Challenge
The Eric Liddell Community is a charity that provides key services to people living with dementia and the wider community in Edinburgh, in memory of Olympic athlete Eric Liddell whose 1924 Paris Olympics win inspired the film ‘Chariots of Fire’.
We were challenged to create two films – one for potential funders and one for Scottish schools – to tell the story of Eric Liddell’s legacy 100 years on from his win and inspire new generations to support the charity and make a positive impact on their community, their society, and their world.
But getting through to students aged 9–14, as well as philanthropists with busy schedules, meant we had to think differently.
Solution
For charities, every penny counts. So we wanted to maximise the impact of our two films while keeping a tight rein on the budget.
With limited photography and video assets available from Eric Liddell’s life, we created a visual treatment that layered photography with the charity’s brand colours, graphics, and typography to create a collage effect and visually represent Eric Liddell’s legacy in a compelling way.
To give our films a distinct voice that spoke to each audience, we worked with broadcasting icon, Sally Magnusson, for our promotional film and first-time voiceover artist Ellen from George Watson’s school for our educational film. That way, we had a voice of experience talking to our philanthropists, and a fellow student speaking to our students.
Results
After showing the promotional film at an event, the charity secured enough funding to keep the Eric Liddell 100 programme going towards 2024. And following a successful pilot, our educational film will officially become part of the Scottish curriculum in January 2024.
Here’s to Eric, still inspiring people with his story 100 years on!