Video Aid

On Dec. 26, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake — the world's most powerful quake in more than 40 years — struck deep under the Indian Ocean, setting off a series of tsunamis that devastated seaside communities in Asia and killed more than 150,000 people in a dozen countries. In the wake of the storms, experts estimated that as many as three million people were homeless, and the World Health Organization has predicted that another 150,000 could die of diseases.

CARE, an international humanitarian organization that works to combat poverty in more than 70 countries around the world, has operated field offices for more than 30 years in many of the countries hardest hit by the tsunamis. Within hours, CARE staff in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand was on the ground dispensing food, water purification tablets, shelter materials, and basic medical supplies to survivors.

CARE, a nonprofit organization that has been working to ease poverty in more than 70 countries worldwide for more than 30 years, helped raise awareness and provide aid for those devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunamis by producing several public service announcements about the disaster.

Back in CARE's Atlanta headquarters, far from the devastation in Asia, the tsunamis put another series of events into motion. Scott Thigpen, director of video productions at the nonprofit organization, immediately began planning video projects to aid the relief effort.

“One of the first things I did was call my contact at CNN to see if I could get some of their footage donated because I knew I wouldn't be able to get a crew of my own on the ground because they were all be tied up shooting for news organizations,” Thigpen says. “I also knew that the CARE staff members providing relief in Asia would be too busy to mess with a camera crew. At that point, the focus had to be on saving lives and taking care of people in need.”

While obtaining footage from CNN and seeking the appropriate permission to use it, Thigpen was also mobilizing a network of video production pros who had donated their services to CARE in the past. He called on Elevation, a sound and motion design house in Atlanta, which agreed to donate After Effects graphics, Avid services, and an original score. He called on Jeff Winter, the voice of CARE, who volunteered his voiceover talents. He called on Doppler Studios, which donated its sound design expertise. In all, about two dozen friends of CARE answered Thigpen's call, and by the first week of January three CARE disaster relief Public Service Announcements were distributed to more than 1,000 TV stations across the U.S. A 60-second radio PSA was also completed and distributed.

While those projects were in post, Thigpen began organizing a shoot with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former U.S. Senator Max Cleland of Georgia. On Friday, Jan. 7, both politicians taped PSAs in studio space donated by the city of Atlanta, which also donated production services. By the following Monday, the PSAs were output to DigiBeta and ready for distribution.

The following Saturday, the mayor's PSA was shown during the Atlanta Falcons' playoff game against the St. Louis Rams at the Georgia Dome. CARE volunteers were spread throughout the stadium at 75 locations collecting donations for the ongoing relief efforts.

By mid-January, Thigpen had also managed to get camera crews on the ground in India and Sri Lanka to document the devastation and CARE's relief efforts. He said it would take a little longer to get a crew on the ground in Indonesia, the hardest-hit region in Asia.

The footage will be used in video news releases that CARE distributes to TV stations, as B-roll footage, and in future PSAs to remind U.S. citizens of the “tremendous long-term needs” of the people affected by the tsunamis, said Thigpen, noting that the devastation in Asia was the worst human disaster in CARE's 60 years of existence. “But the outpouring of support from the American people, and even the production community in Atlanta, has been simply tremendous,” he added. “It has definitely been a crazy time, a trying time. But I can't say enough about the way people have responded.”

For more information about CARE, visit www.careusa.org.

Cody Holt is a freelance writer based in the Midwest. Email him at
codyholt@kc.rr.com.