VISIBILITY OF EU PROJECTS: How does production value help successful EU projects?

Video content has become an indispensable part of many products or services, including projects funded by the European Union. The preparation should include clear communication plan and goals, in accordance with the project complexity, phases and the budget.

Socially significant projects need excellence too 

Excellence in video production is the result of many years of production experience, especially when it comes to EU projects that are quite specific. Such often socially significant projects require every topic to be approached with a great deal of thought and responsibility. Whether they talk about society, democratization, human rights awareness, social inclusion or marginalized groups – the expectations are high.

Big or small – every project needs a video content that presents its values in the best way 

Projects funded by the EU have a major impact on the daily lives of the citizens. Themes are various: large projects in the field of transport or environmental protection, projects that support the development of institutional foundations or those of art and culture. What they all have in common (among other guidelines), is that they must have a clear, well-designed communication plan and meet visibility criteria.

EU program managers, as well as those who implement it, are aware of the importance of respecting the communication strategy of a certain project. A production company that is taking over the creative part, will use its knowledge to help translate the important information into visual language. The activities and visibility of the project imply that, according to the realized phases of the project, the progress and the achieved results are presented, and video is the best medium to show the result. As for the long-lasting projects, their success can be monitored from the beginning to the end. In that case, videos produced in series, and that can be a great experience for both the client and the production.

A couple of simple and useful criteria for the creative production team  

The communication strategy and visibility of EU projects has very clear criteria. The pre-structured communication plan must have a clear communication goal, a well-defined target audience, and key messages aligned with the EU’s overall objectives. Accurate and factual information is somehow implied, and what is very important, is a storytelling approach that emphasizes the impact of certain economic, cultural, social activities on the lives of individuals, instead of speaking in administrative terms or dealing too much with budget figures. Every activity should be focused on people, and specifically, how it contributes to the betterment of one’s life. It is important to provide a local context, to speak the local language, and at the same time to respect the fundamental values ​​and principles of the EU.

Video content can be adapted to other speaking areas, so if a narrator is present, the narration can be synchronized in various languages. However, with interviews, due to the authenticity and better transmission of the message, it’s much better to leave the original language and subtitle the presenters in required languages. Clearly, the video must be prepared for the channels through which it will be distributed (e.g. social networks), as well as to the target audience (e.g. youth).

An important element is respecting the budget, which requires advanced careful planning of the production.

Finally, what has been done should be evaluated. With all the above in mind, entering the oreproduction phase, the production crew will start scheduling the filming. When approaching the development of the concept or scenario of future video content of a project, one should add a spice of storytelling skills, sense of story / project, choosing the right angle from which the story would be told. And finally, the approach to filming types – documentary, commercial, animated, or a hybrid of the aforementioned. For a great result, very good preconditions are, of course, experience and a number of successful, already realized projects.

By choosing a documentary approach, we are finding out the foundations of socially important topics

A few years ago we produced a video project called No One’s. Funded by the EU IPA Fund, the story was about the fate of three refugees from different territories, and the not-so-nice circumstances in which they live almost 20 years after the war.

The goal was to tell their stories in the best possible way, while maintaining the much-needed line of reality. We decided on mostly documentary filming approach – in fact, the only logical one in this case. What it means is connecting with the characters, having a closer relationship with them, which is in a way a mutual relationship, because they give us an insight into a part of their intimate world. The hand-held camera, which is often used in this approach, enhances the impression of intimacy, and at the same time can react faster to an unforeseen event.

Given that the documentary approach is mainly used when narrating socially important topics, with the aim of raising awareness of a particular vulnerable or marginalized social group, achieving authenticity is crucial. This approach, given the generally less equipment and crew used, implies slightly smaller budgets.

Sometimes a story requires a more commercial approach or to be entirely animated – the concept and script will set the direction 

On another project, also funded by the EU IPA Fund, called Competitive Croatia, we dealt with a different topic. The economy domain requested a slightly different approach to filming – the one we mostly call ‘commercial’. On another project funded by the EU, Inspire, we fully used 3D animation.

Commercial filming calls for a specific approach; the animation or the filming equipment should on a higher level. During filming, more expensive cameras and lenses are used, much more lighting, setting, costumes, props… the film crew is extended. A light movement of the camera by the steadicam operater contributes a lot to the luxury of the shot. It initially requires a larger budget, each possible additional day of filming is simply too expensive, so good planning is extremely important.

Whether you are shooting a documentary, a commercial video or a hybrid, with good preparation and a professional crew, there is magic on the film set. The result is great video content that everyone is proud of and say “Wooow!”.

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