Last week marked one year since the Covid-19 virus was declared an international pandemic, a crisis that has not only affected our physical health, but our mental health. In fact, a new report from the American Psychological Association shares that a quarter of essential workers were diagnosed with a mental health disorder during the pandemic.
While Mental Health Month is not until May, I thought this milestone made the topic of mental health particularly relevant at this moment.
One organization on the frontlines of this crisis is the McClendon Center in Washington, DC, a nonprofit that serves the needs of adults diagnosed with a mental illness.
The McClendon Center came to us last fall, as they wanted to capture their history and honor their retiring director. Normally, there might be parties and gatherings with fanfare, but the pandemic canceled that.
Instead, we adopted the motto of McClendon’s scrappy and resourceful leader Dennis Hobb, who always makes great things happen no matter the circumstances. We did the best we could and filmed an in-person, one-on-one interview with Dennis (in a large room with high ceilings, good air flow and a masked crew.) Then, we interviewed his former colleagues and clients over Zoom and added previously shot footage and photos to tell the story.
The key element to making this video work? Casting strong characters.
You may not think of a nonfiction film as having “characters,” but every person you decide to interview on camera for a video for your organization, you should consider them a character in your film. Meaning, not only do they have a good story to tell, but they are able to share their feelings and thoughts openly, honestly and emotively on-camera. Recognize that not every person is comfortable nor good at doing this.
When I initially spoke with the McClendon Center, the first thing they remarked on was the fact that Dennis is a wonderful storyteller and they wanted to capture that. Had they told me he was not a very chatty or expressive person, I might have suggested that they don’t do a video or use someone else as the main speaker. Thankfully, Dennis was indeed a masterful storyteller and helped to make this such a compelling video.
The bottom line: always think about what video is best used for – showing and sharing stories in an expressive way – and make sure your storytellers are able to do this.
To view the full length video, click here.
