#COMMUNICATELENS: 20 AUGUST
From dystopic films set in 2045 to moving tributes from employees, here is our pick of the latest in video communications. For more updates about #CommunicateLens, follow @Communicatemag on Twitter.
Great Guns and Brave
International film production company Great Guns and London-based creative agency Brave worked with Manchester City football team and innovative water solutions company Xylem to launch ‘The End of Football,’ a three-minute video that aims to educate football fans about the water challenges the planet, warning them that ‘a world without water is a world without football.’. Released on World Conservation Day, the three-minute film is set in a dystopian 2045, where water shortages are so severe that even football pitches become bone-dry. The video, filmed in the Club’s iconic Etihad Stadium, follows one girl’s journey as a Manchester City fan, initially showing her as a kid watching matches on lush green pitches. As she grows up and brings her own son to the games, everything is different, as that same green is replaced by arid dirt. ‘This could be the last time Man City plays,’ says the narrator at the end of the video.
Following the latest UN data estimating that almost 5 billion people globally could be living in areas of water scarcity by 2050, the film bring this often overlooked problem to the attention of the wider football audience; featuring different Man City players, it captures the imagination of football fans across the world. For many football fans, the reality of living with water scarcity is just one generation away.
Emperor
UK employee-owned creative agency Emperor created a short film, ‘Our View,’ capturing life over the past four months, as a tribute to their former staff member, Stuart Wisken, who succumbed to Covid-19 in April. The video is a collection of Emperor employees’ thoughts and words during the lockdown period. At the crux of it is the idea that these times, albeit very tough, has taught people to focus on the small things and realising that what is really important sometimes is just the simplicity of nature, quietness, or a special person. ‘I don’t need many people around me but I do need the right people,’ reads the video. With classical music in the background, no narration but only moving images and short texts, the video is very moving and appeals to the audiences’ pathos. ‘I don’t want to lose sight of what we’ve learnt,’ and ‘I don’t need as many things,’ and ‘I’ve learned the world goes on,’ are some of the quotes included in the film.
“As an employee-owned business it reflects the opinions and words of our own people and all footage was shot looking out of their windows at home. I’m so proud of what they’ve produced. A moving, beautiful tribute,” says Steve Kemp, CEO of Emperor.
Aqualla
Northern Ireland-based designer and supplier of bathroom accessories Aqualla launched a corporate video to convey the spirit of the brand, inform its audiences of what it does and much it grew over the years. The five-minute film opens with an interview with managing director Steven Allaway saying, ‘Part of the original Aqualla business plan was to set up an office in my spare room, use the garage for warehousing and employ my mum who had just retired from the bank to process orders.’ From those days, a lot has changed, with dispatch orders going from ten to 200 a day, and Aqualla becoming one of the largest bathroom brassware suppliers and mirrors across north and south Ireland. The video features different Aqualla staff members, who all emphasise the same point: Aqualla’s success lies in the shared ambition to offer the best customer service to each and every client. Aided by shots of Aqualla products and snippets of staff member’s daily lives, the video conveys not only the effort put in providing the best value for its customers but also the importance of a passionate team.