Green Screen studio in Old Street, London
by Gavin Ricketts
We’re creating a project that has is built around some Minority Report style computer screens. As we don’t require sound, we set the studio up in one of our meeting rooms! We worked with four actors who did a great job imagining the screens in front of them, we were thoroughly convinced that they were in operating some very sophisticated technology by the end of the shoot!
Choosing the right budget for your project
by Gavin Ricketts March 1, 2011, 5:45 pm
Filed under:
Filming Stories,
Filming Tips | Tags:
budget,
Corporate,
corporate film,
east,
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Filming,
how much does it cost,
London,
Napoleon Creative,
NapoleonCreative,
ShootWe had a call from one of our regular clients who wanted us to film a training event. The delegates were being divided into teams, then pitching a new product to a board, a cross between a task from the Apprentice and a pitch from Dragon’s Den.
The hardest thing about this project was setting the budget. When you say “The Apprentice” you seen a full HD, glossy look, with plenty of post production gloss on to. We knew they weren’t looking to spend a vast amount on what was an internal project with limited eyeballs on it, but for the first budget, with two cameras, dedicated sound person, plus a director to watch over, was just over kill. So we offered two more, one with a single camera, which had obvious restrictions in terms of what could be filmed and captured. Then we gave the ‘Goldielocks’ budget, with two cameras with operators, so enough to capture the action without going overboard. And, just as with Goldielocks, the budget was just right.
Choosing the right budget takes time and negotiation. Sometimes a client isn’t sure of the quality they need, and we have to help them find the right one. Video work can be incredibly flexible, so budgets can be scaled right down or right up. Just don’t expect full HD, seventeen cameras and a full gallery team on a show string budget!
Filming at the last minute: being prepared to be flexible
by Gavin Ricketts February 18, 2011, 7:39 am
Filed under:
Capgemini,
Filming Stories | Tags:
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Company,
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Napoleon Creative,
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VideoYesterday we filmed an additional interview for a project we filmed in December. We set up the shoot at relatively short notice, but being in central London it wasn’t really a big deal, or at least to us.
However, our client (who’s working with us for the first time, from a company we’ve worked with for many years) was pleased and surprised at how easily and low-fuss we were at setting up the filming. This is in part because we’re a full service video production company, covering everything from scripting writing, through filming to post production and delivering on DVD, for broadcast or for websites, we’re not always out filming, as 80% of our work is back in one of our post production suites. So we can be flexible and quick to respond, even if a request comes in at short notice.
Coalition become a new client
by Gavin Ricketts
Today we filmed at Coalition, a financial services company.
We’re creating two videos for them. The first is to introduce the company, the second is to help recruit analysts to the company.
Coalition are based down on Bermondsey Street, so we walked up to river.It was a beautiful crisp cold morning, with lovely low sun making everything golden.
Finding the Rightshore for your business…
by Gavin Ricketts August 20, 2010, 3:58 pm
Filed under:
Animation Projects,
Capgemini,
Clients | Tags:
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VideoCapgemini asked us to help them communicate their Rightshore offering and they wanted to use animation.
We spent a while getting the look right, then developed 3 sequences for them, each on a different aspect of Rightshore. We coached one of their staff to give the voice over, which was a nice touch to give the film a ‘we made this’ flavour. You can see the full clips in situ here or watch our short version below:
Social Media content for Space NK
by Gavin Ricketts August 17, 2010, 3:38 pm
Filed under:
Animation Projects,
Filming Stories,
GetMeSocial,
Social Media,
Space NK | Tags:
blusher,
corporate video,
East London,
Facebook,
Filming,
Kjear Weis,
make up,
Napoleon Creative,
organic,
Shoot,
tipsWe’ve been working with Space NK for a couple of months now, creating content for their social media sites. With the latest one we were focusing on new brand Kjaer Weis, one of the few organically certified make up brands.
You can see it in situ on their Facebook profile.
Biting our tongue hard not to spill the beans…
by Gavin Ricketts
Today we filmed something for a client. We’d love to tell you exactly what, but we’re under strict orders not to reveal anything, even though the footage looks great and we have some lovely stills from the shoot. Let’s just say it involves one of the big glossy magazines. And I mean one of the BIG ones!
All will be revealed in September….
Lewis cuts his teeth on Knead’s Must massage tool demo
by Gavin Ricketts May 28, 2010, 1:26 pm
Filed under:
Filming Stories,
GetMeSocial,
KML,
Social Media | Tags:
Corporate,
corporate video,
East London,
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KML,
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Massage,
Massage tool,
Napoleon Creative,
NapoleonCreative,
social media,
Video,
YoutubeWe recently filmed a really fun video of The Kneader, the maiden product from our client KneadsMust. We were asked to create the video to be used as part of the Barclays Make One Small Step competition, which helps to support start-up businesses.
Our idea was to film an interview with the founder, Una Tucker and then to film The Kneader in action, giving a real, human response to the product. We also added elements to the film to specifically target the viewers of the competition entries, such as animated graphics.
When creating videos that are intended for a specific event, it’s always helpful to try and think long term. So to offer a great ROI, our approach was to rework the video, so that it not only served its purpose for the competition, but in the long run provided our client with real video evidence of customers enjoying her product. She can use this to show to potential buyers of her product at any meeting.
This was my first role as director and proved to be a very helpful exercise in improving my skills. We filmed in two locations, had to coach staff and customers into giving a great performance for the video and in the end our client was very happy with the video. I even managed to make a sneaky appearance in it myself!…
Capgemini’s Rightshore animation is now online
by Gavin Ricketts May 22, 2010, 10:36 am
Filed under:
Animation Projects,
Capgemini,
NC | Tags:
Animation Projects,
Capgemini,
Corporate,
Filming,
London,
NapoleonCreative,
RightshoreWe’ve finally finished this long-running animation project, designed to communicate Capgemini’s Rightshore offering. Three videos, plus some variants promoting specific. So a complex project!
It took some time to get the look right, but hopefully we’ve come up with something stylish and cool looking…
How do you talk to Scientists, Students and Teachers in one clip?
by Gavin Ricketts May 10, 2010, 9:52 pm
Filed under:
Animation Projects,
Filming Stories,
Gallomanor,
NC | Tags:
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communicate,
Corporate,
east,
engagement,
Filming,
Gallomanor,
London,
NapoleonCreative,
problem,
Production,
School,
science,
scientist,
solution,
solve,
The Welcome Trust,
Video,
x factorWe created a video for the I’m A Scientist project, which is like school science lessons meets the X Factor! Scientists and students talk online via the website. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn. The students get to vote for their favourite scientist, deciding which scientist gets a prize of £500 to communicate their work, learning about issues around funding as they do. And of course, being exposed to a wide range of real-life scientists!
The challenge was to create a clip which communicated to project to the three key teams within the project; the students, the teachers and the scientists. We suggested creating three different clips, each based on core footage, but giving each one a slightly different focus on the material.
The project is sponsored by The Welcome Trust and produced by the cool guys over at Gallomanor.
