We recently worked on a project with the design consultancy firm, Fyfe Anderson, and their client, the prestigious Newcastle School for Boys.
Like everyone and pretty much every business, Newcastle School for Boys’ normal way of promoting the school has been impacted due to the pandemic, so they needed to shift their approach and to take things online.
But how to showcase everything the brilliant school has to offer when there’s always a character limit?
Video, of course.
Newcastle School for Boys- The Brief:
The brief was to create a video which could act as a tour of the school in lieu of their usual open days, due to the ongoing pandemic. They wanted to create a video which would showcase the unique experience, ethos, and opportunities available at the school in just a few minutes. Something to give parents an idea as to why Newcastle School for Boys was the right choice for their child.
In developing the concept alongside Fyfe Anderson, we decided it would be best to have the pupils at the school share their thoughts as to why it was the right choice for them. It would be easy to script lines or have the teachers sell the strengths of the school, but eliciting genuine responses from current pupils felt like the most authentic way to essentially create an effective comms tool for the school.
One point that was highlighted from the very beginning of the project, is that the final product had to reflect the premium experience on offer at the school, so we had to ensure that the video had a high-end commercial look. This required a huge amount of preparation and sourcing of new lighting equipment that would help us achieve the required aesthetic.
Newcastle School for Boys – Our Approach:
Once we were on the same page with our concept and we knew how to tackle the production, the only thing left was to schedule our two days of filming, to ensure we were able to capture all of the desired visuals and key soundbites.
Turning up to set, our first priority was, of course, the safety of everyone on site. All crew members wore masks and had their own hand sanitiser on them at all times. Equipment was laid out on trolleys, where they were cleaned after each set move. After sitting down with the client to run through and sort any last-minute concerns or key points that needed to be included, we set up our equipment and got to work!
We had a limited amount of time available to cover each subject and location, which meant in some scenarios timing would be incredibly tight. In fact, tight would probably be an understatement, but, thanks to our incredible crew, we’re able to turn up to the site, identify what is needed to get the best content out of a location and quickly get set up to capture as much content as possible in the available time.
In one of the final films, the Thank You version (see below), there’s a scene in the library where we have a choreographed Steadicam move. We had 30 minutes on the dot from entering the room until we had to be out.
It took us 29 minutes and 30 seconds to light the room, direct the boys and coach them on their lines, dress the set and finally carry out the Steadicam camera move.
We weren’t kidding when we said that time was tight!
Newcastle School for Boys – The Result:
Spending as much time as possible lighting each scene resulted in some of the most beautiful footage we’ve ever shot.
The video effectively sells the USPs of the school and does so using actual testimonials from their own students. It reached 1,000 views in its first day and the reception has been fantastic.
But hey, don’t just take our word for it: see for yourself!
Newcastle School for Boys- Main Video:
‘Thank You’ Video
What the client said:
“I first contacted Luke and Turps Film after viewing their showreel. I needed to work with a film company that had experience in education videos. To be honest, Luke is probably one of the hardest-working people I have come across and is constantly thinking of new ideas and directions to take a video to make it the best it can be!
An extremely confident, highly motivated director, Luke goes out of his way to please his clients. His stamina and ability to work under pressure is a testament to how much he loves his career.
After working with Luke and the team at Turps Film on the Newcastle School for Boys project, I’m so glad I made them the first choice in film production.”
– David Fyfe, Fyfe Anderson Design Consultants Ltd
“Newcastle School for Boys wanted to produce a video that captured the ethos and feel of our school. One of the main challenges to overcome was the logistics of bringing film crews to both our Junior and Senior School sites to capture footage across over a two-day period without creating major distribution to the running of the School.
With good planning and liaising with Turps Film, we were able to achieve this.
There were a number of goals for our video. We wanted to capture life in school: warm, friendly, enjoyable and show the excellent relationships between boys and staff. To achieve this, we also wanted the content to be largely pupil-focused. Our experience of working with Turps Film was excellent throughout planning, filming and editing. We were surprised at how quickly a very professional video could be produced. The editor and production team worked just as hard as the director and crew had when they were on site.
We would encourage any business, school or other educational establishments to speak with Turps Film if they are interested in capturing the essence of what they do in an engaging and stylish way for their audience.”
– David Tickner, Headmaster at Newcastle School for Boys
If there’s one thing that the pandemic has presented to all of us, it’s the importance of a pivot approach to whatever you were doing before. Almost every aspect of business practice has been affected for the clients we work with, and many have done a great job of introducing new ways of getting their message across, with video at the heart of their campaigns.
If you like what you see and would like to chat about what Turps Film could do for your business, please get in touch for an informal chat. We’d love to hear from you!
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