands being held around the world to demonstrate the bond each citizen shares because of the impact SERVIR has on their country.

Motion Graphics

We love bringing a commercial polish to our films, and working directly with NASA gave us the opportunity to create some really unique title and motion graphic sequences from scratch.  These illustrative cutaways not only increase the production value of the piece, but help visually explain information that otherwise could not be captured from cameras on the ground.

Results

• Emotional Impact: Outside of serving as a wonderful marketing piece for SERVIR, the film left an emotional impact on both NASA and USAID internally.
  • Most notably, prominent figures within SERVIR were brought to tears during the initial viewing of the film.
• Organizational Bonding: According to Stacy Whittle, SERVIR’s Senior Lead for Communications, seeing everyone’s hard work culminated into one emotionally riveting film helped facilitate a closer bond among everyone within the organization.

Overall, the team couldn’t have been more proud of this project! We were able to successfully craft a message-driven narrative that shed light on SERVIR and the environmental issues facing nations across the world. Now for the main event…

Take a look at the film below!

Visit Tumblr for a behind-the-scenes gallery of the trip!

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