Case Study: Sensitivity to Subject
Sacred Heart Hospice
Since 2003 we’ve had the privilege of working with the wonderful team at Sacred Heart, the largest inpatient palliative care facility in Sydney. As part of their development as a regional centre for excellence in research and training, the Hospice asked us to make three videos about palliative care.
Initially we were hired to create an introductory video to guide new staff and patients through the Hospice. However, after a series of meetings and focus groups with staff, we all realised that one video would not be enough. So, we split the project in two.
Father Laurie Christie
one of the interviewees for the videos
- One video became an introduction for new and potential staff, and therefore had a “marketing” feel and tone.
- The other was be a gentle introduction to the overall concept of palliative care for patients and their families. This video had a much more gentle “documentary” style, as the subject of death and dying must of course be treated with great sensitivity.
We filmed over a two week period, speaking to staff and patients and shooting the daily goings-on at the Hospice. As we’ve done before, we shot both videos at the same time to create the least amount of disruption to people who obviously had other matters on their minds. We also did our best to blend in with the staff and add to the surprisingly happy atmosphere of Sacred Heart.
In all honesty the crew did find the subject matter quite challenging, but thankfully we’re a tight-knit unit and we could rely on each other to discuss the heavy duty life-and-death stuff during filming breaks!
Japanese titles from the Japanese version
The finished DVD, complete with both videos, was launched in June 2005 and everyone was delighted. There were even some tears during the screening, and it was very gratifying for us that people were truly touched.
And the third video? In order to satisfy the Hospice’s Japanese staff and students, we created a Japanese version of the video. Despite the fact that subtitling would have been simpler, we chose to re-narrate the video, as this was considered more culturally appropriate for the Japanese visitors. We used four Japanese voice actors and the awesome skills of the SBS Translating staff to create a complete Japanese version, with an alternate English track on the DVD. This was a very exciting process for us and the clients are thrilled.