TV / Film / Animation Archives | Page 12 of 14

In 2019, I happened upon an opportunity to make a short film for national television. Funnily enough, I remember consciously avoiding film studies in sixth form because I struggled with dialogue and thought “I could never make a film”. I probably do still suck at dialogue, but I guess that doesn’t really matter because my film has zero words in it; work to your strengths I suppose.

Funnier still, was the fact that I had never directed a film in any capacity before. This was very much my first, and very much a deep dive into an unknown world, full of quirky executive producers and stressed out assistant directors.

I eventually emerged from that world (barely in one piece) and back to reality, only to discover that the short film in question – A Fashion Show – can be found on BBC iPlayer, Apple TV, and on the British Urban Film Festival website.

I was 21 at the time, fresh out of university with a marketing degree and a dream to be in advertising. After all, adverts are just short films, right?

So, I find myself at a premier for a short film in Bristol. It featured my mum actually. She’s not an actress though; she designs luxury handbags. There are all kinds of people there, most notably, a man called Michael Jenkins. See, Michael’s a cool guy; I think he actually directed the film being previewed, and I had overheard that he had previously worked with the BBC. So, being curious, I approached him, introduced myself, and asked if he’d like to get a coffee or something. He said “Sure”.

Fast forward, and we’re at the Bristolian treasure that is the Watershed, having a hot chocolate (I don’t actually drink coffee, I just say it because it sounds professional, you know?) and talking about ourselves. It was a good time. Before we left I showed him some of my freelance marketing/advertising work, to which he mouthed something about keeping in touch. I took this to mean the usual “This was nice, but now we’ll never see each other again”, which was fair enough. I was just happy I got to have a great chat!

Low and behold, some months later, Mr Jenkins did get in touch, with an opportunity he thought I’d be interested in. Turns out it was the BBC New Creatives competition. I didn’t think I stood a chance, but what’s the harm in trying?

Now, a day or so before the deadline, I was watching the Gucci 2018 A/W fashion show with my brother and the idea struck me for an abstract social commentary about race, told through the vehicle of a fashion show.

Feeling inspired, I quickly messaged my most talented friends and convinced them to get involved. It felt like an opening scene in Oceans 11. You know, when they do the “I need you for one last mission!” and the other person responds, “Nah, I’m out of the game.” And then the person says, “But, we could be big time!” and then the other person’s like, “Okay. I’m in!” And the team assembles.

Let me tell you, it was exactly not like that. But let’s just imagine how cool that would be.

Anyways; we submit it. Then we wait. Weeks go by. I should mention that in between meeting Mike and getting his email I had found a job in the elite practice of selling car insurance. As esteemed as it gets, with the working hours to match, there was really no way I could find the time to make a film on the side, but that was okay because it was never going to happen anyway.

News flash, I did get it! We got through! I got a call whilst at the coffee machine at work (again, being professional), where I was told that I’d be given £5,000 to make whatever wacky ideas I had a reality. I didn’t get a coffee but I felt like I had just backed an espresso. Safe to say that I was very excited.

Fast forward once more and we’ve met the executive producers, been assigned our non-exec producers (so, just producers), and been given a wad of money to go make a film. How much do I know about making a film? Zilch. But this was what I had my team for. Thanks to Fran, Luke, Mike, Tallulah, and my friend Shanice who was volunteering as PR, I was able to reduce my running around like a headless chicken by 23% – I really am indebted to them. They saved that film from being an absolute flop. I had no chance on my own. I think that was the first lesson I truly understood about teamwork– letting other people lead where they’re strongest.

Things didn’t go smoothly: we had mishaps and malfunctions, even a reshoot which almost made me give up on the whole thing. But we made it through pre-production. The most stressful part? Casting. Did I even pay attention to acting experience? I was pretty much going off gut feeling and had these questions about race prepared to gauge how interested actors were in the concept. I just wanted people who cared. I think that’s important in anything you do as a team; picking people who want to be there. When you’re acting the leader, you want people who are even more passionate than you.

I was lucky enough to find a cast full of brilliant, talented, and motivated actors and actresses – many of whom are my friends now and hopefully always will be.

So, we film the first shoot, it’s good but not great. The execs make us do a reshoot. After moping to my girlfriend at the time, telling her that I don’t want to do it and that I might just fob off the whole thing, I’m eventually convinced to stop being so silly. Once again, saved from a blunder by someone else.

