80th Year Anniversary Video for Heifer International
Stan Slavev
Crafting Heifer International's 80th Anniversary Video
Project Snapshot:
• Title: Heifer International 80th Anniversary Commemorative Video
• Timeline: June 1 - June 30, 2024
• Final Video Length: 4 minutes 23 seconds
• Stages: Storyboard, First Draft, Final Video
• Deliverables: Storyboard, Final Video, Project Files
How it started
Late May 2024, an exciting opportunity arrived in my inbox. A representative of the Enterprise relations from Upwork reached out with an invitation to work on Heifer International's 80th anniversary video. This renowned global non-profit, with its 80-year history of fighting poverty and hunger, presented a unique challenge: to encapsulate eight decades of impactful work in a single video.
To kick off the project, I posed key questions about visual inspiration, voice-over status, and media availability. These inquiries set the stage for a collaborative process and helped clarify the project's scope from the outset.
Dealing with Roadblocks
As the project unfolded, several challenges emerged. The timeline shifted due to script approvals and global footage collection, requiring flexibility in scheduling - even working during my planned vacation. We faced the task of integrating diverse footage, from black-and-white historical clips to modern HD video, videos with extra colorful elements while maintaining a cohesive narrative.
Voice-over selection and creation (with AI) proved intricate, requiring multiple iterations to align with Heifer International's brand and audience preferences.
Technical execution in Adobe Premiere Pro involved color grading, motion graphics, and audio mixing to unify decades-spanning footage and maintain brand consistency.
From Concept to Completion
The project progressed through key stages:
- storyboard creation;
- first draft;
- final video Each phase required meticulous attention to detail and close collaboration with the client. The storyboard laid out a narrative structure encompassing Heifer's eight-decade journey. The first draft brought this vision to life, seamlessly integrating diverse footage.
Screenshots from the Storyboard
After the first draft, the client was satisfied with the result so far:
"The video is very nice. Thanks for your effort, and your patience with this process."
The final 4-minute 23-second video, while longer than their initial vision, comprehensively captured Heifer International's history, global impact, and future vision. It serves as a powerful tool for engaging partners, donors, and sponsors, while also inspiring Heifer's internal team and supporters.
The client's final feedback reflected satisfaction with the outcome:
"We appreciated your communication, flexibility and open-mindedness throughout the projects. We challenged you with this project since some of the footage wasn't raw, and you had to do the best with what we sent."
This project not only honed my technical skills but also deepened my appreciation for long-term humanitarian efforts. As I shared with the client:
"I felt truly inspired by your actions (of Heifer) throughout the years and in the different locations watching the footages. Really, I got goosebumps multiple times."
The Heifer International 80th anniversary video project exemplifies the power of visual storytelling in capturing a legacy of global impact. It was an honor to contribute to celebrating eight decades of transformative work, an experience that will undoubtedly inform my approach to future projects.
