A Look at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan’s Annual Video
Each year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan releases a video to promote projects and efforts throughout the last 12 months and in 2021 we were tasked with the creation of the promotional material due to our expertise, perspective, and proven capabilities. This task required us to use local crews to shoot particular video components within 7 counties and 14cities around the country.
The final result included 6 videos, each lasting 2 minutes, that highlight stories from each area relating to the work done by the MOFA showing elements relating to common interests, concerns, and visions across Japan that involve ordinary citizens, unique perspectives, and shared values.
Creating Commercials
Since we were to film television commercials showing the work that the Japanese government had completed across the country and for the world, we had to narrow focus to critical themes of interest among populations around the globe. In total, we targeted 6 themes and only had 2 minutes to purposefully cover each one. The chosen themes were significant and large-scaled because they all related to essential topics from the last year or more and included topics such as female empowerment through sports, co-existing with robotic technology and AI, and working to slow and prevent global warming and climate change.
Addressing these magnificent topics in limited time created a challenge because we wanted to show the scope of the work completed with unique perspectives but had to sustain interest and succinct explanations of the work done in relation to the topic.
Getting it Done
To maintain attentiveness and show complete stories within the time allotted, we compacted the most critical aspects of each interviewee’s story and the work in relation to the ministry’s efforts. This allowed us to intrigue curiosity, spark emotional connection, and draft complete anecdotes relating to major themes of concern for the target audience.
In the end, the video portions were elaborate, yet composed, and detailed every aspect of the stories, plans, and projects to promote to the citizens of the country.
