Institution of Civil Engineers
The Brunel International Lecture Series
This year, the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Brunel Lecture Series will happen virtually. The 13th lecture, delivered by guest speaker Seth Schultz, Executive Director of the Resilience Shift, explains the unique position engineers have in tackling challenges such as climate change, globalisation and a lack of diversity within the Engineering sector. We worked with the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) Brunel Lecture to create this trailer for the lecture series.
The Scrapbook
The Brief
Our challenge was to create a trailer which appealed to an audience of ICE members, engineers and non-engineers. The trailer needed to cover the crucial role engineers have played in societal advances, before looking at the contemporary situation and some of the areas the lecture will cover. The call-to-action was essential; the animation needed to invite viewers to become part of the discussion by visiting the ICE website.
The Explainer Video
Our animation raised awareness about the forthcoming Brunel Lecture Series by combining a well-written script with engaging and charm-infused illustration and animation. This allowed us to create and deliver the animation’s content in a way which explained the historical context, and set out the lecture’s themes and key questions in a way which appealed to ICE members, the broader engineering community and the wider public.
The delivery was crucial in this. From a scripting perspective, our writer paired an appropriate level of humour and thought-provoking questions, such as the opening line’s play on the classic ‘change a lightbulb’ joke, with points around topics such as policy and public safety. We used visual thinking to embody important points and concepts in a way which highlighted their importance and key features while also making them visually rich and engaging. This can be seen in the timeline charting the role of engineers throughout history. A diverse range of characters and pop culture references like the DeLorean helped us give the animation broad appeal while metaphors like hands joined together reflected trust. Moments like main figure Seth Schutz hanging on as fast-forward was hit added further charm, engagement and memorability.
Ending on a clear call to action, the animation raised awareness about the lecture series, key questions and how to engage with it further.
About the Client
Formed 200 years ago, the ICE is a professional membership body which supports 95,000 civil engineer members. The ICE help civil engineers learn and share their knowledge, while also promoting the essential contribution that civil engineers make to society worldwide.
The Context
Find out more about the Brunel Lectures Series at the Institute of Civil Engineers website.
