Dear Me
Reflecting on who we were at critical moments in our lives, what we felt amid success, how we approached that immovable object, can greatly inform the decisions we make today. This may seem a rather self-evident observation, however this exercise in self has become such a powerful tool in regulating societal behaviours, trauma management, parenting and so on that ‘business-at-large’ now invests heavily in its promotion. So much so that ‘magic circle’ law firm Clifford Chance commissioned a new toothsome recruitment campaign moulded around the notion.
RD Content use voiceovers, the ebbs and flows of subtle soundtracking and docu-style handheld footage to bring us The Real Contract, a contemplative look at six CC lawyers tasked with writing their past selves a memorandum of advice, all while at different points in their careers; taking tentative steps into law proper via a training contract, another on the cusp of maternity, another stepping up and so on. This piece runs at a little over three minutes, and while that may be slightly longer than most recruitment driven campaigns I see across the myriad communications channels, it reinforces the point consistently made here at Moving Image that duration often (almost always) doesn’t matter in terms of engagement, message or story efficacy.
Flipping between their street level habits and staged clips of writing letters to themselves, each of the six narrates portions of their own words while looking over their proverbial shoulder to the difficulties they were unaware - at the time - would lie ahead. But the platforming of the appreciation that can grow from overcoming things like these is where the film begins to sing.
We know that the whole exercise is essentially a dipped toe into a Freudian take on recruitment campaign, we do know that… but the fact that RD Content don’t overplay this particular hand make the effort to breathe a little real life into those moments does them tremendous favours. This is also true across the series, and I would even signpost you to spend a few minutes with each of the individuals from the piece above who have their own mini-films that expand on their letters. Think of it as their own ‘origin stories’, if you’re into all things IP.
Really, the more I rewatched this piece the more the modus operandi of reading letters aloud towards revealing internal motivations and doubts worked. In the end, I took them as simple diary entries at the end of a hard day. A personal recommendation would be that you increase message potency by pausing the video, reading the words for yourself in your own voice (since we-know-that-we-know that this, at its core, is a recruitment piece) and remove any sense of fictionalised doubt you might have. And we must also appreciate that it is unbelievably difficult to appear authentic on screen when you are not an actor.
There are subtle nods too acknowledging the (hopefully diminishing) unhealthy working habits and entry barriers once synonymous with the corporate structure: texts arrive prodding one not to work too hard, a missed dinner, the first from the family unit to occupy the role.
RD make good use of their chosen landscapes, contrasting the stark lighting of morning cityscapes with the golden hues that delight in magic hour. In the end The Real Contract urges a click on the recruitment shop window because it makes way for recalling our inspirations and appreciating our losses. It’s a polymorphous composition about teamwork and support, done in an unpreaching and unexpectedly intimate style.
Best regards,
Moving Image.
