Client:
Baltimore Christian School
Project:
5-minute Marketing Video
Request:
We have a new principal and a few new teachers since our last video, so we want to create an updated video to be shown at a banquet introducing the new principal. The video will also be used to promote the school as the principal solicits support from the community. We also need a brochure with a logo designed in the form of a shield or crest.
Time Frame:
1-month to complete the video and print the brochures in time for the banquet
Budget:
Low
Description:
Baltimore Christian School is part of Faith Christian Fellowship Church in Pen Lucy—a low-income community in northern Baltimore. I’ve already produced several videos for the school, the church and some of their associated ministries. So, I know the community, the structure and the key leaders involved with the school. Their main need in this project was to improve the quality of their promotional materials. The school has been around for over 12 years but, until recently, has not had professional marketing tools to promote their excellent work with the children in the community. It was important that they communicated parental involvement. They also wanted to highlight the great new things they were implementing at the school.
Obstacles:
There was a short turn-around time for producing all three pieces of this project—the logo, brochure and 5-minute video. The new principal was new…so she doesn’t have all of the knowledge of the school’s history and the connections within the community. The marketing point person was an external consultant who lived out of state. There was a lot of material to cover in a 8.5 x 14 brochure and 5-minute video.
Solutions:
Since I know the school well having produced previous videos for them and being an active volunteer, I was able to help give advice on who we should interview for the video and what key information should be included in the brochure. I shot the photos for the brochure so we saved money on buying stock images. I also had some old video footage we could potentially use for b-roll which would save time and expense. I suggested we use sound bytes from several interviews (as opposed to a voice-over) to help tell the story of the school—showcasing its diversity and the plethora of people involved in this community.
Favorite Element:
At the beginning on the video we wanted to establish the history of the school and church. At first we had the founding pastor tell the story of the roots of the community, church and school—but it was difficult to include the quantity of information and still be under five minutes as well as not losing focus of the current and new work being done in the school. So, I came up with the idea of using some of the current photo images I shot at the school but giving them a sepia treatment to make them look a bit aged—and then using text on the screen to tell the history with simple phrases. The idea came to me while watching the open of The Last King of Scotland.
