Event Video Case Study

How did we deliver?

As Ultimate recreation wanted a highlight video of the night, so we had to make sure that we filmed every section of the event. We had to make sure we were in the right place at the right time. Timings were incredibly important on the night as we had to make sure nothing was missed out. For example, the firebreather was performing on a schedule so it was apparent we had to be around to film her before she finished her act.

The event started at 9pm, however we arrived an hour before so we could be taken on a complete tour of the premises. This was vital as it gave us insight on what equipment and lenses to use. One of the mazes required us to crawl on our hands and knees to get through some areas, which meant shoulder rigs and tripods were ruled out. Instead, we decided on handheld cameras, which worked out better as it gave the footage a raw and realistic feel. Due to filming late and the majority of the video was to be in a dim-lit space, we also used a larger aperture lens in order to get a brighter shot – we couldn’t use extra lighting for this event as it was to ruin the experience for customers.

As the night had a lot going on, we split up and filmed different sections in order to cover more ground. We had spoken to the actors before had to not be put off by us and to ‘show up’ to the camera. One crew member did a first run of maze one with lighting before customers went around, as did the other crew member with maze two. It was important to at least one run with lighting as a lot of work had been put into the event – actors’ makeup and costumes were too good to miss out on. We then both went around the maze each a second time, without the lighting, following customers in a group to get reactions from people who had seen the maze for the first time. The third time we went into the maze, we found a hiding place to set up and film reactions from customers from a different angle.

On a few occasions, we made customers jump as we came out of our hiding place!

Once we were happy with the footage we had taken in the mazes, we went on to film other aspects of the event, such as the fortune teller, firebreather, DJ’s and dancers. We also captured more shots of the customers having a good time and their outfits they had put together.