Three clients who challenged us in 2023
What a helluva year for AVM Pictures! Our industry portfolio expanded to consumer goods and electronics, yet we kept our eyes focused on our two niche domains: education and real estate sectors.
Amid the routine and the run-on-the-mill, we found opportunities that challenged our creativity and wrecked our brains. And we loved every bit of that. We shortlisted just three clients who managed to get something different from our routine tasks.
Before we spill the beans on that, here are some lessons we learnt along the way. So thank you 2023!
# 1 Do the mundane differently
Many agencies, including us, are always looking for challenging tasks. This year, however, we flipped this perspective a little bit. What if we approach our routine work differently? Our team began to bring new perspectives to the table, experimenting within the regular framework. The result was a better looking portfolio within and outside of our niche.
# 2 Outsource the mechanical
We had learnt this lesson way back but we truly really put it to use in 2022 and 2023. Our team learnt to outsource mechanical repetitive tasks to other agencies/freelance vendors while we focused on creative aspects. We are going to carry this forward in the new year too.
# 3 Update, update, update
To be clear, we always check back on our skills and this year was no different. We got ourselves certificates, did short online courses, updated our skills and now we are ready to face 2024.
Three top clients who challenged us this year
# 1 TEDx SAIT Event Coverage and Editing
AVM Pictures was invited by Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology, Indore to cover their TEDx event that they were organizing for the first time. There were 13 speakers from all walks of life, and they had to speak for 18 minutes each. That meant we had a lot of data and content to handle.
TEDx brief: Regardless of the sequence or line-up, each speaker should have a proper intro video and then have a properly edited version of their speeches for the TEDx channel.
The challenge
There’s a world of difference between how a speaker delivers a speech on the actual day and the edited video that gets uploaded. Each speaker was given 18 minutes but a few times the timelines got stretched inevitably. On the edit table, we had to listen to each orator again and again to make sure relevant points got covered within 17 minutes.
Event organizer and one of SAIT officials, Ms Chani Trivedi had similar thoughts. She said, “I was committed towards good content. So I had to make sure that important content didn’t get compromised while editing.”
How did we handle it?
Our editor sat with Ms Trivedi to collaborate on video editing of the event. Taking her inputs, we heard the footage several times, making sure the viewers don’t see the edits or cuts. We had to smooth out each of the errors and make it look like one long footage.
# 2 Phillips
Phillips is a multinational electronics goods company that didn’t want to create a run-on-the-mill advert. They wanted to uplift the spirit of sports people by highlighting their struggles and hard work.
Phillips brief: Weave a story around the obstacles sports people face in achieving their goals, keeping Phillips in the background.
The challenge
We had to use stock footage in an authentic way to stitch a story.
How did we handle it?
Our team first brainstormed about story ideas that could be showcased with stock footage without losing the emotional quotient. Our sound team chose music that would add to the story-telling while our editors made sure that the story came out clearly in the time period of the video. We also experimented with various storytelling styles and techniques to see which one best suited a sports theme.
#3 Center for Design Studies
Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology (SAIT) has continued to challenge us over the years through the courses/centers that they introduce each year. They introduced the Center for Design Studies in 2023 and they did not want to be just another college ad.
CDS brief: Their vision was to create curiosity among students about design studies in general, and not just their new launch. They envisioned a future where students start to view design as a way of life not just a career.
The challenge
Sell the center and the course without selling the center or the course.
How did we handle it?
The way our CEO envisioned it, the story had to be about how design changes people’s perspectives. Our content lead picked up that vision and wrote a script about how a design student or a designer has a different worldview compared to others. We then created a clear storyboard and shot it. It took us forever to find the right VO artist, but the final product led to sales for our clients. So hurray!
