Here is the latest from Josh...I apologize just got it. Please have this ready for class tomorrow.
Mrs. Posey and Co.,
First of all, our teem needs a name. Secondly, here are the remaining stats in the list for animation and my choices/thoughts on them. One thing I will mention here at the beginning is something I don't want this video coming across as: a slam on bottled water / American prosperity. While I don't approve of the bottled water company per se, this isn't about putting them in a bad light. The purpose of the "wealthy America" stats is to motivate people to redirect some of those resources to help others, not abandon them all-together (thought that's great too) So just keep this in mind.
Oh, and I must correct myself: Shinae actually did use a crashing plane in her pitch, so sorry about that. And too, the "Animated Me" idea is really along the lines of what Matt and A.J. suggested, but more specific.
Ok, so here are the stats, and I've included the prior three for your convenience. Be to to reference back to the original e-Mail for the full stats, as these are somewhat abbreviated. Also, the order here is originally how I sent them to you, in the actual promo we'll start of with the American stats first, then move to the global water crisis, and thus have them contrast. I don't think I mentioned this in the other e-Mail, but there it is. This is where the storyboarding will come in (what order will be best for contrasting these stats and playing up the need?) This is the main thing we need a meeting on.
I've also rated them according to importance:
✩ - High (Be SURE to get these and do them well)
◇ - Middle (We want to really try to get these in if possible)
◆ - Low (Only if we've got the time)
Sorry if I'm complicated, but I'm your client, so you'll just have to get over it. ; )
Stats:
✩ The World's population count is 7 billion, but 1 billion lack access to clean water
- Kristen's globe graphic, with 1/7 getting sliced out is my favorite. But instead of "erasing" them, perhaps combine this with Rob's idea of filling up the screen with people, except they are just inside the globe, and have the people in the "slice" get partitioned out according to who's going to die from the lack of water (Rob suggested a red water drop) — you could even have me inside the crowd, and trying to avoid the redness. Another idea of using me (animated me) would be to have seven people lined up, with me being one of them, and three die in some way (fall over, evaporate, etc.) and I try to avoid this (I would look rather insecure as my friends evaporate). Both technics could be used: the globe and row of seven people, with whatever happens to the globe corresponds to the row of people. Get creative.
◇ An estimated 2.6 billion people lack access to improved sanitation
- Simply tie this one into the first one, making more of my "friends" evaporate or slicing out more of the globe.
✩ Approximately every 18 seconds a child dies / 4,900 per day, 1.8 million per year / 11 Boeing airplanes
- One thing I was surprised at in your pitches was the lack of the use of crashing jumbo jets to represent this stat; I was sure someone was going to have 11 jets smashing to bits. That said, I liked Kristen's "clock" graphic very much, with the numbers "echoing" off as the hand turns around. You could do the calendar idea, with 4,900 per day on one page, then flipping really fast to end the year and show 1.8 billion. I'm torn between Christina's idea of equating this number to the number of students in New York City, almost twice, and the idea of the jets crashing. The problem with the New York idea is that it would be potent primarily to New York City residents; remember that this promo needs to be world-oriented, so some people might not have a reference point for the city. The crashing plane concept, however, is something pretty much anyone can relate to. I'll let you decide, but just know that I lean towards using the planes in some way. (*cough cough*)
◇ Infectious waterborne diseases are responsible for 80% of deaths in the developing world
- Kristen's idea here is the best, with one minor detail. In her pitch, the 80% percent (representing those who die due to waterborne diseases), was washed away by water, leaving 20% behind. With this idea, it looks like the water is eliminating the deaths, not causing them. You might need to re-think this one, but one possibility would be to have the 20% fade out and leave the 80% behind sitting in stagnant water. It would also be a good idea to have the 100 graves spread out over Africa, India, etc. as the stat pertains to the developing world, not the world at large.
✩ Women walk an average of 3.7 miles to get water every day
- It's either Kristen's 54 football fields or Christina's 74 city blocks on this one (again, relation to the familiar). I'm more inclined to go with the football fields idea, but I think you could use both to play off of one another (start with the blocks, and then go a step further and say, "this is the equivalent of 54 football fields. Can you imagine Tim Tebow running a _____ yard touchdown?" If you're only going to do one though, I'd have to choose Kristen's idea. (do keep in mind how you would represent a city block in animation — football fields just seem easier/clearer)
◆ 660 million live on less than $2 a day
- Lowest priority stat, but Kristen's "double America" idea is by far the best for this.
For the transition between "settings" (Wealth vs. Poverty), I liked A.J.'s idea of a large hand picking me up and dropping me down in the poverty region. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Ok, on to the "Wealth" stats:
✩ Approximately 5 gallons is the amount of water needed for a human to stay healthy, but Americans use an average of 100 gallons
- I think this is how best to start the video. It's interesting and pulls the audience in. That said, save the "world's poorest live on less than 5 gal. until the transition later in the film. When that happens, we'll refer back to this stat as a place of orientation and expound on it. As to my info-graph choice, I'd have to say a fusion of Rob's and A.J.'s ideas would be best. That is, use the "stack of gallon jugs" idea of Rob's and have them fall on me (or soak me, or something). Start with 5 jugs, and just as I'm about to pick one up to drink from, the stack explodes larger and overwhelms me as I'm swept of into a black hole of... oh wait, this isn't a science fiction movie. Sorry. Anyway, you get the idea. I liked Rob's as opposed to Kristen's simply because of the height and magnitude of Rob's idea (keep in mind I'll be standing on an imaginary floor) You'd miss this if you simply filled the screen with jugs or simply filled one jug, as in Kristen's idea.
✩ Every day we soak in thousands of "virtual gallons" of water...
- A.J's idea is the best, with bottled of water added to a pile in relation to the number of gallons required for a product. However, I would suggest something other than bottles; we've already used gallon jugs. Perhaps fill up the screen with water in relation to the volume of gallons as each product is dropped in? Let me also mention that I have plenty more numbers on other products as well (in fact, I can get you that poster...) To transition to the next stat, you could have me swim to shore.
◇ More than 50% of Americans drink bottled water... low cost of tap water
- Kristen's "shading in America idea is good, but combine that with A.J.'s "passing up FREE tap water for bottled water" idea to get the point across.
◇ Bottled water costs 2 thousand times more than tap; relate to price of burger
- Definitely use A.J.'s "waiter/check" idea, except don't make the character being served jump in shock until the bill for the 2000x burger is brought out (the $2.00 bottle water is normal for the person) OR have the character come to a vending machine with $1,000 candy bars in it (and have the character be in shock at that)
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✩ Estimated $100 billion spent on bottled water globally / $10 billion estimated cost to fix water crisis
- Combine Christina's "bottles circling the globe" stat with Kristen's "equating money spent to # of wells" And to correct/clarify Christina's numbers, it's half a billion bottles per week, so over 5 times circling the globe. That's over 260 times around the globe per year!
And there you have it on the stats! I would like to use Shinae's "x number of children died during this video" idea too, just to throw that out there. Also, after the logo fades and the credits roll, I'd like an extremely brief, funny clip at end at the very end (back to animated me), just of me saying something purely humorous in relation to the film (kindof an off-stage idea). Just a thought. :)
Thanks so much, and I look forward to discussing it in more detail!
Joshua Guthrie
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