Bird & Bird

Pre-Production

To ensure the video felt engaging we sought out interesting and relevant locations outside of the company's offices, including the U-Bahn in Frankfurt (mobility), a shopping mall (retail) and a restaurant in Hong Kong (financial transactions) .

We also wanted to underline Bird & Bird's association with companies in the digital and technology sector, so where relevant we introduced contemporary consumer technologies such as a fitbit, Bluetooth earbuds and a VR headset.

Once the script was signed off, a key consideration was to schedule time with busy contributors in four countries and to plan foreign travel in the way that was most cost-effective.

Political disturbance in Hong Kong during the filming window required us to be practical and flexible in our filming approach there. In both Hong Kong and Frankfurt we employed local fixers to recce locations and provide location photographs, and to clear filming permits with the authorities.

Filming

The project was shot on the FS7 MkII. Throughout the filming the goal was to keep the camera on the move, either on a gimbal or on the dolly and track.

The most complex set-up - an underslung camera on track with a pull focus from one speaker at the boardroom table to another contributor on a conference call screen - was for a shot with senior team members, available during a one hour time slot. We crewed this day with a larger team, including a 1st AC and hair and makeup artist, and allowed a three hour set up and rehearsal period to ensure we were ready and able to make best use of our client's time.

Post-Production

Because this was a scripted piece, the first assembly was straight forward. We paid particular attention to the pacing, especially when contributor lines passed from one to another.

We brought stock footage into the timeline to introduce some of the locations. It can be challenging to find clips that don't feel overtly like library shots, but we selected imagery that felt of-a-piece with the content we had captured ourselves.

Graphics and text in the brand style were created and overlaid on the pictures to further underline the company's sector specialisation.

An alternative edit was created for the China market with subtitles and changes to the burned -n text, as well as Social Media versions.

The result was very well received by the client, and we were delighted to have created an About Us video that delivered our clients expertise, reach and approach in an energetic and filmic way.