UZ Gent: Schisis

A lot of children are born with a cleft in their lip, jaw, and/or palate. This is called schisis, and fortunately, medical science can do a lot to help. What exactly can you expect as a child or parent? We break it all down with a clear, easy-to-understand explainer.

The customer

With over 3,000 patients per day and more than 6,000 employees, UZ Gent is one of the largest and most specialised hospitals in Flanders. UZ Gent also invests in scientific research and training, as a university center.

The challenge

Children with schisis go through various medical procedures to anatomically correct the cleft in their lip, jaw and/or palate. But even with these corrections, they often have difficulty forming certain sounds. A speech therapist can help with that, but not every parent understands why all of those speech therapy visits are needed.

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Secondly, both parent and child are often not sure what to expect. They not only want clear information, they also want to be reassured.

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Our solution

We follow the story of Noah, our main character. He undergoes some surgical procedures and then works on his pronunciation with a speech therapist. After several years, we see a happy ending: Noah is a real chatterbox, happily chatting to both mom and the speech therapist.

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We deliberately use simple, everyday language, so that children can easily understand everything. We also use soft and warm illustrations in the familiar UZ Gent style, resulting in a clear and easy-to-understand animation video that does exactly what it should.

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Behind the scenes

Script and storyboard

We're not exactly keen to show sterile operating rooms. Luckily this story doesn't need us to. We put the spotlight on our main character and his mom, and jump forward in time a few times throughout the video. Allowing the viewer to see exactly what an average child with schisis goes through.

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To make sure the story is realistic, the client gave us some concrete examples of sounds and words that a child with schisis often struggles with. And of course, we had to finish our story with a happy ending.

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Style Proposal

As we are UZ Gent's long-term video partner, we created a specific visual style for them about ten years ago. We implemented this style in every video we have made for them since, to ensure it's easily recognised. But after all these years, it was time for an update. We opted for something more picturesque, and less angular. More mature and less playful. A style that really can support any message. With this new style we are ready for a new chapter in our partnership.