The National Gallery

Pre-Production

Our initial object was to work with the Gallery’s specialists to identify which works of art to focus on, where they fell within each of the four identified themes and to decide which of their experts and curators would deal with each subject, artist and painting.

Works featured ranged from Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael's depictions of the birth of Christ, Botticini's remarkable Palmiere altarpiece and Canaletto's stunning rendition 'Venice: The Basin of San Marco on Ascension Day'.

Working with a range of internationally renowned experts including the Gallery’s director, one of the main challenges was the scheduling of interviews, selecting of locations for interview film and capturing supporting b-roll and, of course, working to incredibly tight timescales so that the nation’s premier art collection remained open to the public without the need to close off any areas during opening hours. NextShoot has the expertise in delivering high profile projects with national and international institutions. The value we bring is not limited simply to state of the art equipment and filming techniques but also the logistical planning, production process and research.

Filming

We were granted early morning and late night access to the gallery's main rooms and some of their private collection. We produced stunning, sweeping shots of these magnificent locations with a steadicam, moving with the interviewees on their journey through the gallery as room after room and more stunning paintings are revealed.

Each interviewee was filmed in-situ, not only talking about the works of art but interacting with them and walking through the vast building. Our directors and producers have years of experience in interviewing, putting subjects at ease and aiding them through a sometimes nerve wracking experience. By helping them navigate complex subjects for a video audience and understanding the subject and audience we ensure that our clients are able to perform to the best of their abilities and communicate with their audience in a succinct, relevant and effective way.

Post-Production

In addition to the films, we also produced opening and end graphics, bringing a dash of festive glamour to the Gallery’s marketing material.

We produced several different edits of each film for the Gallery’s various social media channels and marketing needs. The films were transcribed, captioned and .srt files created for use on YouTube.

The campaign was exceptionally successful. It was initially teased with a 15 second trailer on twitter. One video was then released each week in the run up to Christmas on the gallery's YouTube page and on a dedicated section of their website.

'The National Gallery in London looked for a video supplier to deliver an innovative and engaging Christmas campaign for our YouTube and other Social Media channels. The objective was to create a campaign that captivated our digital audiences - inspiring and engaging no matter their level of art expertise, and also put the Gallery and our collection on the London Christmas map.

We chose to work with NextShoot as they demonstrated a clear grasp of the brief and had a track record of delivering strong interview content and stylish visual material. The results were everything we had hoped for. NextShoot's trailer and four-part Angel Trail video series contained excellent interviews with staff, including the Gallery's Director, beautiful photography and an added layer of graphics to give the content a Christmassy feel and tone. The campaign was a great success, drawing attention to the Gallery and our collection over the festive period, and creating cross-Channel engagement, including over 20,000 watches on YouTube. NextShoot were a pleasure to work with. They delivered on budget, on time and went the extra mile to ensure the campaign was a success. They are highly recommended.'

Francesca Macnaghten,
eCRM and Social Media Manager, The National Gallery