MAKE IT
MATTER.

1. Open three of the campaigns: Seize the Awkward, Love Has No Labels, Pink Shirt Day, Bell Let’s Talk.
2. For each, write: the audience, the insight (the true thing about that audience), the big idea (the one image or twist), and the call to action.
3. Note one craft decision in each: colour, type, casting, sound or pacing.
4. Circle which campaign changes feeling fastest, and why.
5. Share one note with a partner and add one of theirs to your list.
6. Compare two genuine published images from different dates or cultural contexts. Record maker, date, source, one visible form/content choice, one sourced contextual fact and a possible emotional interpretation for each. Distinguish observation, fact and inference; explain how context could change the reading.

1. Choose an approved issue: kindness and standing up to bullying; online pressure; loneliness and belonging; stress and asking for help; being kind online.
2. Write the insight in one sentence (for example: “Students carry worries all day that nobody else can see.”).
3. Turn it into three big-idea thumbnails, each a visual metaphor for the insight (a storm in a backpack, a mask of emojis, a cracked phone screen being taped by a friend’s hand).
4. Choose one concept and justify it for audience/message. Explain why you rejected the other two, and name a trade-off.
5. Get teacher approval for issue, audience, insight and idea before production. Tick the safe-messaging rules in Start.

1. Sketch three 4:5 frames: 1 the weight (the problem as your metaphor), 2 the turn (hope arrives), 3 the action (end card).
2. Under each, write the timing (demo: 0–4 s, 4–10 s, 10–15 s), what moves, and the one line of text. Your baseline may run 15–20 s; reserve 4–5 s for the end card.
3. Keep every line to 8 words or fewer; a viewer gets about 3 seconds per line.
4. List the plates you need for frames 1 and 2 (subject, element, environment, details).
5. Mark where the light comes from in each frame, since it will guide your compositing.

1. Decide which plates you shoot (a classmate, your backpack, the hallway) and which come from the starter pack or open-licence sources.
2. Match the light: photograph your subject with the light coming from the same side as your element plate (for example, cloudy daylight from above-left for a storm).
3. Shoot the subject against a plain, bright background so the cut-out is clean, and shoot at the angle your storyboard needs.
4. Record consent from anyone photographed, and credit every downloaded plate in the source log.
5. Import the plates into a 1080 × 1350 document as Smart Objects and roughly place them to your storyboard.

1. Select the subject layer, choose Select › Subject, then Select and Mask.
2. Use Refine Hair and the Refine Edge brush on hair and loose fabric; check on black and on white backgrounds.
3. Set Smooth 2–4 and Shift Edge −10 to −20 % to remove any halo, then output to a layer mask.
4. Zoom to 200 % and paint the mask with a soft brush to fix edges (black hides, white reveals).
5. Check the edge over your darkest and brightest background plates.

1. Add a black-and-white check layer (Hue/Saturation, Saturation −100) at the top to compare brightness only. Match the subject’s darkest and brightest values to the scene with a clipped Curves.
2. Hide the check layer. Match colour with a clipped Curves using the Red, Green and Blue channels, comparing the subject’s shadows and highlights to the scene’s.
3. Paint light onto the side of the subject that faces your light source, and darken the far side, with Curves layers and masks (dodge and burn).
4. Darken the whole subject slightly if the scene is stormy; brighten where your “turn” frame brings light.
5. Flip the check layer on and off until the subject sits in the scene in both grey and colour.

1. Place your element plate (for example, storm clouds) and position it to your storyboard, rising from the object in your metaphor.
2. Open Layer Style › Blending Options. Under Blend If, drag the Underlying Layer black slider so the element disappears over dark areas, or This Layer to drop its dark sky.
3. Alt/Option-click a slider to split it for a soft transition. Add a mask to paint away anything that should not overlap.
4. Set bright elements shot on black (lightning, sparks) to Screen so the black disappears.
5. Ground everything: paint soft contact shadows on a Multiply layer where objects meet (under the backpack, where clouds overlap the shoulders).

1. Choose the technique your idea needs: a double exposure (a person filled with a place), an element growing from an object (a storm from a backpack), or a replacement (a face made of emojis).
2. Double exposure: clip the place photo into the subject silhouette, set it to Screen or Lighten, and fade it with a gradient mask.
3. Element from an object: mask the element so it starts inside the object (the backpack opening) and spreads outward, with soft edges.
4. Keep the metaphor readable at phone size: zoom out to 25 % and check you can understand it in one second.
5. Add detail where the eye lands first (lightning near the head, the brightest light near the friend’s hand).

1. Duplicate your frame-1 group as FRAME 2. Convert the subject to a Smart Object.
2. Choose Edit › Puppet Warp. Add holding pins at the hips, shoulders and neck.
3. Add one pin where the pose should change (the head lifting, a hand reaching, a strap being lifted) and drag slowly.
4. Press Enter. Double-click the Puppet Warp entry under the layer later to adjust.
5. Check the outline is not stretched, and repaint the mask if an edge distorted.

1. Frame 1: a cool, low-saturation grade (Gradient Map dark blue to pale grey on Soft Light, plus a Curves vignette).
2. Frame 2: the same base with warm light arriving (a warm Gradient Map or Color Balance through a mask where the light breaks).
3. Type system: one sans-serif family, one size for lines, set in the top third, at least 48 px, with 4.5:1 contrast.
4. End card: hope line largest; action smaller; the helpline boxed and copied exactly (Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 · text CONNECT to 686868).
5. Line all three frames up side by side: they should read as one campaign.

1. Separate each frame into depth layers: background, element, subject, foreground detail. Fill holes behind the subject (Content-Aware Fill) so movement doesn’t reveal gaps.
2. Window › Timeline › Create Video Timeline. Set 30 fps and 15–20 seconds.
3. Parallax: keyframe Transform (scale or position) on each depth layer at different amounts. The background moves least and the foreground most. A 3–6 % push-in is enough.
4. Cross-fade frame 1 into frame 2 with opacity keyframes over about 1 second; use a smooth light transition rather than flashing lightning.
5. Fade each line in over half a second and hold it at least 2.5 seconds; hold the end card 4–5 seconds.

1. Play the PSA once to someone who has not seen your plan.
2. Ask: “What was it about? How did it make you feel? What should you do?” Write their exact words.
3. Read each line aloud while it plays; if you can’t finish, hold it longer or cut words. Remove flashing from the required version; use a smooth light transition. A simple flash count does not establish accessibility.
4. Fix the single biggest problem and note what you changed.
5. File › Export › Render Video: H.264, 1080 × 1350, 30 fps, as MakeItMatter_YourName_v1.mp4. Export a still of frame 2.

1. Save a separate v2 file and preserve your v1 export.
2. Read the assigned client card. State the changed audience or viewing requirement and predict its effect.
3. Develop and build your own response using the taught tools. Preserve the approved idea and accurate call to action unless the card explicitly changes them.
4. Test the export at the intended viewing size. Record an observed mismatch and one revision.
5. Submit v1 and v2 MP4s, editable PSD, before/after evidence and a defence of two decisions, one trade-off and a remaining limitation.

Independent evidence: the main achievement evidence for Make It Matter.

1. Play the PSA, then state the audience, insight, big idea and call to action.
2. Explain two craft decisions using principles (emphasis, contrast, colour, type, movement) and one pro technique you applied.
3. Explain one safe-messaging choice: what you chose not to show, and why the helpline appears where and when it does.
4. Write a sound plan for Sprint 5: music mood, one sound per frame, and where silence helps.
5. Blog: compare your PSA with one of the professional campaigns. What does yours do well, and what would you change?