What I learned from my first cross-province co-creation
When I first heard about the We Are Canada project, I was thrilled. I thought this would be a great opportunity to tell someone else’s story, someone who is making an actual difference in their community. Just the idea inspired me, and then I heard that my change-maker was in Nova Scotia, well, that’s when my heart sank. What I thought would be a pretty straightforward task turned into a headache. Where do we start? How do we gather b-roll? How will we put this together? The questions were endless! A few weeks later and I’m happy to report that my group and I managed to submit a pretty good video, despite all the challenges and limitations. Here’s how we did it.
Step 1: Take this as you would any other production
With a cross-province co-creation, the challenges are there but the rules stay the same. It’s important to be in communication with your subject, schedule time with them like you would if they lived in your city. Explain to them what exactly it is you are doing and yes, be honest and explain the limitations. Honesty is key and you’d be surprised how understanding your interview subject will be. Oh and for goodness sake, don’t forget about the time difference, if there is one! It’s imperative to be punctual and 9 a.m. your time doesn’t necessarily mean it’s 9 a.m. where they are.
Step 2: Think outside the box, or in this case, outside the province
Remember step 1, where I said about being honest and telling your subject about your limitation and what it is you are doing? This is going to be crucial for this step. Because you don’t live in the same province, chances are you’re going to need your subject to do you a few favours to make this project possible. These favours include shooting some video and in our case, getting her co-worker to record her interview on her phone. Because our Skype connection was poor, this was the only way to capture clear, audible video. And I know what you’re thinking; What if they say “no”? Well, believe it or not, they want to look as good as you want them to! You’d be surprised how accommodating and helpful they will be.
Step 3: Keep Calm and Stay Creative
Last but not least, don’t panic. Take a deep breath and don’t have any high hopes or expectations. Instead, do the best that you can do with what you have. Don’t worry about the result. If you put in enough work and if you try, the results will come. But you have to try. That means experimenting with several edits, making several versions and seeing what works and what doesn’t. Whether it’s playing around with image placement or audio, there are many ways to make this work (even if it doesn’t seem that way at first)
So there you have it, 3 easy steps to follow if you’re making a cross-province co-creation. Follow theses steps and the next time someone presents you with a similar assignment, instead of saying “how?” you’ll say, “bring it”.
