Polar Communications is a trusted service provider of internet, telephone, TV and security systems in North Dakota. They cover a largely rural territory. They came to us wanting to illustrate “What Connects Us,” and their commitment to customers / the community through a people-focused mini-film.
Objective
Team Tellwell sat down with the Polar team and brainstormed how to best meet their vision. We determined our objective was to create a three-minute mini film with a focus on how Polar contributes to the community and is a key partner to many businesses and organizations across their service area.
Our target audience was the residents and companies in their service area. Ultimately, we wanted to speak to small business, the ag industry, and the everyday residents who use their services.
Creative process:
Our team worked together to create a script and basic story outline that connected our three key interviewees: Roger, Polar representative, and Terry and Kyle, both Polar customers who utilize different services. We decided to use Roger as the interweaving thread that connected Polar with the community — in this case, represented by Terry and Kyle. We crafted interview questions that would lend themselves to following our storyline, showing how Polar cares for and connects their communities.
Visually, we wanted to be sure to capture sweeping drone shots of the Polar van on the road, as well as capture some of the communities that Polar serves. To ensure we capture all the footage we needed, we created a list of shots that were important to the film and set a time and place for each scene. Thanks to the cooperation of the Polar team and the interviewees (and the lovely weather!) we were able to get all the scenes we needed for the final product.
Editing:
Because of the planning we did on the front end of this film, the editing process went very smoothly. We focused on the story flow, color correction and sound design of the film. We also sifted through the interviews and identified the best quotes, and then used those quotes to fill in the story, beginning with Roger’s experience at Polar, leading into Terry and his experience with Polar’s camera system, and finishing with Kyle and his gratitude for Polar’s capabilities and community involvement.
Results:
The end result is a cohesive story that showcases the value of Polar’s work, and the heart behind why they do it. As with each film, our team hoped to create something that doesn’t feel like a commercial or an ad. We wanted this mini-film to be heartwarming, authentic, and to tell a memorable story. We were very happy with the final result, and so was Polar. In the first three days shared on social media, it garnered 496 views and over 36 organic Facebook shares.
But the true moment of success was when our client said it brought a tear to her eye.
“Thank you for putting your all into this product,” she said. “You have WOW’d us and we love it! We are so proud of this video.”