In May we were lucky enough to work with the inspirational Prith Biant of The Creative Thinking Company not once but twice.
First off we made a series of films that had been developed by Prith for the housing association Gwalia. These will be used as part of a course to help tenants who want to start up an enterprise.
We were delighted to be involved, not just because we got to work with Prith, but also because we feel this is a really worthwhile project. Tantrwm are based in the South Wales Valleys and have worked here for 15 years. We’ve seen how important small businesses are to the local community and the life changing effect that an achievable ambition can have on the lives of young people.
It also gave us a chance to break out our brand new portable white screen. This nifty little piece of kit allows us to do great quality pieces to camera in just about any location as it forms a nice clean back-drop. With the Gwalia films we added motion graphics, using After Effects to expand the white space around the speaker digitally to create some great little films with strong messages.
Our second project with the Creative Thinking Company was also for a Housing Association, CCHA. They were running a course on customer service and the managers wanted bespoke video training materials. They had already written scripts and wanted to do the acting themselves. And to top it all off, the could only spare 1/2 a day to film.
In a feat of scheduling and ingenuity we came up with a plan. We knew that the biggest challenge in terms of time would be the actors remembering their lines. After having a good think, we came up with a belts and braces solution to use if we were running over schedule.
We used our iPad, in conjunction with a magic arm and some of our lighting stands and other grip equipment to rig up an auto cue that didn’t require the actor to look directly at camera. It came in really handy and helped us shoot everything on schedule. So it just goes to show. Where there is a will, there is a way.
If you have any projects that might benefit from video, give us a call or fill the form in the sidebar. Advice is free. Always.
