How PeaceWise Used Video to Show the Real Impact of Peacemaking in Schools
What if peace could be taught?
That was the heart of the PeaceWise project.
PeaceWise helps students, staff, and school communities learn practical peacemaking skills rooted in Christian faith. For this project, the goal was not simply to explain what PeaceWise is. The goal was to show the real-world impact of PeaceWise in the lives of students, teachers, and school communities.
And because this was part of a larger international production, our role at 605 Video Company was about more than capturing strong footage.
It was about helping one story feel connected across two countries.
The Challenge: Capturing a Local Story for an International Project
PeaceWise was creating a larger promotional video that included footage from both Australia and the United States.
The Australian footage was captured by The Video Producers, while our team filmed the United States portion at Sioux Falls Lutheran School.
That meant our job was not only to capture authentic interviews and school footage. We also needed to make sure everything we filmed would integrate seamlessly into the final international piece. The proposal specifically noted that the Sioux Falls footage needed to match the larger production and support a cohesive final film.
Why Video Made Sense
PeaceWise is built around transformation.
It is about helping students respond differently to conflict, relationships, pressure, and brokenness. That kind of impact is difficult to communicate through explanation alone.
Video allowed PeaceWise to show:
real students
real school environments
real classroom moments
real examples of change
the Christian foundation behind the program
the practical impact on school culture
The interview guide emphasized the need to capture story-rich responses showing real change in students and school communities, practical impact, credibility, hope, and relational transformation.
Our Approach: Authentic Interviews and Real School Environments
For this project, the goal was to keep the footage honest, natural, and connected to the life of the school.
We captured interviews with students, staff, and school leadership, along with b-roll of classroom interaction, playground activity, hallways, transitions, and environmental details.
The coverage was intentionally real and unscripted, focused on genuine moments rather than forced staging.
Because the footage needed to work alongside the Australian production, consistency mattered. Interviews needed to feel clean and unified. Audio needed to be reliable. Framing, lighting, and coverage all needed to support the final edit without creating friction in post-production.
Capturing More Than Information
One of the most important parts of this project was making sure the interviews did not feel overly polished or scripted.
The strongest answers were the ones that sounded honest, specific, and grounded in real experience.
The interview guide encouraged simple, open questions and follow-ups like, “Can you give me an example?” and “What changed after that?” The goal was to draw out story, feeling, and observable change.
That matters because education-focused videos need more than good information.
They need trust.
They need clarity.
They need people to believe that the work is actually making a difference.
What This Helped Communicate
The PeaceWise project helped communicate:
how PeaceWise impacts students in real situations
why peacemaking matters in school communities
how Christian schools can connect faith with everyday relationships
the value of a shared language around conflict and reconciliation
the credibility of PeaceWise across different school environments
the broader reach of an international mission
The end goal was not just to show what PeaceWise is.
It was to help viewers feel that it works.
What Other Organizations Can Learn
Some projects require more than showing up with a camera.
When a video is part of a larger campaign, international project, or multi-team production, the strategy matters before filming ever begins.
For organizations working across locations, video needs to feel consistent, intentional, and connected. Every interview, classroom moment, and detail has to serve the larger story.
PeaceWise used video to show the impact of its work through the voices of the people experiencing it.
That is what makes the story believable.
Looking for Education or Mission-Driven Video Production?
If your school, nonprofit, or mission-driven organization needs to communicate impact clearly, video can help people see the story behind the work.
605 Video Company helps organizations across South Dakota and beyond use strategic video to communicate with clarity, trust, and momentum.
