No More Litter, Ohio

The Litter Problem

One major side effect from the Covid-19 pandemic in Ohio, was an increase in litter throughout the state. Due to the inability to use penal labor to assist with litter pick up, the trash on the highways became a huge issue for the ODOT workforce. ODOT spent 151,410 hours picking up trash last year alone, and the effort costs roughly $4 million annually. As Earth Day was approaching, the ODOT Communications team wanted to put together a video that would address the problem head on.

The team quickly put together a script and began coordinating with local public information officers to find real life ODOT employees who were willing to speak in front of the camera. Their delivery was heartfelt, a bit irritated and very memorable as a result. It put a face to the folks who have to pick up the public's litter every single day.

Expedited Timeline

The video team was faced with a very tight timeline on this project. The script was finalized on a Friday with speakers lined up the same day, filming took place the following Monday, editing was completed Tuesday and the video was released on social media, along with a press release, on Thursday. The entire project was conceived, filmed, edited and posted in less than a week. A feat for any creative agency, let alone an in house government team.

The video, rendered in both 60 second and 30 second versions, both horizontal and vertical, was tailored for each social media platform from Tiktok to Facebook. Once posted, the response was extremely positive. The public and the agency alike appreciated the candidness of the speakers, and the authenticity their first-hand experience brought to the message. The video received nearly 45K views on Facebook and garnered attention from multiple local media outlets. The project was a great example of quick and timely messaging that left a lasting impact on the public.

30 second version

Vertical 30s version with subtitles used on Tiktok and Twitter

Working with Adobe Premiere Pro

The streamlined workflow of Premiere Pro saved the day on this project. Utilizing the program to create color-coded labelling, then using Trim Mode to quickly develop a string out of the best soundbites, allowed the editing process to move smoothly. The colored labelling also helped make sure there were a variety of speakers with just a quick glance to the timeline. In addition, the use of “pancake” editing techniques allowed for the string out to be positioned above the main timeline, making it easy to play with the best order and best deliveries of lines, ensuring the best combination of speakers.

Adobe Premiere continued to keep things moving as the team moved into color grading and closed captioning. The Lumetri Color Panel was immensely helpful in developing a natural yet cinematic look to the footage, and the Captions panel helped streamline the tedious final step of adding subtitles when prepping the video for social media. All of these features have made Adobe Premiere an indispensable tool for our video team.