Learning Curves

Doing this campaign has had a huge impact on my life. Corny as that may sound- its true! I elected to touch on this subject because I knew various people who would be great sources and were willing to work with me on it. But along the way my own project has made me realise just how serious this topic is. Doing background research and finding out that one in every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer is a frightning realisation. Knowing that it doesnt have to even run in your family for you to get it also strikes a nerve. Being a women, its the idea of breast cancer that stirs me most, I think the same could be said for most women. But its only one of the cancers out there ready and waiting to try and ruin a young person's life. Above anything, what Iv taken from my sources and the stories they have told is to listen to your body- be in tune with it. Know whats normal and whats not for you and act on it- dont be complaicent and let things slide. It could mean the difference between life and death.
With this, I book myself an appointment with the gynie! No jokes.

Week 3

When I thought up this campaign I had in mind what message I wanted to get accross: Cancer doesn't see age and anyone is susceptible to it. However, as I would wrap up the interviews with each case study and edited them down to just a few seconds, I began to realise that there's way more than one message here. I may have had a message in mind (and I still feel its a valid one that comes across) but each cancer survivor came through with such powerul messages-weather they were aware of it or not. Early detection, Cancer doesnt mean the end of the world, and hard as it may be- dont let having had cancer dictate the rest of your life. These are three individual messages I picked up from each interview and I have incorporated them into the PSA's.
Next I need to make a desicion concerning the linking factor of this campaign. What will be the defining factor that links the PSAs to each other, that shows them as being part of a specific movement? Do I use the same music for each or keep each individual one different. Do I package them similarly by giving them the same structure? these are decisions that I need to make in order to understand the direction and feel of this campaign.

Campaign Contents

To make this a proper campaign I plan on producing 5 or 6 soundslides each with their own focus. One will be a 'how to' soundslide on performing your own breast exam. Grahamstown Hospice's Clinical Services Manager, Trish Gillies will be the expert voice for the how to PSA and I plan on using breast cancer surviver Chris Page as a model for it. By using a model whose breasts have seen the inside of an operating theatre on more than one occasion the message should become that much clearer.
The other soundslides will feature young people as individual case studies who in their short lives have been diagnosed with and overcome cancer. Chris Page, my breast model, talks about her experience of dealing with breat cancer at the age of 19, Munaf Mukadam talks about dealing with Osteosarcoma at 19 and Matt Strouken speaks about being diagnosed with cancer of the throat at 22. In the short amount of time allotted to each PSA, the cancer survivors will tell their stories and give their two cents worth about the disease, a little message to say 'hey, dont stop living life- just keep an eye out'.
Should I find a willing and able model for a 'how to' testicle exam I will add it to my campaign. Not many women know how to perform a breast exam and even fewer men know how to perform the ever important testical exam.

Imagining a campaign

For the third term of my fourth and last year as a journalism student, I have elected to produce a public service announcement campaign. The focus of the campaign will be young people and cancer, highlighting the fact that one's youth does not exempt them from being diagnosed with the disease. In general, cancer is not at the forefront of most youngster's minds- and why should it be, isnt HIV and STD's what we're meant to be watching out for? As young adults in South Africa today, we are educated on and made aware of the dangers of unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners. However, I feel that since cancer is a disease that no-one can prevent and one that does not see age, gender, class or status, it is one that is especially worth focusing on. the PSA's I will be prodcuing will have a central thread running through them: age is only a number. Cancer is a threat to everyone including youngters. PSA's are a call to action, a way of highlighting a serious issue that needs attention.
I will produce this campaign in Soundslides Plus which allows me to combine audio and visual elements. each PSA in the campaign will be between 45 seconds to a minute, just long enough to drive a message home.