Responses by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Background: Our oceans are dying. And if we don’t do something about it, the younger generations will be watching man-made plastics destroy ecosystems and obliterate entire marine species for the rest of their lives. This, as you can imagine, is absolutely terrifying. So terrifying in fact, that many young people—although very concerned—are left feeling hopeless and unsure how to help. Our goal with the short film “Life Below Water: The Arrival of a New Species” was to raise awareness of the United Nations’s Global Goals, providing young people with the resources and tools they need to make a real difference.
Reasoning: We started to think about our target audience and how we could get them to feel personally connected to pollution in the ocean without throwing a bunch of facts at them and making them feel helpless. We noticed that nature documentaries have a way of captivating an audience, making viewers suddenly feel emotionally invested in obscure species they’ve never even heard of. So, we wanted to use that same recipe for success and apply it to the ocean’s newest species: plastic.
Challenges: The unpredictability of Mother Nature. If you think shooting above water is complicated, just wait until you’re below it. Thunderstorms, crazy underwater currents and water quality weren’t things we could plan for, so we had to stay positive and prepared for whenever the ocean did clear up.
Visual influences: We wanted “Life Below Water” to feel true to what nature documentaries look and sound like. We were lucky enough to collaborate with Chris Bryan, an award-winning cinematographer who worked on BBC’s documentary series Blue Planet II. With him on set, we were able to capture shots that exceeded all of our visual references. Chris Bryan is the real deal. And we’re grateful to have had him on board.
Specific demands: Since this was a pro-bono project, we were working with a limited budget. When we found out Morgan Freeman had agreed to do the voiceover for “Life Below Water,” we all ducked out of the meeting we were in and had a good scream in the hallway. We had so many kind and talented people help us out along the way, and we are grateful that many people wanted to help save our oceans.
Anything new: We learned a lot about plastic. Mostly horrifying facts. Like, did you know that the average person eats a credit card’s worth of plastic every week? And that plastic is so integrated into our water system that it actually rains plastic. As we learned more and more about plastic, it opened our eyes to how necessary it is to protect the health of our oceans. As we uncovered the social and economic impacts that stem from a dying ocean, this issue became far more serious than many of us initially realized.
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