BRIEF
This was a real treat for us: Getting to make films about the area in which we live and work! Discover Hambleton’s mission is to spread the word about the delights of this North Yorkshire district. It received “Welcome Back” funding to help with the post Covid recovery and enlisted our help to make a suite of films that show the area off at its best.
CONCEPT
Our client wanted to focus on key areas to create 6 short films and an overview film. The themes were: Days out, heritage, food and drink, shopping, the outdoors and accommodation. Together with the Discover Hambleton team, we drew up a wish list of places and activity for each theme. We knew we needed to let the pictures do the talking, so viewers could really immerse themselves in the scenery and activities. So,we decided to focus on filming lots and lots of beautiful, glossy shots across the district. To create plenty of “that could be me” moments, we cast for a family of extras. This along with careful use of staff and our team meant we could capture people really enjoying the area. With 6 towns and themes to cover in 5 days,we had our work cut out. A key part of the success of the project would be careful planning to make the most of our resources in an economical and geographically sympathetic way.
CREATE
Our plan in place, we filmed over 5 days using 2 cameras and a drone. Much of the footage was captured using our Ronin Gimbal which allows us to film smoothly whilst on the move and in super slo-mo. One challenge was that while we were filming in November, we wanted to create imagery that was timeless so avoiding Christmas and bad weather was vital! With good planning, careful filming and flexing to fit with the weather, we managed to capture everything we needed. To keep costs down we only filmed with our family of extras on one day, but across a wide area. We also doubled up our team where appropriate to make the most of the weather and filming opportunities. It was a joy to film and those we visited were incredibly accommodating. In post production, we added music, graphics and voiceover to help with sign posting. This was supplied by our In house presenter Kate Simms who also produced and directed most of the film.
CONNECT
Amends to the first draft were minimal which was no mean feat considering the amount of footage we filmed. This was testimony to good planning from us and Discover Hambleton. Our client was really pleased with the films and they are now helping to promote the area.