Get attention for your mission.
Video and Photography to Attract Support & Generate Awareness
You’re doing great, hard work in the world. We produce the powerful imagery and share video stories that shine a light and accelerate support so you can thrive.
Your impact has to be seen and felt for you to thrive.
One of our founders brings years of experience working in the nonprofit sector and holds a MPA in nonprofit management. We understand the value of your team’s work and the incredible commitment, energy, and vision it takes to guide your organization’s mission to success.
Having worked with numerous organizations across the U.S. and internationally, we provide production and photography support from strategy through delivery of visual assets that can be used on your website, in fundraising campaigns, across social media, and in your annual reports.
“BellyFire Productions did their homework and arrived ready to instantly steer the project. Planning was thorough. The final result exceeded my expectations and is helping increase awareness to the charity. The BellyFire Productions’ team understood my goals and helped me, a novice to this medium, execute my vision.”
CASE STUDY: Go with us to eSwatini, where we captured 360 video short documentaries for VOSS Water & VOSS Foundation
Project Overview
We produced two 360/VR short documentary experiences featuring two separate women in Swaziland whose lives had been deeply affected by access to nearby, clean water access provided by local organizations with funding from VOSS Foundation. Given our experience in journalism, story-finding, and short form documentary, VOSS Foundation contracted us to produce and direct the 360 short documentaries that would be used to share more "in-person" experiences with their supporters and donors.
Production
We had a total of six production days in eSwatini to 1) find the people who would be featured in the short documentaries and then 2) complete all filming before our return flight date. Hustling across long, hilly country roads over six straight 12-hour days with good energy, big smiles, and true engagement with our final goal, we left thrilled by how well the team banded together and the way we were supported by the local organization partners and the women we filmed! Bringing on an additional, experienced VR professional, we assembled a production team that was able to deliver professional audio recording, 360 stereoscopic footage*, traditional 2D video assets, and a portfolio of beautiful photography that powerfully featured the stories of two separate women - Thankdekile and Phetsile.
* Stereoscopic footage, as opposed to monoscopic 360 footage, makes for a more real-life VR experience as you can sense depth and distance much like you can with your own eyes. This type of footage is heftier to deal with in the post-production process and requires pretty powerful computers for editing, but the end result is incredible if you are using the correct VR headset for viewing. Watching the video on a YouTube link on a regular computer or phone will not allow you to experience the stereoscopic footage.
Thandekile, a leader in her home and community, shared how legacy and commitment to water access for the next generation drives her dedication to overseeing the borehole (the water source installed nearby).
She is shown here with her grandchildren, one of whom is watching the 360 recording in real time.
The Women
Thankdekile was a community leader and an actively parenting grandmother who oversaw the water access point (borehole). She was the local keeper of the water source with a deep commitment to legacy and concern for future generations. As we continued to meet a series of amazing women, pursuing strong story lines and people who were excited by the idea of sharing their story, Phetsile approached our team with a strong interest in not only being on camera, but even filming footage herself! It became evident very quickly that her story would be one of the two selected, as she represented the job opportunities and freedom that she and her peers have access to once they reclaim hours of each day with more efficient water access. We are deeply grateful for the in-person support during our production by boMake Rural Projects, Gone Rural, and the communities of the eGebeni Chiefdom in the Ntondozi Constituency, eSwatini (formerly the Kingdom of Swaziland).
Phetsile (left) shared her story in one of the two short 360 documentaries we filmed in eSwatini.
She is pictured here with her family the day that the new water source was installed.
The Outcome
VOSS was able to share the lived impact of their foundational work in a completely new way using these story-focused 360 experience documentaries, and Thandekile's story went on to win the 360/VR film category at the deadCenter Film Festival. VOSS Foundation, in place of holding an in-person event with a video playing on a screen, sent individualized packages with branded cardboard VR headsets to their supporters and donors who could then link directly to the 360 experience and hear directly from the women who could speak about their day-to-day lives and the transformations they are experiencing, all in their own voices and completely unscripted. In addition, they were able to set-up 360 experience viewing areas at in-person events and exhibitions with Oculus headsets so people could be transported to a day with Thandekile and Phetsile. (The stereoscopic experience left people saying they felt like they could reach out and sweep their hands through the grass along the stream! Fun stuff - traveling across the ocean from a chair in the U.S.!) We take real pride in our interviewing and post-production process and the way these two skill sets really bring intense, full-of-heart voices and stories into our final videos. We returned after production with a tremendous amount of video and interview content for videos that would be edited to five minutes in length. We immersed ourselves in story development collaboration with the VOSS team in post-production to distill the truest, most concise short story for each woman.
