60 Second Documentary: The Importance of Maintaining Balance - Brief

Brief

Create a 60-second-long documentary video on any topic of interest, that would be shared on social media platforms. Working individually, produce the documentary about something meaningful or relevant to you. It must be in phone-screen format to match its intended purpose.

Background considerations:

With an ever growing saturation internet world, and the rise of all-sharing social media platforms, how can one grab the attention of an average scroller, and communicate a strong message in just 60 seconds?

Being brief, to the point and having a constant change of shots is a design technique that keeps a viewer engaged. The use of accompanying audio with moving image is another method that takes pressure of the constant changing of imagery / animation, keeping the viewer stimulated and involved.  

- Think about styles of animation, the relevant use of subtitles, and ways to incorporate text
- Consider ways to maintain engagement, such as quick transitions, use of audio and/or music to aid the visual output
- Pitches, production, 5-minute critique feedback

Concept

Context:

Having just finished the hit children's TV series Avatar: The Last Air Bender, the ideas, concepts and design techniques used to produce this culturally and theoretically strong narrative really fascinated me. The way the show communicates big ideas outside of the western norm, to a populist child audience, inspired the basis for this design concept. 

The show focuses on the four elements (earth, air, water and fire) and prevalent Eastern ideals on balance, influencing the characters throughout to understand the importance of diversity in both humans and nature, as being essential to a fulfilled life. 

In this way, the show goes beyond the standard rigid western textbooks, and notes ancient teachings that are fully acknowledged and practiced in other parts of the world. As such, the 60-second documentary hopes to summarise the essence of these teachings to a populist audience, through engaging motion design.

Rationale:

By touching on commonly understood concepts, the video hopes to pool eastern and western teachings into one output that communicates a message for everyone.

With the current polarised world, and with more and more people suffering from mental illness, it seems relevant to produce the 60 Second Documentary on the importance of maintaining balance in our lives - both physically and mentally. Inspired by the popular children's TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender, where the topics of the elements and human dominance are broadly discussed, the design hopes to make people think deeper about the most basic aspects of life. To ultimately become more tolerant and open. 

TA:

- Social media users