film/television fundraising
secrets of great footage shot in the field Peter Muffett explains how to get the best results from film footage you gather of your work in the field – at home or overseas.
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athering footage of your work either at home or overseas can be both exciting and daunting. Your starting point should always be to question if you really need to go and film. Making the most of existing footage can be an effective way to get your message across. If you consider this and still decide you definitely need to film, following some simple guidelines can improve the process and the end results.
1. Focus on what you need to film The temptation can be to try to capture a massive amount of footage to cover every future eventuality. But if you are trying to meet too many different objectives it will be complex, timeconsuming and frustrating. So first be clear on your primary objective. Is it to get footage for a direct response television fundraising (DRTV) appeal? Then need-driven footage is vital. Is it footage for a major donor film? Then capturing evidence of long-term or scaleable impact may matter more. Is it for a thank-you and welcome campaign? Your main priority may be ensuring people hear the voices of those you help and see the transformative effect of your work.
All of this will help to drive the footage brief, which will cover: • The type of need and solution you want to capture. • The types of people you want to feature. • The broad composition of shots. Questions to consider include: do you need lots of closeups of people/faces? The answer is probably yes. And do you need wider shots establishing context? This will depend on whether you need to film the setting in which the story occurs.
2. Be authentic in how you depict stories Ultimately no matter what the specific audience – whether major donors or TV viewers – your job is to capture reality in a way that will inspire donations. Remember there is a great power in authenticity. Having said that, every cause will have its own policies on how it wants to depict people, and of course there are the principles of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) code of practice to consider. But as a general rule: • Tell the truth – don’t manufacture situations or try to persuade people to do anything
they are not comfortable with. You need to respect the people you are filming, and particularly never try to direct people who are receiving help from your organisation, who may be in difficult or harsh situations such as refugee camps. • Avoid sugar-coating reality. While there is much public and internal debate about the ethics of how charities portray those they help, I believe that drawing the world’s attention to terrible things can inspire people to put them to rights. Yes, this can mean showing people in extreme situations, but it is in order to positively engage people in creating change. • Do your paperwork. To fulfil your responsibility to the people whose stories you are capturing and telling, be sure you have consent forms, footage and photo release forms, and the appropriate permission of individuals or families. • To accurately portray people’s lives and situations, capture biographical details such as names and ages, what challenges/ disasters/obstacles they have had to
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| F&P Magazine | December 2014 / January 2015
Insight, analysis and inspiration for nonprofit executives and leaders
overcome, and what impact your donations will make to them personally. • Identify those small nuggets of detail that can bring a person’s story to life in a script.
3. Plan a shot list with the end-goal in sight When you are creating a shot list, in essence you are trying to take a complex problem and solution, and express it as succinctly as possible. Crucially, film is an emotional medium, so it is essential to build emotional engagement between the film’s content and the viewer. This is achieved through footage that portrays: • One-to-one engagement with a child or children – or adults, if this is who you help – because people give to people, not to organisations. • Direct eye contact. • Authentic, moving stories of individuals and their challenges. • A simple proposition. This means clearly showing what are you asking the viewer to do (or what opportunity are you offering to the viewer) and how will this make a difference. An example of a simple proposition would be ‘$x buys a life-saving mosquito net’ (recognising, of course, that not all needs and solutions are so succinct). Having a detailed shot list should not inhibit you from filming spontaneously wherever a situation of interest arises. However, do remember that lengthy behind-the-scenes footage is unlikely to ever be used!
4. Inspire others by first inspiring yourself Film has always been a big influence in my life but never as much as it has become since filming overseas for nonprofit organisations. Recent projects in Malawi, Brazil and Nepal have given me the opportunity to tell the stories of real people. One in particular will stay in my mind forever. I was filming her at a child sponsorship project. We needed one shot with a natural smile and a sequence with a more sombre look. The smiling
How to get the best from interviewees Sometimes the best way to convey a need • State the problems/challenges in simple and solution is by enabling a fieldworker to language with no jargon. tell the story. But bear in mind that they are • Wear organisation-branded clothing if busy people! Do whatever you can to make life appropriate. easy for them, as obviously giving interviews • Repeat the main part of the question is not their priority. To get the most from in their answers (again, this helps with interviewees ask them to: editing), for example: Question: “What is • Speak in short, clear sentences – this makes the greatest daily challenge?” Answer: “The editing much easier. greatest daily challenge is…”
“If you are trying to meet too many different objectives it will be complex, time-consuming and frustrating. So first be clear on your primary objective. Is it to get footage for a direct response television fundraising appeal ... Is it footage for a major donor film?” shots were no problem! I have never seen a girl with such a huge beaming smile. Even her eyes smiled. But that meant it was impossible to capture a serious side. So I asked her mother why her daughter seemed to be the most smiley person on the planet – how did she have the strength to smile so much with what’s happened in her life? You see, I knew her story. At 11 years old, she was raped. The trauma caused deafness, and she also became HIV positive. The answer: since she has been a sponsored child, her life has changed and this is her way of saying thank-you to the child sponsors in your country. The humbled silence that fell around the camera that day will stay with me forever. The strength of that child will stay with me forever. People in the not-for-profit sector sometimes wonder if they make a difference – the fact is you
do, no matter what your cause area. To recognise that, you just need to hear people’s stories. And then tell them. By the way, as true direct marketers, we tested two campaigns: one featuring the smiley girl, and one not. The smiley girl’s version became our control DRTV advertisement, beating a ’softer’ story by 30% in terms of cost per response, cost per donor and return on investment. So what inspires you is likely to inspire others too.
Peter Muffett Peter Muffett has 20 years’ experience in direct marketing and helps nonprofits boost their fundraising through TV and film, as chief executive officer of DTV Group.
Then drop a line to plain talking, fluent in fundraising DTV. Email info@dtvgroup.asia to speak with Alex, Kerri, Angeline, Derek or Peter. Or find out more at www.dtvgroup.asia
Insight, analysis and inspiration for nonprofit executives and leaders
F&P Magazine | December 2014 / January 2015 |
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