4/14/09 Update – Check out the early feedback from the CEO of Goodwill, the former CEO of the Gates Foundation, and Obama’s statewide Field Director!
The Los Angeles Parents Union contacted me to help them launch the Parent Revolution, a grass-roots campaign to transform the schools of Los Angeles within 3 years.
To jumpstart the campaign, LAPU wanted an online video that would get the message out to parents and start to spread virally. Working closely with LAPU, I decided that the video needed to incorporate the following strategy:
Purpose – To engage parents on both logical and emotional levels, ultimately inspiring them to: learn more, sign up for, and become further involved with the Parent Revolution.
Target Demographic – Los Angeles parents with children currently attending the LAUSD.
The video needed to be:
1) Accessible – LAPU’s complex and detailed strategy needed to be explained in a clear, easily digestible message.
2) In-Depth – The message also needed to be detailed enough to convince parents that this campaign had a viable plan and was a legitimate effort to reform education.
3) Emotional – Parents needed to connect with the message on an emotional level, to realize that this movement would directly affect their own children.
4) Shareable – To facilitate viral sharing between parents, the message needed to be presented creatively, stay under 3 minutes, and emphasize immediate action.
So with all that in mind, I decided to go with the ‘whiteboard and words’ approach, being heavily influenced by numerous dynamic typography videos online. Since the Parent Revolution needed a lot of explanation, I thought, what better tool than a classroom whiteboard to easily guide the audience?
I loved the idea of taking dynamic typography, which is always done digitally, and bringing it into the physical word. So I worked with artist Kassie Funcell, who brought a distinct hand-drawn approach, while simultaneously writing the script to make sure the visuals and the message were developed hand-in-hand.
I also felt it was crucial to have the visuals perfectly synced with the music, so I worked closely with composer Will Lam who created a custom-fit soundtrack in which every note matched the words and emotions being shown onscreen.
And after a month of intense preparation, a hectic 12-hour shoot, and a few long weeks of editing and motion graphics work, the video is done and ready to go. I hope you guys like it, and most importantly, I hope the parents of Los Angeles do.
Client: Los Angeles Parents Union
Title: ‘Parent Revolution’
Length: 2:57
Director/Writer/Editor: Chris Yi
Cinematographer: Matt Bass
Crew: Britt Brzoza, Kassie Funcell
Art Director: Kassie Funcell
Composer: Will Lam
