Client
UNICEF
Date | Duration
2023
Creative Director
Rita Dhankani
Executive Producer
Mehul Mahicha
Brief
UNICEF approached us with an exciting challenge: to creatively revamp their narratives for a series of short films focused on advocating equal opportunities for young girls and boys throughout India!
This venture marked our wonderful opportunity to work in collaboration with UNICEF, ICC, BCCI, and the Ministry of Education, all joining forces for the Criiio4Good initiative. At its core, Criiio4Good sought to weave essential life skills and promote gender equality into the fabric of childhood through the medium of sports.
More specifically, leveraging the nation’s love for cricket, our goal for the series extended beyond mere educational goals; we aimed to spark transformative shifts in mindset.
Initially, our focus was on developing the scripts in English and Hindi, capitalizing on our team’s language expertise! But UNICEF’s satisfaction with the initial drafts led to extending the project to include Gujarati as well!
Ideation
The initial phase kicked off with UNICEF hopping on a call with us, outlining their exact need for a script makeover. As they shared their vision for the films, we were fully determined to bring their ideas to life within these scripts.
With the event’s deadlines looming, and to get the film working on their desired impact, by all means, we knew there was zero margin for error. So, we worked closely with UNICEF to ensure that every stage was informatively corrected while we made it narratively strong.
It was many rounds of hard work and careful interpretations to get the right emotions, personas, scenarios, dialogues, visual descriptions, priorities, unbiased, and meaningful transitions to get our scripts polished and primed for execution. Our production team wasted no time diving in, fueled by the big thumbs-up from UNICEF.
Once the foundation was in place with the scripts, we were ready to build these stories in their visual format in the most convincing, informative yet enjoyable manner. We took charge of the creative direction, charged with infusing the characters and dialogue with just the right dose of emotion and personality.
We had to make sure that India was reflected within the characters representing regions like Orissa, Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, etc.
Production
Now, let’s talk characters. With extensive research done for each region including basing the names, clothing, and backgrounds on them, we used the right image and video references to portray stories that were culturally relevant and relatable.
For instance, in “Goal Setting,” which unfolds in a quaint village in Odisha, we paid close attention to details like the clothing style and design. Characters like Akhila’s mother and brother were depicted wearing garments reminiscent of the signature Sambalpuri Ikat style, staying true to the natural setting.
After all, we had to make sure the films were visually authentic and nationally-inclusive all across.
Exploration was the keyword here. Although intended as a series, each of the 8 films aimed to highlight a unique aspect or trait. For this to be done accurately, all 65 varieties of characters and the 143 distinct backgrounds, had to be depicted with great attention to detail.
We also experimented with every filmic trick in the book – think camera angles, actions, and backgrounds – to capture the essence of each of them in motion.
After handing off our designed characters to our trusty production teams, it was time for the next act: animation reviews. Armed with eagle eyes and endless cups of chai, our in-house film writers, designers, and directors, combed through each frame, ensuring a cohesive blend across all eight films.
Our journey was not without its hurdles either, the most notable being the stringent timeline.
With the films slated for debut as the opening act of the Cricket World Cup 2023, time and quality were of the essence. However, despite the challenges, we were successful in delivering a compelling series that met UNICEF’s vision all within the designated timeframe!
Outcome
We take pride in sharing that the CRIIIO4Good package was distributed to around 1.2 million schools nationwide. The initiative was launched in all its glory at the NM Stadium, Abad, marking the start of the World Cup 2023.
And! Unicef roped us in to create their social media creatives as well. Their websites and SM platforms house the CRIIIO4Good campaign, well-received by the public.
The films received great appreciation from both UNICEF and the audience and are now hosted on the ICC, UNICEF, DIKSHA, and Ministry of Education websites as well.
Furthermore, these modules were also anchored by Smriti Mandhana, a well-known player in the Indian Women’s national cricket team, which made them that much more memorable within the community.
Credits
Commisioned by
UNICEF
Communication Specialist
Idhries Ahmad
Film Agency
Vivi5 Studios, Bangalore
Direction
Rita Dhankani
Executive producer
Mehul Mahicha
Line Producer
Souharddya Basu
Script
Kunal Pant, Anisha Das, Tanvi Shenoy
Animation, Art & Design Direction
Manas Pratim Sarma, Riddhi Gad, Chinmay Desai
Character Design
Riddhi Gad
Storyboard & Visualization
Manas Pratim Sarma, Surya Prakash Reddy G
Background Designers
Manas Pratim Sarma, Surya Prakash Reddy G, Riddhi Gad, Chinmay Desai
Film look and feel Design
Manas Pratim Sarma
Animation Outsource Team Direction
Surya Prakash Reddy G, Riddhi Gad, Chinmay Desai, Manas Pratim Sarma
Motion graphics & Compositing
Manas Pratim Sarma, Chinmay Desai
Film packaging & Design:
Manas Pratim Sarma
VO Source & Recording Studio
Voice Box Productions
VoiceOver Direction
Rita Dhankani, Manas Pratim Sarma
Music Production & SFX Compositing
Audiokraft Studios
Music Direction
Rita Dhankani