For the last couple years, I’ve been fortunate enough to judge the Streets Art SAFE film competition, where high school students from around southern California vie to make the best Public Service Announcement (PSA) about driving safety. Students selected as finalists attend a red carpet event in Hollywood, view their projects on the big screen, and have a chance to win cash and prizes. Plus, the winning videos will play on television locally and nationally.
If your students would like to enter the competition, register here.
As a judge of the competition, I’ve seen many hundreds of student PSAs. From that exposure, I’ve learned two important things; students are capable of impressive productions, and without guidance students end up making very similar looking projects. This blog article will explain why.
The information in this blog post was presented as a webinar, which you can watch below or download a PDF of the slides, here.
What is a Public Service Announcement?
Every type of video has a purpose. Films entertain, broadcasts inform, commercials sell, and PSAs change behavior.
To give a more exact definition: A PSA is a message in the public interest, distributed by the media without charge, to raise awareness and change behavior.
Students generally understand what a PSA looks like when they watch one, but because they don’t have a definition, they typically misunderstand that the intention of the video is to change behavior.
Students also think that PSAs aren’t being made anymore, when it’s actually the opposite. There are probably more PSAs being made today than at any other time in the history of television. They are used for voting, forest fire prevention, littering, bullying, work place abuse, sexual violence, street safety, smoking, drugs, and many other issues.
Many companies support causes and advertise that support through PSAs. For example, EditMentor supports Media Literacy Now, because part of our mission is empowering students with storytelling skills when they consume or create video. We believe that by understanding how to make videos, students can build business, create art, or perhaps even change the world.
What’s the Purpose of a Public Service Announcement?
The fundamental difference between a PSA and a commercial is that PSAs don’t ask for money. But what does it mean to “change behavior?”
Let’s look at some old PSAs to appreciate their staying power in the public consciousness. I remember watching this PSA, created by the US Department of Transportation in 1999. Yes, 20+ years ago and I remember it.
What behavior is this PSA asking people to take?The message, friends don’t let friends drive drunk, places some responsibility to prevent drunk driving on responsible friends, in addition to drivers who may be intoxicated. The message means that it’s not only up to the person who is drinking to decide if they can drive home. All of us need to keep an eye out for each other.
My friends and I mocked this PSA in college, “friends don’t let friends wear that outfit” or “friends don’t let friends fail pre-calc.” But did we take in the message? Yes, and to this day many times my friends and I have asked each other if we’re ok to drive home.
Categories of Public Service Announcements
PSAs can be grouped into at least four categories:
Reenactment – A film displaying a moment of undesired behavior, followed by a poor outcome. Probably 95% of all student made PSAs are reenactments. While reenactments are a powerful medium, I recommend students avoid this category for the competition as a way of standing out.
More Reenactment PSAs (smoking, bullying)
Testimonial – Uses victims of the undesired behavior to speak about an issue.
Celebrity – A public figure or local role model advocating for the desired behavior. In my definition, students, administrators, or local elected officials count as celebrities. I consider anyone with influence over their community as a celebrity. Having a local religious figure advocate for a cause is often a good person to choose.
More Celebrity PSAs, (Sexual violence, gun safety)
Satire – The art of making bad behavior look ridiculous through an exaggerated story. This category is my favorit, and I give students extra points for thinking up satirical stories. They take imagination, artistry, and most importantly, a solid understanding of the issue to draw its parallel.
More satirical PSAs (Wing it, Your Brain on Drugs)
Making Public Service Announcements Memorable
A PSA can evoke any kind of emotion to be successful. Most students made videos that are sad, and where people die. I encourage students to use other feelings like humor as a way to stand out.
Most importantly, a PSA needs to be memorable. There are lots of tools available to help make PSAs leave a lasting impression. Taglines, jingles, and mascots can make your PSA last generations.
My favorite PSAs of all time, the crash-test dummies from the late 80’s and 90’s, were part of a campaign used to raise awareness for wearing seatbelts. In 1984 only 14% of people wore seatbelts. Today it’s 91.6%. The crash-test dummies had a terrific tagline that I remembered for a long time, “You can learn a lot from a dummy.”
Another memorable PSA tagline that I’m sure you’re familiar with is Only you can prevent forest fires, which was a campaign slogan that started in 1944.
Finally, the most famous PSA tagline ever made is, “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?”
When I judge a PSA, if a student attempts adding a tagline, I will score them considerably higher than their piers. Students should spend 50% of their time working on the tagline.
- Not “drinking and driving is bad”
- But “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk”
- Not “Second hand smoke is bad”
- But “Who are you sharing your second hand smoke with?”
- Not “Texting and driving is dad”
- But “Texting while driving spells DANGER”
Final thoughts on Public Service Announcements
PSAs have been in the public eye since the beginning of television. They’ve seeped into the zeitgeist, and for that reason, I wanted to share one last PSA made by the good people at Saturday Night Live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRgPTvGBEEAWhatever video production class you’re teaching or learning, make sure to checkout the courses on EditMentor.com. We have hundreds of lessons on everything from Broadcast Journalism, to Film, and Youtube content creation. Sign up for a free one-month trial today.
