MRI: see further
Fondation Saint-Luc
Fundraising campaign to buy a MRI research lab
The Briefing
In medical research, seeing really is believing. Imagery is increasingly at the very heart of what researchers do. Doctors can now see more, see earlier and therefore treat conditions more precisely. They can also more precisely monitor the effectiveness of the medicine they prescribe. The result is simple: more lives are saved.
The Saint-Luc Foundation was mandated by the Saint-Luc University Hospitals to raise money to buy the latest MRI research lab. The foundation asked DoubleDouble to produce a film to convince sponsors that funding this is in their best interest.
The story we wanted to tell
How do you make a machine attractive? How can you make as many people as possible understand that this machine could save lives? Once again, we decided to tell stories. Those of patients but also those of doctors. Men and women who are ill and – thanks to research – whose vital prognosis was positive. The MRI plays a fundamental role in the research. This is what the researchers and those with the illness talk about, with feeling. We also used a series of visual metaphors to convey emotions which are often a driving force in sponsorship.
Valentine, Producer.Producing films for Fondation Saint-Luc is always an experience that is profoundly emotional. And this emotion is what we wanted to share in in this production.
Shooting
For this type of film, the pre-production is absolutely essential. The goal is to meet the patients and doctors to understand the medical aspects but also to create a relation of trust between us and the various people involved.
We then broke the production into three parts. The first step was to carry out the interviews, first without the cameras and then sometimes in different locations. We then met with the doctors. The challenge here was different. The goal was to make often complex subjects clearly understandable.
Lastly, we developed illustrations. These involved the patients themselves, but above all the visual metaphors that enable us to frame the message and generate a visual emotion.
Postproduction
From a technical point of view, we faced a challenge. Filming inside a working MRI lab is totally impossible. So we recreated this one using real images and 3D simulations.
Broadcast
The film was first shown at a gala organised by the foundation in the presence of some 600 major donors. When the lights went out, silence fell on the room – which lasted until the very end. We had succeeded in plunging the guests into these stories filled with emotion.
The film was then shown on the foundation’s social media and Internet site. The foundation managed to raise 2 million euros.