ETERNIZING CORPORATE SOCIAL GOOD 

Genre Of Impact 

Corporate Giving |  Volunteerism 360

Are humans designed to do good? All the science and signs say yes. Humanitarianism has always been one of the main pillars of society. Purpose beyond profit is life altering. For the benefactor, the beneficiary and the world. Which is why, selfless or selfish motives notwithstanding, in a world becoming increasingly isolated and, yes, even artificial, sharing more of these instances of good is not just important… it is required. When people see their friends, peers, colleagues and leaders participating in and being moved by giving and volunteering in all ways, this transformative energy is contagious. It inspires people to be and see the change they want around them through individual and collective action. It figures then that the social impact sector can greatly benefit from precision storytelling design. When Oracle wanted to chronicle, on film, 30 years of the tech giant’s volunteerism across the planet including India, their India and global CSR teams resonated with Better Earth Coalition’s approach to impact design and storytelling. The mandate for Better Earth Coalition here was to design and create the India film as also capture content that would be a part of the global film that was being created. Turns out, doing good begets better.

 

PROBLEM(S)

Capture on film the soul of the work that Oracle Volunteers in India do with underserved schools to help influence and advocate STEM learning among students, with a keen focus on girls.

INSIGHT

Oracle is 100 percent heart and not just tech. The work that Oracle does is not just about technology, but about the purpose or purposes that technology enables. Through practical ‘learn by doing’ experiments with students and collaborating with grassroots foundations, Oracle brings its expertise in state-of-the-art technology into straight-from-the-heart initiatives. From the outset, Better Earth Coalition decided that the story must have a heart and message that resonates universally across audiences and the world. The narrative of the shot-taking had to capture not just the launch of the actual science experiments, but the ignition of limitless space dreams in girls. Powered by the work of Oracle’s volunteering heroes. Small, cherished hopes of an underserved school and its bright students take flight with the help of parachutes, gliders and Oracle Volunteers in collaboration with the Bodhi Tree Foundation. Students would assemble parachutes, gliders and a phases of the moon experiment. Then, using a parachute, they would launch a small payload. The story would be designed to capture the launch of fulsome young dreams and Oracle Volunteers’ passion and commitment. Bound by lucid storytelling, glue and hope. 

ACTION
  • As the first step, the editorial, creative and design teams at Better Earth Coalition researched, conceptualised, wrote and designed the story, which went through several iterations. As this was to be a non-fiction short story on film, the script served as the blueprint or guide to achieving the heroes’ journey and story’s arc.
  • Once the story and its different elements were locked in, our direction, production and post-production teams worked on the pre-production and technical aspects of the filmmaking to bring to life the story.
  • Better Earth Coalition’s direction and production team shot the film at a government school in the city of Bengaluru. Our teams worked with Oracle to ensure the volunteers, school, students and other stakeholders participated wholeheartedly to do the story justice. Right from the anticipation of the adventure, the preparation of the experiments, to the launch.
  • Our post-production and edit team meticulously dove deep into the minutest aspects of the edit to birth a story that would live up to the ambition set at the beginning of the endeavour.
  • As this was done in equal partnership with team Oracle, team Better Earth Coalition liaised with the former’s India and global teams to ensure all creative and technical requirements were always aligned, ensuring all payloads land safely on target.
RESULTS

The footage, shot by Better Earth Coalition which met all the global requirements, was sent to Oracle’s edit partners in the United States where it was seamlessly stitched into the global film. Meanwhile, the raw footage launched a new rocket of ambition in the Oracle Volunteering team, both in India and at the global level — to see the standalone India story be placed on its global digital channel. The evolution and elevation of this small project, from being just regional footage in the global film to becoming an independent narrative of its own to be aired on the cloud software behemoth’s global digital and social media channels, is testament to our belief in and commitment to telling stories that impact better, irrespective of the medium. Several payloads were delivered successfully with the power of precision storytelling. This goes a long way to inspire the CSR and impact sector to deliver better for their beneficiaries in the long term. Watch the Oracle India Volunteering film here.