Case study: Using video to tell the story of Google’s contribution to a water conservation project

July 1, 2024

This blog post will describe the production process of the video we produced for Google to showcase their contribution to a water conservation project here in Japan. Our Japanese and English bilingual team was able to interview in Japanese locals involved in the project, and liaise in English with the Google team from overseas to ensure the message Google wanted to convey was told in an thoughtful and engaging way.

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1 Contact and first steps

While we do a lot of our projects through various Japan and overseas based agencies we have a good working relationship with, some of our most enjoyable projects are those where we work directly with the clients. We are in the business of not just making pretty visuals - out mission is to use video and photo to solve problems that clients. So the more clients we can work with, hopefully the world is a little bit better place. To connect with clients who are a good fit for the services we offer we use Google Ads proactively to get the word out.

Like many of our clients then Google contacted us through our site contact form (perhaps they even clicked through from Google Ads, I need to check!) directly and the conversation started from there.

2 Planning the video to be both educational and entertaining

Once we had decided to work together on this, we started planning how this video could flow, based on the message that Google wanted to flow, and the tone of the video as a whole. The video had to tell a serious message of Google’s contribution to a Ramsar Network water conservation project at the Watarase Wetland, with interviews of specific people included, but in a way that was entertaining and connected to the viewer. With the people to be interviewed already decided, we thought about how we could work with this. The usual approach would be to have the interviewee standing in the frame off-center, looking off camera, but we decided to do things different:

Interviewee centered in the frame, looking into the lens. A wider than normal framing to show the location of the interviewee which was somewhere connected to the interviewee. The shot was not just about them, but them as part of the environment
Interviewee sitting down, rather than standing. This was, again, about showing that a deeper connection to the location and environment and also feels unusual, catching the viewers eye.
Storks (albeit decoys!) in the background of all the interviews, with off shots of the interviewees also having a little fun with the decoys. This was not in the initial plan but came up during the first interview we did with the Mayor. Decoy storks, actually used to lure the original storks who settled at the Watarase Wetland but now longer used, happened to be nearby so we arranged them in the frame and then took one with us for the other interviews. The storks turned out to be a great way to get some smiles from the interviewees.

3 Location scout and shoot days

Working with Google and the local Ramsar Network representative we decided that a 2 day shoot, with a location scout for a days before hand was the best way to get the coverage we needed and to accommodate all the interviewees’ schedules. We also decided to also get some general bird and nature shots from the air and ground on the location scout day, which turned out to be a good choice as the first day of the shoot it rained.

What is great about these kind of topics is that the people involved are passionate and knowledgeable. It’s not just about them, but about their contribution to the wider project as a whole to make a positive contribution so they are happy to talk. Often though in Japan people can tend to memorize what they want to say before hand, to make sure their delivery is perfect, although this usually means that the delivery is stilted and can feel forced. This time was no exception, with a few of the interviewees initially just reciting prepared interviews, but by taking the time to turn the interview into a conversation we also got some genuine answers.

4 Editing to the message, topped with some fun.

With all the interviews in Japanese but the person in charge at the client not understanding Japanese there are usually two options to approach editing interviews done in Japanese:

Transcribe and translate all the interviews from Japanese to English, letting the client choose the parts they want. Projects working through agencies, rather than directly with the clients, often seem to require this. This can be a way to ensure that the important points are included in the final edit. However, apart from the extra transcription and translation work required, (even though this has been made easier by AI tools), perhaps because the word order in Japanese and English is usually opposite, it is often hard to make the comments chosen in the English translation flow smoothly in Japanese, especially for short videos which need a lot of cutting.
We ensure that we understand the message the client wants to put out and then we choose the best parts of the Japanese interview to convey this message. Once we have pared the comments down with put English subtitles so the client can check. This is by far the quickest way to go about the edit and results in the most natural sounding Japanese as it was edited in Japanese, rather than from the English translation. We took this approach and it worked really well, despite the direct Google person in charge not understanding Japanese. The final edit was later checked with Japanese speakers from Google and other related organizations

We don't have a particular limit on the number of edit rounds we do for clients but find that usually about 2 main rounds with a few minor tweaks after that usually get the edit done. The key to a smooth edit is, of course, thorough planning and ensuring that we are on the same page as the client about what the message of the video should be.

5 Outline in Japanese of the Google project from Oyama City

For Japanese speakers, Oyama City has page up on their site outlining the project and Google's contribution.