If you work for a Federal Agency—and around here, chances are you do—we bet you have a message you are trying to get out to your employees, to Congress, or to your constituency. You may be in need of videos that can help you train or motivate your employees, introduce issues to a congressional audience or even archive notable speeches or events. Braun Film knows your audience is unique. They can be hard to reach, seemingly immune to certain tactics, or just too busy to pay attention. Because we know that, we know how to overcome the hurdles you might face. No, we’re not masochists, but the only thing we like more than a good challenge is meeting it head on—and succeeding for our clients.
We’ll wrap your message up nice and neat, so you can deliver it right to your audience—and we won’t even use red tape.
As long time producers of commercial and corporate video content prior to our foray into government video production, we held the ubiquitous (but inaccurate) view that government video had to be ‘boring’. Process oriented, instructional based, ‘step-by-step’ focused productions that lacked imagination, were vanilla in their approach and that display little production value – that is the frequent misconception of ‘typical’ government video. And maybe that was true at one point.
However, after several years now as a GSA Schedule Contract holder, we’ve discovered that most government clients are not only willing, but hungry to do something that shatters this stereotype. Since receiving our GSA award in 2013, we've produced for several government agency clients including the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Education, Customs and Border Patrol, Homeland Security, US Aid, all branches of the armed services and many more. In that time, we have learned that government project managers and contracting officer representatives are extremely open to exploring innovative and exciting ways to reach their audiences and ensure their messages are heard.
All Videos Can Be Engaging
Even seemingly mundane instructional videos have room to surprise. Case in point, this video, which sounded 'dry' when the State Department commissioned a video to promote diplomatic protocol to law enforcement officers. But a flexible client looking to get 'outside the box' and disrupt expectations, worked with us to transform what had traditionally been a 'talking head' lecture based video into an engaging and interesting animated piece.
One of the advantages we bring to the DC government video production equation, is the fact that for over 20 years in the production world, prior to our jump into the government space, we were constantly challenged by our corporate and commercial clients, as well as our ad agency and PR firm clients, to ‘get creative’ in our approaches to their video productions. Our ability to leverage 'commercial' techniques and production approaches to our government videos means that our work can standout a bit from the normal expectations. After all, breaking down and understanding all the various components of what makes an impactful video for the private sector – such as analyzing primary and secondary audiences, context of use, call-to-action, etc. – applies just as well when constructing a video aimed at a government audience, or even a video aimed at the general public that is being produced by a government agency. No matter whether a video is being produced by private corporation XYZ, or government agency ABC, the end game is the same – speak to your audience in a way that will resonate with them, get them change their thinking on a particular subject, motivate them to take action, inspire them, educate / instruct – and the tools for reaching those ends do not need to vary greatly.
Freedom in Government Videos
It is true that there is sometimes more wiggle room for a 'different' approach in the private sector. However, even with the more conservative / straight-forward nature of government culture, increasingly decision makers are asking for video that is a little 'outside' of what is traditionally expected. This freedom is a powerful tool for us (and them) as producers, in that by disrupting audience expectations, we can create a 'stickier' video and offer a more memorable viewing experience for them. It’s a tactic that is atypical of traditional government video production for sure, but it also resonates well with government video audiences who may more conditioned to expect shows that are institutional or bland in their approach.
Of course, this is not to advocate that your government video production be some off-the-wall, crazy fun-fest (and we’ve certainly had to produce our fair share of straight-forward government video). The point is simply that given the right formula of messaging, audience, agenda, etc., there is no reason to NOT think outside the box a little.
DC Government Video Types
One type of government video that we particularly enjoy is the production of Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) for radio and television. These are essentially nothing more than traditional television commercials, however instead of selling products or services, they are used to inform/educate the general public about a particular issue (e.g., the Department of Education letting students know about access to college funds, the Internal Revenue Service promoting their on-line ‘e-file’ system, the Department of Interior helping to stem pollution, health alert education distributed by HHS, etc.). And just like any good commercial advertising, the goal is to grab audience attention and tell your story in :30 or :60 second blocks - motivating them to take action, or just become better informed about a particular topic or issue. This presents the opportunity for your production to make a real impact and, in fact, some of the most iconic advertising in history has actually been generated in the form of PSA’s (think, ‘This is your brain on drugs’, or the ‘crying Indian’ for example).
Too often the tendency to let ‘ordinary’ (read, boring) subject matter take on the approach of a glorified PowerPoint presentation rules. Even the most mundane of topics can take the road less traveled in an effort to make its point. Yes, it’s a very structured and organized (and cost effective!) way to tell your story through a medium that most agency employees are comfortable with, especially if you’re trying to just communicate a new administrative approach for processing forms or something. However, as soon as you lose your audience, then the video really has missed the mark and won't fulfill its purpose.
Personalized Government Video Creation DC
Conversely, if you’re willing to get outside of the ‘normal’ lane and come up with a more creative way of imparting the same information, then the results can be very impressive. This is not to say that the video needs to be avant-garde, humorous or kitschy, but simply could involve a more ‘personal’ touch such as letting your story unfold in the form of simple testimonials from agency employees sharing their insights on how this new process will benefit all employees by streamlining the process, saving time, allowing for better tracking, etc. Loading the show up with real people within the agency, versus some off-camera professional narrator, imbues the video with real personality, puts a face with the issue, and literally humanizes your message. Sure, this technique may require a bit more effort to pull off logistically, and may be a bit more expensive to execute, but imagine if the end result meant the agency’s employees all buy-in to changing the paradigm how they currently go about their process, thus saving countless hours and dollars.
This is but a single example. The point is that commercial techniques employed in government video productions can great increase the effectiveness of the videos.
