Watford Borough Council
Watford Borough Council
Watford Borough Council
Watford Borough Council
Completed
November 1, 2021
Client
Watford Borough Council
Website
Main service
Production
How We Approached the Project
We set out to capture a living time-capsule of Watford’s pandemic year, so our first step was empathy-driven research: hour-long Zoom circles with Cherry Tree Primary pupils, parents and staff, plus calls with Watford Borough Council’s comms team to define the series goal—document history, boost local morale and archive lessons learned. Armed with this insight we shaped #YourStoryYourWatford into bite-sized, school-centred episodes. Every storyboard carried one prompt in the margin: let residents narrate their own history—ensuring authenticity trumped polish.
Creative Fusion
To translate raw testimony into compelling screen moments we blended warm, handheld cinematography with first-person audio diaries recorded on pupils’ and teachers’ phones. In “Cherry Tree Primary School” we cross-cut sanitiser routines with playground laughter to balance hardship and hope, while “Ben at Cherry Tree” interweaves a teacher’s night-time lesson-planning with classroom footage shot the following morning, visually echoing the never-off-duty reality of lockdown teaching. A muted pastel grade evoked winter sunlight.
The Results
Community reach: The two launch films exceeded 25 k organic views across Facebook and Vimeo in their first fortnight, generating more than 400 shares and a flood of #YourStoryYourWatford comments that turned council channels into a virtual town-hall.
Educational ripple: Cherry Tree staff now screen the videos in assembly to spark discussions on resilience and civic pride; three other Watford schools have asked to join a second series.
Lasting legacy: Watford Council archived the films inside its digital museum collection, ensuring future generations can relive how ordinary residents kept learning, laughing and looking after each other during COVID-19.
How We Approached the Project
We set out to capture a living time-capsule of Watford’s pandemic year, so our first step was empathy-driven research: hour-long Zoom circles with Cherry Tree Primary pupils, parents and staff, plus calls with Watford Borough Council’s comms team to define the series goal—document history, boost local morale and archive lessons learned. Armed with this insight we shaped #YourStoryYourWatford into bite-sized, school-centred episodes. Every storyboard carried one prompt in the margin: let residents narrate their own history—ensuring authenticity trumped polish.
Creative Fusion
To translate raw testimony into compelling screen moments we blended warm, handheld cinematography with first-person audio diaries recorded on pupils’ and teachers’ phones. In “Cherry Tree Primary School” we cross-cut sanitiser routines with playground laughter to balance hardship and hope, while “Ben at Cherry Tree” interweaves a teacher’s night-time lesson-planning with classroom footage shot the following morning, visually echoing the never-off-duty reality of lockdown teaching. A muted pastel grade evoked winter sunlight.
The Results
Community reach: The two launch films exceeded 25 k organic views across Facebook and Vimeo in their first fortnight, generating more than 400 shares and a flood of #YourStoryYourWatford comments that turned council channels into a virtual town-hall.
Educational ripple: Cherry Tree staff now screen the videos in assembly to spark discussions on resilience and civic pride; three other Watford schools have asked to join a second series.
Lasting legacy: Watford Council archived the films inside its digital museum collection, ensuring future generations can relive how ordinary residents kept learning, laughing and looking after each other during COVID-19.
How We Approached the Project
We set out to capture a living time-capsule of Watford’s pandemic year, so our first step was empathy-driven research: hour-long Zoom circles with Cherry Tree Primary pupils, parents and staff, plus calls with Watford Borough Council’s comms team to define the series goal—document history, boost local morale and archive lessons learned. Armed with this insight we shaped #YourStoryYourWatford into bite-sized, school-centred episodes. Every storyboard carried one prompt in the margin: let residents narrate their own history—ensuring authenticity trumped polish.
Creative Fusion
To translate raw testimony into compelling screen moments we blended warm, handheld cinematography with first-person audio diaries recorded on pupils’ and teachers’ phones. In “Cherry Tree Primary School” we cross-cut sanitiser routines with playground laughter to balance hardship and hope, while “Ben at Cherry Tree” interweaves a teacher’s night-time lesson-planning with classroom footage shot the following morning, visually echoing the never-off-duty reality of lockdown teaching. A muted pastel grade evoked winter sunlight.
The Results
Community reach: The two launch films exceeded 25 k organic views across Facebook and Vimeo in their first fortnight, generating more than 400 shares and a flood of #YourStoryYourWatford comments that turned council channels into a virtual town-hall.
Educational ripple: Cherry Tree staff now screen the videos in assembly to spark discussions on resilience and civic pride; three other Watford schools have asked to join a second series.
Lasting legacy: Watford Council archived the films inside its digital museum collection, ensuring future generations can relive how ordinary residents kept learning, laughing and looking after each other during COVID-19.
How We Approached the Project
We set out to capture a living time-capsule of Watford’s pandemic year, so our first step was empathy-driven research: hour-long Zoom circles with Cherry Tree Primary pupils, parents and staff, plus calls with Watford Borough Council’s comms team to define the series goal—document history, boost local morale and archive lessons learned. Armed with this insight we shaped #YourStoryYourWatford into bite-sized, school-centred episodes. Every storyboard carried one prompt in the margin: let residents narrate their own history—ensuring authenticity trumped polish.
Creative Fusion
To translate raw testimony into compelling screen moments we blended warm, handheld cinematography with first-person audio diaries recorded on pupils’ and teachers’ phones. In “Cherry Tree Primary School” we cross-cut sanitiser routines with playground laughter to balance hardship and hope, while “Ben at Cherry Tree” interweaves a teacher’s night-time lesson-planning with classroom footage shot the following morning, visually echoing the never-off-duty reality of lockdown teaching. A muted pastel grade evoked winter sunlight.
The Results
Community reach: The two launch films exceeded 25 k organic views across Facebook and Vimeo in their first fortnight, generating more than 400 shares and a flood of #YourStoryYourWatford comments that turned council channels into a virtual town-hall.
Educational ripple: Cherry Tree staff now screen the videos in assembly to spark discussions on resilience and civic pride; three other Watford schools have asked to join a second series.
Lasting legacy: Watford Council archived the films inside its digital museum collection, ensuring future generations can relive how ordinary residents kept learning, laughing and looking after each other during COVID-19.