We do the reshoot, and its brilliant! It’s weird…you can feel when you’re doing something cool, although I was still very nervous about how it would all turn out. A key actor couldn’t make it, and we had to call the exec producer to be the stand in. Ironically, he played the man behind the scenes, orchestrating a creepy fashion show. How meta is that?

Fast forward a couple of months and we’re premiering the film at Encounters Film Festival, the UK’s leading short film festival. Then a month later ‘A Fashion Show’ is being aired on BBC Four in front of thousands. Next, it’s on BBC iPlayer! It was all very surreal. In2020, it was picked-up by the British Urban Film Awards and Apple TV, which again, is crazy to think about.

The common thread through all of this, is that it’s important to have good people around you and that it’s okay to be a little out of your depth, because you can learn to swim as you go.

That’s the story of how far just taking an improbable leap can get you. Sometimes, if it’s something you really want to do, and you’ve got a chance, just give it a shot. You can always get support down the line. Making a film was something I swore I could never do. Turns out I was wrong.

Listen to Okori talking about his experience here.

ATA Carnets were not previously needed for UK businesses travelling into EU countries, but since 1st January 2021, trading rules have changed.

Now, firms can choose to use an ATA Carnet when transporting certain goods temporarily into EU countries or transiting through the EU to non-EU countries who are part of the ATA Carnet agreement. This will help to simplify the customs process and means you avoid duties and taxes upon import.

We are aware the changes may have been unexpected to some companies and are now an extra cost to factor into the day-to-day running costs of your business.

That’s why we are offering a heavily discounted price just for the television and film industry.

ATA Carnets for EU countries will cost £235 + VAT to issue*. All of the ATA Carnets that we issue can be used for multiple trips and are valid for a period of up to one year.

This is a special offer for the first six months of 2021 to help businesses in the TV and film industry. Companies will need to apply before 31st July 2021 and you can find out more here.

An ATA Carnet is a customs document that can be used when importing professional equipment, commercial samples or goods for exhibitions or trade fairs, temporarily into countries that are part of the ATA Carnet system. It means that your filming equipment can pass through each country’s customs border duty free and provides the respective countries with a guarantee that duties will be paid if the conditions under which the goods are allowed into the country are breached.

A carnet must be presented each time the equipment is imported, exported, or travels through a country. The list of countries that accept ATA Carnets can be found here.

A carnet document acts like a passport for the goods, which requires the name of the carnet holder, dates of issue and expiry, the carnet number, and the countries where the carnet can be used. A description of the goods is printed on the reverse.

The ATA Carnet is filled with colour coded vouchers. Yellow vouchers are used for the country of departure and return, white for overseas customs and blue for transit.

Each sheet has a counterfoil which will be obtained by customs officers each time it is required when passing through, entering, or leaving a country.

A carnet is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. During this time, it can be used an unlimited number of times for exits and entries into member countries. However, goods need to be returned to the UK within 12 months.

At Business West, our International Trade team provide a bespoke service including simplification of customs procedures and completion of all Carnet vouchers. Find out more here.

Plimsoll Productions based in Bristol have used Business West’s ATA Carnet services several times when exporting filming equipment out of the country on shoots.

Commenting on the support they have received in completing Carnets, Lynn Sinclair, Head of Production said:

“Business West has been very helpful, and the team are often able to turn around Carnets in less than 24 hours which is crucial for us with last-minute changes to kit and equipment. It makes our lives a lot easier knowing we can send over the information at the last minute.”

When asked about the advice she would give to companies looking to use Carnets she added:

“It’s important to make sure the Carnet information is accurate as everyone has heard of a horror story where a Carnet has been incorrectly executed and the production company has had to pay a huge fee. Business West ensured all the information was accurate, which meant we avoided paying duties and our kit arrived on time.”

Ecosurety has announced the first round recipients of the Exploration Fund. The Ecosurety Exploration Fund invests £1 million in projects that aim to reduce environmental impact of packaging, batteries or WEEE through innovation or research.

Reuse Network, Impact Recyling, Impact Solutions and London Waste and Recycling Board share a £500k boost to its UK projects in the first round of the fund.

Skylark is proud to have partnered with the fund to create four films promoting its winners. We travelled to Scotland, London and Newcastle to meet the innovators behind the projects. This is just one step closer to moving our society to a more greener, sustainable future.

