The challenge

In the midst of the second Covid lockdown in 2020 I was asked to develop a creative concept to pitch to Land Rover for the IFRC and British Red Cross.  Their partnership was long-standing but the pandemic put a stop to ‘business as usual’ meaning that communications plans had been interrupted for the year.

Keen to communicate inspiring human stories from focus countries where Land Rover funding was directed, but unable to send people on shoots on the ground, the challenge was to design a project which could effectively capture authentic and quality user generated content (UGC) in order to bring audiences closer to the work they supported in multiple countries on the ground during this historic moment.

The creative

Knowing all too well the challenges of capturing quality, engaging UGC footage, especially in a humanitarian context where volunteers and staff are focussed on their objectives in challenging environments, I wanted to come up with a process that took the burden off those on the ground.

I pitched ‘On the Ground: Humanitarians in Action’ - a fly-on-the-wall documentary series to give audiences an in-depth, immersive series of content allowing them to join emergency response teams on the ground in different countries during the pandemic.  

Teams in each country were selected based upon interest, to film over a 3-month period using 360 degree GoPro cameras which could capture everything around them.  Cameras could be mounted in the Land Rover vehicles they used to deploy, and used on selfie sticks and mounts whilst the volunteers were in action. 

Using the 360 reframed plugin for Adobe Premiere the production team were able to edit scenes from the footage - meaning the volunteers simply had to hit record and not worry about learning how to frame individual shots and ensure they captured enough angles and shot types for a scene to be created.  This meant our local producers in each country were able to spend more time supporting the teams with ideas of what and when to film and helping them deal with challenges around ethics and consent when capturing the footage, over technicalities of how to become professional shooters!

The result

The series was premiered as part of International Red Cross week via a Facebook livestream screening of the global trailer and teaser clips from each of the 4 episodes along with the first episode in full. The films were accompanied by a Q&A panel discussion focussed on the future of crisis response, hosted by Euronews Correspondent Anelise Borges. 

The project was a ‘first’ in many respects and has left a powerful legacy of true global collaboration. Pioneering not only in the filming approach, but also in distribution through live-streamed Q&A events which enabled Red Cross National Societies to use the films as a platform to engage different audiences around the world in their work. 

The films were a huge success with both Land Rover and the Red Cross National Societies involved, as they clearly demonstrated the impact the partnership and vehicles have on emergency teams around the globe, but focussed on the people delivering life-saving work rather than the vehicles themselves.