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In the UK, over 75,000 young people need wheelchairs to be mobile, yet many cannot access the right equipment through local services. Whizz Kidz exist to support all of them, ensuring they get the wheelchairs that meet their needs, preventing dependence on others, social isolation, poor mental health, pain, and injury.
Working alongside PR agency Manifest, we teamed up with Whizz Kidz to create a powerful suite of films to elevate brand recognition, increase service enquiries, and drive donations via a multi-channel campaign, delivering:
The campaign was centred around showing the impact of the charity’s work through the relatability of everyday milestone moments and how the right wheelchair, at the right time, is the real difference in a young person’s life.
After developing four unique narrative approaches we collectively landed on the milestones and hurdles of a young boy’s journey to school - and how Whizz Kidz can make a real difference on that journey. We wanted to show snapshots over time of the brave struggles of a child, in their life before Whizz Kidz, as they get up for school, brush their teeth, getting to their desk, and everything in between. Showing that the new wheelchair positively impacted their life was crucial in these milestone moments.
We needed to cast a real family that had benefited from their services but also in a way that had a positive impact on their school journey. After an extensive casting process, we chose to work with Jasper and his family as his parents marvelled at seeing Jasper finally be able to go to school independently in his new Whizz Kidz chair, fitting perfectly into our “milestones” narrative.
Our biggest challenge was to create an emotional, true-to-life story that highlighted a young disabled child's struggles without evoking pity. We needed to celebrate the independence and resilience of Jasper - and his ability to keep up with his brother, who gets to school on his scooter, gave us the perfect angle to keep a positive tone throughout the film..
But we did need to craft in some shade so that our first brand moment, the wheelchair fitting, had more positive lift. We emphasised Jasper’s life before WhizzKidz as more confined and restricted using locked-off shots and angles that increased his sense of vulnerability - then as his new chair enters the story we’re into fluid gliding shots.
That freedom was captured with a roller skating camera operator, Joe Sampson - the only way we could keep up with Jasper, now utilising his new found freedom in his Whizz Kidz chair!
Despite intermittent rain and three unit moves, we managed to shoot everything we needed in just one day, with one hell of a crew (praise emoji)
In the lands of post-production, our own lead editor Mitch Hall, took the reigns on this collaborating with Blake and Tom. Colour was handled by our friends at The Mill with colourist Maruf - who helped us bring out the the warmth we needed has Jasper finds his freedom whilst subtly muting those moments that lead up to it.
For music, we had the talented George Hinson from String & Tins composing an original score and sound design for the final film. We needed to nail a mood far from sad and melancholic but instead more thoughtful and reflective. This then needed to build into a triumphant end, but one that’s not completely resolved, after all, there’s still work to be done (your donations).
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