Essex County Council - Fostering

Ranch is a preferred supplier for Essex County Council, successfully delivering projects across various departments in creative campaigns, video and TV advertising, animation, editorial photography, sound design, ad creative, radio advertising, and print advertising.

Shadows in my Bedroom

Brief

Creative Campaigns | Video Advertising | Copywriting | Sound Design | Ad Creative

Essex County Council Fostering & Adoption services tasked us to create a ‘hero’ piece that conveys the life-changing effect fostering can have on young lives and moves the audience to action. 

Behind the Project

Making a difference...

Collaboration was key in bringing 'Shadows' to life, with help from some amazing creatives in animation, copywriting and sound design. Creating an animation that will move the audience (on a budget!) was no easy feat. From the outset, we knew we had to strike a delicate balance between informing and inspiring our audience, while also capturing the emotional essence of fostering.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was finding the right tone. We wanted to create a piece that was uplifting and encouraging, while still acknowledging the complex challenges that come with fostering. We worked tirelessly to ensure that the animation conveyed a message of hope, empathy, and resilience.

Another challenge was creating characters that were relatable and authentic but perhaps the biggest challenge, however, was conveying the importance of fostering without oversimplifying the process. We knew that we needed to communicate the significance of foster care in a way that was both accessible and meaningful.

Hope, Empathy, and Resilience

The Solution

Character animation opens up storytelling opportunities that live action simply cannot. The video is told from the perspective of a foster child suffering from trauma that is common in children entering the fostering care system. Animation was the best tool to tell this story as we can manage to tone of the narrative and create ‘shadows’ as metaphors for the real life causes of trauma.