László Bihari of organiKvideo explores the secrets of successful and effective social campaign videos. organiK is a video agency specialising in social affairs, producing videos primarily for NGOs.
Each of these commissions starts with a theme and an idea for implementation: for example, an environmental association opposes the construction of a nuclear waste dump in the yard of a local kindergarten, and the association wants its founder, a 96-year-old man, to talk about the dangers of nuclear fission in the video, followed by a few (5-20) sentences from all 6 members of the organisation's board of trustees and supervisory board. This would be the idea of a viral video.
But it's not sure whether this will actually become a viral video. If your NGO has the idea of making such a video, be sure to discuss it with a professional, or even several professionals, before you commission someone to produce it. Ask if they think it would work well, if people would be interested and how he envisages it being implemented. Every creative agency, every video crew would make the same video differently. So it's worth asking what that particular professional can do with the subject, what they can recommend and what they think about whether the initial idea is a good idea.
It's only worth commissioning a video if both you and the crew think there's a chance of a successful video, you've found the best format and you believe in each other and the plans.
Such an initial conversation may reveal that there may be better ways of dealing with the same issue. For example, there may be some agile parents in the kindergarten concerned who can speak to the heart of the issue, as it is their children who are at stake and who should be featured in the video. Or the children could be singing a little song about nuclear waste and that would get to the heart of the problem better - and more simply - than anything else
Choosing the right team
Video production can be a weeks or even months-long process. One key issue is good communication between crew members and clients. To begin with, you should choose a video team that has good chemistry, with a sense of who you will be able to get on well with.
It also helps if you like the team's previous work. Since there are many different areas of videography, it can be helpful if the crew or agency has done something that you will be asking them to do.
A key issue is the quote, but the best is not always the cheapest. What is more interesting is how they justify each budget item and the preliminary concept they bring to the table. You have to see how well they understand the task and how they approach it.
How to manage production?
It is worth clarifying the process of working together in advance. For example, what points have been agreed and where the NGO has a say in what happens. You don't need to control every move of the crew, because that kills creativity, but you do need to have collaboration, and you need to find a balance between the two.
Trust and listening to each other's opinions is an essential element of this work. You don't have to decide for them what they might know better, but it's no good if the crew sees the video as a space for self-expression and ignores your needs.
You can expect them to make the process transparent and give you the opportunity to correct it if you want to.
There are many stages in a production process where they can ask for your input, from planning, to shooting, to editing, to finalising. It's good to agree at the start of the production what points you want to see through and have your say on.
Repair circles
Often the finished video is not to the complete satisfaction of the organisation, and the crew is expected to make improvements. But it's important to remember exactly what you agreed at the start of the assignment, because if you realise afterwards that you wanted something different, you can't start the whole process again.
Therefore, when you ask for a change, always think about whether you asked for something that fits the original brief, whether you can fit it in.
Who holds the leash?
A common problem is that there are many different opinions within an organisation about the video being made. Some people may not even know about it at the beginning and only come up with ideas when everything is almost ready. One-stop communication is very useful to avoid such problems. The people in the organisation should first decide together what they want, and then one person should give instructions and feedback to the crew.
Communication role
Videos do not work wonders on their own, but their dissemination requires communication skills. That's why it's useful to have a plan in place before you commission it, how it will be used in the life of your organisation, how it will reach the viewer and what kind of impact you will be satisfied with. If there is no strategy for this, it is not worth producing a video.
There are many different platforms where video can reach viewers, and each platform has its own genre and technical peculiarities: for example, a longer video can be made into shorter versions for YouTube Shorts or Tweets, while a longer version can go out in a newsletter. You may also need an advertising budget to help the video get started on the road to visibility. It's also good to think about these before production, because even the production of a single video can generate a lot of "by-products" if you pay attention: these are shorter pieces of material that can all be used in communication.
But all of this only works well if it fits into the organisation's communications strategy, has well-maintained social media platforms, or has some idea of how the video will reach the viewer without them.
Long-term impacts
Good videos usually last for years. They always bring views, not just the day they are released. So results are not only measured in immediate impact. A fundraising video, for example, can bring not only donors but also long-term partnerships or press coverage.
And it's generally true of all videos that they bring the most benefit when they are really needed. And this can very often be seen at the planning stage. So, the most important thing for a good video is to start open, creative conversations about it before production.
Author/Source: organiKvideo