Showcasing the Transformative Power of Play with LEGO
LEGO has been known to bring learning through play to thousands, if not millions, of children around the world through the LEGO Foundation and its partners across the globe. Be it learning shapes, understanding the basic rules of maths, or simply expanding one’s imagination, we all have our own stories of how LEGO shaped our learning and play time. So, it was time for LEGO to showcase the hard work put in by Build the Change, the brand Foundation’s own charity.
They commissioned JustSo to create a film showcasing the Foundation’s efforts in helping children and families understand that playing is the brain’s favourite way to learn. In turn, JustSo employed their sustainable production approach to reduce carbon emissions across the production process, and sourced local crews in each country they visited. The result was a series of heart-warming films, full of silliness and joyful moments.
JustSo producer and lead on the project, Auriol Wyles, tells us more.
LBB> How did you become part of this project at first and what was the brief? Why did you resonate with it?
Auriol> We were first approached by our clients at LEGO as they were looking for a partner to create a series of films that brought to life the incredible work they do supporting children around the world through the power of play.
Straight away we were struck by the passion and enthusiasm the team had and how we could use our storytelling expertise and our experience in global production to deliver films that engaged audiences whilst capturing the incredible impact of LEGO’s work around the world.
LBB> What were you aiming to showcase in the film and how did you achieve that?
Auriol> We really wanted to bring the power of play to life. To us, this meant showing all the silliness and fun alongside the sense of pride the children feel in themselves as a result of the workshops.
With the concept of learning through play and the children’s experience central to the creative, we knew we wanted the films to have an immersive feel, putting the audience in the heart of the action and the play. This meant shooting (where possible) from the children's eye level – allowing us to see the workshop from their perspective. It also meant incorporating GoPros where the children could self-shoot and interact with the camera really freely – giving us really beautiful, unguarded moments between friends.
From an edit perspective, we knew we wanted to keep the silliness and joyful moments in there, but had to balance that with real emotional depth and drive home that central pillar – seeing the positive impact on children at a personal and societal level; while placing the LEGO Group at the centre of the movement to encourage this.
LBB> How much time did you spend with the kids in order to put the film together and where were the locations?
Auriol> We shot in Mexico, China, Czech Republic and the UK, and filmed a mix of in-school and workshops hosted outside of school. We filmed with the children for a day. Usually that meant one class for the day, but sometimes, such as in Mexico, it meant splitting our day between two different groups.
LBB> What were the most fun parts of creating the film and why?
Auriol> There were loads of parts for me that were really fun. As with any production, getting to work with super talented local teams who all bring their own unique energy is brilliant. Of course when we could attend shoots in person, chatting with the children was super fun. They were so engaged in the workshop they were in, but also were fascinated with the film equipment so getting to speak to them about what they were up to, as well as share what we were up to was really fun and rewarding. With the ones where we couldn’t attend in person, getting to go through the rushes and see all the silliness happening in the classes was super fun and I am so happy we managed to get some of that joy in the final edits.
LBB> Tell me about the steps you took towards reducing emissions related to the shoot and how did you carry this out across borders?
Auriol> The first thing was reducing the amount of travelling we had to do. As we had short shoot periods (one or two days in each location) it wouldn’t make sense environmentally or practically for us to attend all shoots in person. We have amazing networks of talented local fixers around the world who help us run remote shoots with ease. As all the films had to feel aligned and work when edited together, we needed a lot of creative consistency. So we took the following steps:
Use local crew where possible. Avoid long haul flights for any crew and limit short haul flights to only when essential.
Shoot the Dagenham (UK) footage first so our creative lead could attend in person and make a rough edit to show the next crews limiting their need to attend future international shoots.
Selected a kit for the first shoot that was available in all countries we were shooting in.
Lots of calls and prep documents to align on look/feel and questions we were asking the children and workshop leaders.
As with all of our shoots, we seek to reduce emissions we attend by using public transport. We limit use of single use plastic on set.
