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Film of the week: The Feel Bad Four featuring James Corden

Fundraising | Kirsty Weakley | 12 Oct 2012

For World Sight Day Sightsavers enlisted James Corden to make an appeal film, only they couldn’t seem to decide on a style. Kirsty Weakley takes a peep.

The spoof ad runs through four typical charity ad styles with Corden trying his hand at all of them, before agreeing to "level with" the public.

Shot in black and white the ad has that back-to-basics feel, meaning the viewer’s attention is firmly on Corden, and not distracted when he explains in simple terms the issue of blindness around the world, and makes the 'ask'.   

The Feel Bad Four was directed by photographer Rankin, who explained that: “Charity campaigns are saturated with negative images so this film is about making people connect with something, being honest and human. For the project I suggested that we went for something positive instead and James was the perfect man for the job.”

He added that “we wrote the script with him in mind”, and watching it that is easy to believe. Corden gives a Smithyesque performance which will have his legions of fans whooping with laughter – perhaps Sightsavers could persuade Ruth Jones, who played Nessa and co-wrote Gavin and Stacey with Corden.

For his part, Corden said: “When Rankin asked me to be involved in this charity advert it took me all of two seconds to say yes! It is such an important charity that means a lot to me.”

Sightsavers’ director of UK funding and marketing, Susan Adams said the charity “wanted to create something that was completely different to anything we’ve done before. But at the same time we wanted to highlight the shocking facts about avoidable blindness”.

Since the ad was launched on Tuesday, the web page it’s embedded on, on the charity’s website has been shared 350 times (136 to Facebook, 195 to Twitter and 19 via email) and the combined number of hits for the UK and Ireland is 8,309.

Directory: Sightsavers