Condition Critical is a groundbreaking digital campaign by Medecins Sans Frontieres to raise awareness about the conflict in Eastern Congo.

‘The last chapter of Condition: Critical featured stories directly from Congo – just their voices and photos to accompany them. It proved to be the strongest part of the whole campaign and the engagement that people felt having watched them was amazing (as you can see from the message map). Unsurprisingly, people within the organisation are suddenly keen to learn more from duckrabbit about how to produce this kind of multimedia, to better make our patients voices heard.’ Pete Masters, Web Editor, MSF

Duckrabbit has played a dual role in the campaign. Firstly we trained members of the MSF communications team to gather audio and photography and secondly we then used the materials to produce the four films featured in the final surge of the campaign.

The results have been remarkable:

1. The website had 350000 visits between November 2009 and March 2010.

2. 60% per cent of people who start to watch a video on the website, watch it all the way through to the end.

3. The videos have also been featured and embedded on dozens of other websites including The Telegraph, Sky News and Boing Boing.

4. Over 10000 people have visited the website as a result of links to it from Facebook, blogs like The Travel Photographer and other influential websites.

5. Over 2000 people have left messages of support on the website.

6. The videos were screened for two days in a shopping centre in Belgium, reaching thousands more people

We’re particularly proud of this project because it demonstrates both that duckrabbit’s training is effective and that well produced audio slideshows can be more powerful than video. It’s especially important that the videos tell the stories of the people featured in their own voices.

‘I’ve appreciated your strong commitment to the project; your perseverance, hard work, and integrity; and above all your grasp of the reality of DRC and how to tell these stories in way that is compelling, dignified and at the same time raw and honest. Thank you.‘ Jake Wadland, Condition Critical Coordinator

Since we completed the project MSF have contracted us to train all of their UK communications team.

‘Before doing this training I felt I could have a decent stab at recording audio in the Congo. I now know that it would have taken some sort of miracle for me to get really useful audio. I now have the tools to come back with something a bit special. Thank you.’ Robin Meldrum, Publications Officer MSF

MSF UK now not only have the ability to produce multimedia for their own websites but also to offer the work for publication on some of the world’s biggest websites. Remarkably audio slideshows they have produced have been published on the BBC, The Guardian and The New York Times’ website.

‘Many people at MSF believe this is a breakthrough in getting the stories out there, for a bigger audience.’ Bruno Du Cock, MSF Picture Editor

We recommend that you take time to experience the videos and the messages left by viewers on the Condition Critical website here. Alternatively you can watch them embedded below:

duck is looking forward to talking at this event.

You can sign up here (it’s free)

Any duckrabbitblog readers please do grab me for a pint afterward.

March 10, 2010, 10.30-5pm

Main lecture theatre
London College of Communication
Elephant and Castle
London SE1 6SB

This one day conference at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, in collaboration with OPEN-i, POLIS at the LSE and One World Media, will address the problematic relationship of visual imagery and the majority world, focusing specifically on the interactions between practitioners, NGO’s and their audiences. The conference will include presentations from filmmakers, photographers, academics and NGO staff and will seek to critically engage with the stereotypes of development and the possible alternatives to them.

The conference will explore the shift from the two traditional approaches to the coverage of development issues, either that of the journalist or of the fundraiser, towards a emergent ‘third way’, where practitioners and charities work much more closely together, producing longer term bodies of work that question the stereotypes of simplistic media coverage of tear jerking crying children. However, there is a tension in this relationship, as the approaches of professional practitioners do not always align with the desires of the NGO’s, raising important questions about this new ‘advocacy’ approach and its implications for the independence of the practitioner.

Presentations will include Ed Kashi, Professor Lilie Chouliaraki LSE, Professor David Campbell of Durham university, Jessica Crombie of Water Aid, Olivia Arthur of Magnum, Rachel Palmer of Save the Children, Jennifer Pollard of LCC, Ben Chesterton of Duckrabbit and filmmaker Sandhya Suri. There will be a ‘world café’ style session over lunch for debate and discussion. Charlie Beckett of POLIS will chair the final plenary session of the day

Places are limited so please rsvp to thethirdframe@googlemail.com

The emphasis of the symposium is to examine new ways of telling stories in the digital age.  We’re delighted to have been invited to this event, which unfortunately is closed to the public, but will feature some of the most interesting people working in this field.

I’ve been told that ICP will record the event and the videos will be available to see on their website in the next month or two.

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Paul Lowe, who heads up the course, is a great supporter and advocate of digital storytelling. The fact that he wants to prepare students for life after print is rare amongst university educators (nudge, nudge Newport).

The aim of the module is for the students to produce their own multimedia piece of between 2 and 4 minutes long with up to 40 images. All images and audio to be collected by each student.

Thanks to all at London’s MSF office for being such great hosts, and thanks Olivia and Jean-Marc for your hard work.

Olivia and Jean-Marc from MSF getting into the groove.

And here’s another pic…and a great one at that…this one is by Olivia, and shows a Covent Garden street performer after his stint…his act is to stand still atop a box and then to move when anyone gives him money…a tough way to make a living.. you can see in his eyes where his head is at…

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Brilliant then to see how highly they regard photography as a tool to achieve social justice. duckrabbit will be speaking at a debate on the 29th of October about the continuing importance of photography in the digital age.

Please spread the message about these events.

To view the audio slideshow please click on the image. Please turn your volume up.  To restart the slideshow refresh the page. You need a up to date version of Flashplayer to view the slideshow (98% of computers do).

Please note, this is a working draft of just one of a series of audio slideshows and a radio documentary that duckrabbit are currently producing.

The slideshows and documentary explore the extraordinary challenges faced by Bangladesh as it attempts to mitigate the effects of climate change. The material is based on David White’s journey to the outer Islands of Bangladesh where he finds that the inhabitants are forced by poverty into a kind of Russian Roulette with the elements. It is a precarious way of life that even our Bangladeshi interpreter was not aware existed. In a very real sense it is life beyond Bangladesh.

This audio slideshow is meant for demonstration purposes only.