We recently completed work for an exciting new client that makes educational tools and curriculum to help teach young kids how to identify and express emotions. They use plush dolls of characters they have created that represent different personality types and pair them with plush “Kimochis” (“emotions” in Japanese) depicting different emotions.
We got to see first hand how well children respond to and identify with these characters when we went and shot a series of in-classroom videos at the St. Joachim pre school in Hayward. Children were taught by both teachers from the school and by Ellen Pritchard Dodge, the educational director and creator of the product. Since a key part of their teaching method is visual and tactile, video was the perfect way to demonstrate how these lessons work and benefit both the children and their teachers.
After our classroom demonstration shoot, we continued our collaboration with Ellen and her company. Since their product is also meant for use at home, they needed another series of videos to educate parents on how to use them at home. This time we shot in our green screen studio to create a more formal, educational atmosphere and incorporate graphics into the videos. We were even able to shoot three extra promotional pieces with some spare time in the studio.
These projects gave us the opportunity to create two distinct sets of videos for the same company, using different production styles to most effectively convey each message. We were able to go out on location with our small crew, and in one day shoot seven in-class demos, showing the world how this product and curriculum helps kids learn about and express emotions. Then we were able to use our in-house green screen studio for more controlled pieces, using multiple takes and a more precisely scripted message for educational purposes.
Ellen could not say enough good things about her experience working with us. “The outcome we had was fantastic! It definitely overshot my expectations. Our users are really happy with us because now we’re visually showing them what they’re reading about. It’s a quicker way for them to talk to parents about what they’re teaching their children.” About the Ludlow Media working style, she said, “the value is the way they worked with us. That’s valuable because it’s our time and it’s our outcome. So I would say, value added: priceless.” We were happy to be able to help them teach and promote their product. Check out one of the videos we produced for them above, then go to the Kimochis website for more information about the products.
by 