Fit for reuse, Reuse Network

The Fit for reuse project will help tackle the growing mountain of old or unused electricals being recycled or landfilled. And this provides more high quality, repaired electrical goods to the people that really need them.

Led by the Reuse Network, this project is set to move significantly more EEE up the waste hierarchy.

BOSS 2D, Impact Recycling

Led by Impact Recycling, the BOSS 2D project is building on proven innovation used to sort rigid plastics. In doing so, it vastly improves the recycling of flexible plastic film.

If plastic film can be accurately and efficiently sorted into uncontaminated, material-specific waste streams, they can be recycled instead of incinerated.

BOSS 2D will enable that to happen for the first time.

Maximising recycling from purpose-built flats

The Maximising recycling from purpose-built flats project is working to address an age-old problem. How to increase capture and quality of recyclable materials from households that don’t have standard kerbside collections?

Led by the London Waste and Recycling Board, this project will trial new interventions and infrastructure.

CellMine, Impact Solutions

Lithium-ion battery technology is likely to be the keystone in moving our society to a greener, more sustainable future. But without effective recycling technology in place, we are fast approaching a significant problem. This is due to the scarcity of raw materials and destructive mining techniques.

Led by Impact Solutions, CellMine could prove to be the Holy Grail solution.

Congrats to the first round of Exploration Fund Winners! Find out more about the Ecosurety Exploration Fund.

This year, we decided to break tradition here at Proctor + Stevenson, and instead of creating our annual staff Christmas video, we donated our services to a worthy cause, producing a film for a local charity instead. After researching many of the wonderful charitable institutions that operate in our home city, we selected Caring In Bristol, a charity dedicated to eradicating homelessness in Bristol for good. They work in imaginative and creative ways with people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, as well as public and community partners, to bring about lasting change in Bristol and beyond.

We were blown away by the extensive work they do, and so created and donated a film for Caring in Bristol, engaging people in this urgent cause and encouraging people to donate via their website. You can watch the video here.

Shockingly, nearly 3,000 people in our great city will be experiencing homelessness this Christmas. This Over the winter, a donation of just £21 could provide food, mental health and wellbeing support, care and compassion for those experiencing homelessness at an acutely difficult time of year. You can donate here.

Currently there are around 895 homeless ‘households’ in Bristol; that’s families who are trapped in temporary and emergency accommodation over the winter months. And in March, the number of rough sleepers in Bristol had reached its highest level in a decade, despite there being a national drop.

Unfortunately, the homelessness crisis is set to worsen, as Generation Rent estimates that 17% of renters have fallen into arrears since the beginning of the pandemic, and the number of families at risk of eviction due to late or missed rent payments is triple that of last year. Centrepoint, a homeless charity supporting under-25s in England, has seen a 36% increase in people seeking support since lockdown began.

Caring in Bristol runs Bristol’s flagship winter homelessness project, Caring at Christmas, and 2020 will see the 31st year of the Christmas project. Last year, over the days that Caring at Christmas 2019 ran, it provided day support to 429 homeless and vulnerable people in Bristol and served over 2,500 hot meals.

This year, the charity is warning of a potential increase in clients who are homeless needing access to emergency support and has adapted the project to become COVID-safe. Caring in Bristol will be delivering over 900 meals each day to those in temporary accommodation and 100 meals daily to those currently sleeping rough throughout December. Alongside this, the project provides medical care, mental health support, entertainment, wellbeing, specialist housing and money advice, resources like clothing, compassion and friendship at an acutely difficult time of year.

So please donate what you can this Christmas, and do your part to empower Bristol into becoming the first city to end homelessness, for good.

JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, conceptualised, produced and directed a music video for Bristol-based Keir’s latest release, Say Love, dropping yesterday.

Managed by Bristol-based Crosstown Concerts and signed to Vertigo Berlin, a division of Universal Music, Keir’s latest single features on the EP A Thorn With A Face.

Rob French, Senior Creative at JonesMillbank and Director of the music video, worked with the team and Keir on the concept and messaging of the video.

“There is a consistent awareness of others around us but it’s never something we dwell on. Walking through streets, everyone has stories. Stories of love, loss, compassion, remorse, lust, an endless list.”

