HappenDigital

our approach

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  Choosing the right direction

  Communication is often most effective via humour or emotion. Happen used both to get the messages across. The first video was based on the fact that teachers are asked dozens of questions each hour. So it asked the viewer whether he or she would be able to answer children’s toughest questions in a fun Buzzfeed-style format. The second was a more traditional case study. It told the story of how a teacher helped a troubled, disruptive pupil turn her life around and win a place at Oxford University in an engaging, emotional way.

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  Using humour

  Getting the best out of children on camera requires a relaxed shoot and a lot of patience. We spent a day filming with the pupils of Reach Academy in Feltham, asking a lot of open-ending questions to make sure we had enough good answers to make a funny and powerful film. We used a bright yellow background, so the video would stand out on Facebook. We edited the footage to make viewers imagine themselves as teachers – and cut in a series of chapter headings to ask whether they could cope in the classroom.

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  Creating an emotional response

  The second video was about a young woman and her former teacher. As an immigrant, the young woman struggled to learn English and understand what was going on in the classroom. Insecure and frustrated, she was violent and disruptive, and often excluded from school as a result. But over time, her teacher made her realise her potential and become an A-grade student. Key to the video was the interviews with both teacher and student. These covered her angry behaviour, the support she received and how she won a place at Oxford University. We then cut the interviews with illustrations of the student kicking off in the classroom, footage of her at Oxford and shots of the teacher in the classroom. But most importantly, we showed how the teacher’s help made the student feel, and how her success made him feel. This gave the video a genuine emotional power.