The build up to the first ever Invictus Games created much excitement and intrigue, and the need for a compelling film to help drive awareness of the event and generate ticket sales became apparent. How could the Royal British Legion connect with the viewers and deliver a strong call-to-action?
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Director: Rupert Bryan
Producers: Louisa Edwards & Rupert Bryan
DPs: Matt Beecroft, Paul King
Client: The Invictus Games
Generate awareness and intrigue about a new and exciting event, through the use of a thought provoking poem, celebrity and service personnel support.
Understanding the effectiveness of collaborating with known personalities to increase campaign appeal, we wanted to develop a creative idea of encapsulating a number of celebrity figures, with the involvement of real service personnel, to maximise audience engagement.
We understood that at the heart of the games is the message of the undefeatable human spirit, which led us to explore the use of the short poem ‘Invictus’, by William Ernest Henley.
For generations many have drawn on its words for strength during times of adversity. If we could involve some of Britain’s much-loved national treasures and sports personalities, in addition to numerous service personnel, to each recite a line from the poem, we’d have a strong, well rounded idea to execute with immediate effect.
Our client, PR company Good Relations, were quickly sold on the approach, and MPH made contact with numerous celebrity agents.
The deadline for delivery was fast approaching, and we appreciated that the availability of our potential talent would be limited. We adopted a flexible and reactive approach to shooting the content, with limited notice periods.
Filmed at various locations within the Greater London area, our team had limited windows of opportunities with each of our chosen celebs.
Our service men and service woman who featured, had undergone amputation surgery following combat. We filmed them at their barracks, at Headley Court, Surrey, in various sporting set-ups in direct defiance of their disabilities. As the poems lines were recited
By each of these important contributors, the thought- provoking words became ever-more relevant and meaningful.
We produced a compelling and thought provoking piece of content.
Our film was broadcast on BBC2, on the first day of coverage.
Ambassador Prince Harry was hugely ecstatic with the final film.
Invictus Games