“Say Love leans into this observation and positions our lead storyteller (Keir) on his own journey, balancing on his own path while others are woven around him. This ensemble collectively represent connections we all have with people through our lives, know matter how brief or long, but ultimately fade away as we continue to move forward on our own journey for love, whatever that may mean to that individual.”

One of JonesMillbank’s largest productions to date, the video was shot on-location at Ashton Avenue Bridge, spanning Bristol’s New Cut, with 30 extras, 15 crew, 5 security, and, last but absolutely not least, 1 coffee van.

“Utilising Ashton Avenue Bridge in Bristol was entirely intentional for Say Love.

“The symmetrical, brutal structure enveloping all the action was the perfect pairing to offset the tenderness and vulnerability in the song.

“A hopeful symphony between the architecture and the natural light danced with those emotions as we travel through the uniformed light and shade that floods the bridge in the mornings.”

Full road closure was granted by Bristol City Council with permits from Bristol Film Office, with the concept adapted and the production managed safely and appropriately during national lockdown.

The commission follows the release of two music videos and album content for Bristol-based and Mercury-nominated IDLES.

They work exclusively in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, all the while telling authentic stories long before it was cool for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, Battersea, The Royal Mint and Above & Beyond.

Although 2020 has not been a great year for shooting on location, particularly for branded content or commercials, Bristol filmmaker & writer Gavin Knight got round this problem… By crafting a brilliant script & sourcing rare footage from Bordeaux documentaries, the film was made during the first lockdown & released in April. It promotes a new concept in wine by Viniv – you can blend your own barrel of wine (240 bottles!) under the auspices of Chateau Lynch-Bages.

The Evcom London Film Awards normally take place at the BFI, but sadly this November it was a virtual ceremony. The film can be viewed on Gavin’s website here:

We all love compelling stories that capture our emotions. The characters in these stories have complex arcs that can relate to us in our daily lives. 2D animation videos make the audience associate with the characters and their message. Brand messaging can be delivered with precision and impact through 2D animation and explainer videos to the audience. The characters in 2D animation videos and explainer animation videos display the intrinsic human value of your service.

2D animation videos express the brand purpose to the client through moving objects and figure. This has the ability to capture the attention and increase the quality of engagement of the audience. The target audience is given a flowing account of the business services in a creative way.

Benefits of 2D Animation videos

Product promotion through 2D videos is the simplest way to display the working of the product. The characters in the 2D video can be scripted according to your marketing needs. This leads to an easy understanding of the benefits of your products in the market.

Explainer videos are brief animated videos which focus on elucidating the core business idea in an easy, engaging and persuasive way. Explainer videos have clear and compact language. Their attractive visuals appeal to the attention of the viewer.

Explainer videos skyrocket the visibility of your brand and have a strong effect on the marketing strategy.

Explainer videos are the perfect way to capture the attention of the audience and get them to stay hooked on to the brand. Incorporation of the explainer video on the homepage of your website will enhance the visit time of the viewer by 2 minutes.

Google takes note of the amount of time spent by the visitor on your website. The greater the time, the higher are the chances of your website getting a top ranking in the search results. Video marketing is given a great boost by YouTube which multiplies the probability of getting the optimalvisibility your product is in need of.

The catchy and appealing nature of explainer videos makes them a compelling watch for prospective clients. The end perception of the explainer video stays much longer in the working memory of the individual than a few lines of sentences.

The fun factor in the explainer videosincreases the retention of the information about the brand product and leads to an exponential growth in conversions.

Animation videos don’t need moody actors and costly locales. This will help you save a lot of money and time. On the other hand, live-action videos tend to be more expensive with the added requirement of the ability for high-quality editing.

There are lots of good animation agencies who can deliver the best output for complex products. Animation studios have skilled creative employees who can simplify abstract business ideas and bring them to life.

We are a top-notch 2D explainer video animation agency with a high degree of specialization in the creation of 2D animation explainer videos for our corporate clients. We have cutting-edge experience in the creation of motion graphics, explainer videos andinfographics that will present a visually energetic and engaging representation of your business to the customer.

Our commitment to improving your search engine rankings is unparalleled through the creation of amazing videos. We are the top animation studio to generate unique creative ways to bring your business idea to life.

This week marks Skylark Media’s 15th birthday. Although it’s a bit of a weird time to celebrate we wanted to say thanks to the fab clients, partners, colleagues and friends who’ve crossed our paths over the years. Without you we wouldn’t be here.

It feels like yesterday that Jo Haywood, fresh from making climate change documentaries for the Beeb and Discovery Channel, mustered up the courage to set up her own video production company.

Running a creative business isn’t always easy (especially in 2020!), as our peers in the creative industry will agree. Now more than ever, it’s vital to support each other and take collaboration to another level. Over Lockdown, 92% of independent agencies have either collaborated with another agency to take a brief, or are willing to. That’s fantastic news – and we hope that in our partners we’re able to fill skill gaps, deliver great client service and aid creativity where we can. We are looking to expand our network of creatives and agencies, so please get in touch if you’d like to partner at [email protected]

As we enter another Lockdown, we wanted to reassure everyone that it’s business as usual, and we’ll continue to film according to APA guidelines. If you’ve got a few minutes, we’ve launched our new website this week at www.skylarkmedia.co.uk and Jo has a few words to say herself: https://bit.ly/3kQOxkH

This month I’ve been stunned by two different films that come from popular mobile brands, Samsung & Orange.

Although the films are very different, they have some telling things in common. Neither of the films feature any product or service whatsoever, apart from the logo at the end. How refreshing…it’s as if the Covid crisis has forced many brands to have more of a conscience. Both these films support an idea that benefits humanity. Brands are beginning to realise that unless they put their money where their morals lie, unless they can actively demonstrate they are purpose-led, as well as creative in their communications, consumers will just switch off.

SAMSUNG’s film – ‘Inspired by a True Photo’ – is really inspired by an original photo, a simple sack of ‘Onions’, taken by a real person called Scott Anders. But we don’t see Scott take the photo, instead Director Sam Hibbard of Somesuch imagines a story behind the photo that sees a boy meet a girl for the first time – but full of comedy, pathos and using a surreal style. At its heart, the film is about connection – the hope & expectation of the boy’s journey.

Samsung have realised that it’s not the quality of camera that is important but the way people use images to communicate with each other. Samsung claim that when we take and share our images, they take on a life of their own. The shot becomes the conversation. The beauty of Sam’s film is that it avoids all the brand’s technology to tell a fun story using great characters, images & original music.

Connection & communication that is funny & uplifting in the time of Covid has never been more important.

The ORANGE film – ‘The Toy’ – takes a more direct approach to saving humanity by encouraging us to recycle our old phones. Millions of old phones are to be found hibernating in long-forgotten draws & these phones are wasting our planet’s precious resources.

The film is directed by Frédéric Planchon of Iconoclast, aimed at a European rather than UK market. It shows the relationship a little girl has with one of her first toys, the famous ‘Fisher-Price’ rolling phone. We see the girl become an adult & then rediscover her old toy in the attic with her own child. The recycling parable is clear.

Like the Samsung film, ‘The Toy’ uses great images & music to tell a life-affirming story with emotion.

“Wolfie’s walking to work, like he always does. But today is his birthday. Surely something should be different??”

This experimental interactive short by filmmaker Ru Howe is one of the first films crafted with trailblazing technology from Bristol based start up stornaway.io which lets filmmakers create story game experiences easily and creatively without coding. Released at Immersive Encounters this week, you can watch it here.

Part funny vlog, part game, the viewer gets to follow Wolfie all over Bristol, on multiple paths through the city – encountering and re-encountering memorable characters across two timelines.

Behind Howe’s signature jump cut editing and Wolfie’s wide eyed vlogging are layered some wonderfully meditative moments and conversations.

Life Moves Pretty Fast was made hand in hand with the creation of Stornaway.io itself. Originally mapped out on Howe’s kitchen wall with pieces of paper, he and producer Kate Dimbleby used the creative production process to design and prototype an authoring tool which would put the creative process at the heart of stornaway.io‘s revolutionary drag and drop vision.

The film was shot in 2 days with a cast and crew of professional friends on a minimal budget.

But wait! This is interactive, how long will it take to play?

Life Moves Pretty Fast is designed to be watched and replayed multiple times – there are over 40 minutes of gameplay (if you find all the secret paths!) but allow yourself 15-20 minutes to take Wolfie through 2-3 different journeys of discovery.

Okori, one of our digital designers here at P+S, talks about the short film he created for the BBC last year.