So you wanna make a movie, ey?
At Faltrego, we get approached to create all kinds of projects but some of the most rewarding of all are narrative campaign films.
Whether you’re a brand that’s new to filming, or an agency looking for a new collaborator, our team is ready to lead you step-by-step through production.
In this blog we’re going to break down the steps it takes to create a film, looking at our ‘Thank You Families’ campaign film for Oscar Kilo (National Police Wellbeing Service) created in close collaboration with PR and Comms agency Jack & Grace.
You’ll learn about all the production steps and all the lingo, as well as the fun you can have on a Faltrego set - and maybe even get inspired to create a film with us!
Creative concept is king
Once commissioned, we kick-off with a call with our Creative Strategist, Charlotte Scholey, and Head of Production, Lexy Anderson, who will sit with you and your team to discuss the aims and objectives of the campaign and film.
Sometimes clients approach us with an idea for a film, but more often than not they approach us with a problem to be solved. Our goal is to figure out what emotions you’d like to activate with your campaign and develop a fantastic creative concept.
For Oscar Kilo’s ‘Thank You Families’ campaign, the objective was to make policing families feel seen and acknowledge the crucial support they provide for forces all over the country. The effect of policing work on homelife can be emotive, so our concept balanced the real hard-hitting emotional repercussions of policing work on families (led by insight from Jack & Grace), alongside a whimsical tone to reflect the absurdity of homelife. We suggested a rhyming poem as narration, alongside playful camera techniques inspired by the works of Edgar Wright.
You’ll then be sent a full Creative Treatment which breaks down any research and insights, as well as our creative concepts. This stage is really useful in making sure concepts are fit-for-purpose, and the story and characters will inspire and mobilise audiences.
FUN FACT = The best stories have a clear set-up that incites intrigue, a challenge/conflict and a resolution. If you can add an emotional twist (or ‘penny drop’ moment for the audience) in there too, bonus points!
Creative Treatments also showcase examples of visual approaches we’d suggest, such as colour palette, production design, lighting and compositions.
Milking your production
We take an integrated approach at Faltrego, and like to ensure you’re getting the most out of your concept including any collateral materials to support the campaign, such as photography or graphics for DOOH/OOH elements.
We also ensure the film is appropriate for all digital platforms, including ‘vertical-first’ platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels. Difference platforms have different optimal durations, so we make sure to account for this in our scripting and storytelling.
FUN FACT = With shooting scripts, 1 page = 1 minute of screen time so a challenge for us is to tell you story as efficiently as possible while still hitting all the emotional beats.
For us, the concept and script development stage is most important, as we believe in a ‘top heavy’ process to make sure the concept is addressing all essential messaging and is crafted so the audience are mobilised towards your campaign’s CTA.
The important stuff
Once we have a script locked, our team can get to work on bringing the creative to life, as well as the many logistical tasks required to pull a shoot day together.
Throughout this stage we will lead on various production elements, such as:
Sourcing locations
Sourcing appropriate locations for shooting that fits the creative elements of your concept and your budget.
Casting
We have an amazing roster of artists, actors and models, as well as great relationships with casting agencies who can gather options for each role. You’ll be sent a shortlist of cast options to review. Faltrego has extensive experience working specifically with child performers and disabled performers.
Legal contracts
We have legally-drafted contracts for all performers, crew and locations. You never have to worry about legal issues following a film’s release as we handle all legals during negotiations with agents, covering use in-perpetuity unless otherwise specified.
Call sheets and risk assessments
For every project, we write up a ‘Call Sheet’, containing contacts of all cast and crew and a shooting schedule. This also includes a risk assessment (RAMS) which covers any health and safety considerations and details of Faltrego insurances.
Production schedules
For every project we create a project schedule, with key dates in each stage as well as any dates you might need to note for filming and/or edit review.
Seeing in believing
It’s often hard to imagine what a film might look like when reading a script on the page, so we provide a professionally-illustrated storyboard, so you can see how the film will flow.
This gives you a chance to feedback any thoughts as well as enjoy some bespoke visuals to help you picture the final product.
FUN FACT = You’ll receive a full storyboard in a deck which you can easily share around your team - or even share with partners or funders to impress them!
Keeping it on brand
To make sure a film adheres to the brand, our Design team will be engaged as early as possible to request brand guidelines, colour codes and fonts. From here, any graphics needed are designed. Brand colours also help to inform the colour palettes of props and costumes.
For example, we noted that Oscar Kilo’s primary brand colours were blue and red, so throughout the film made sure all scenes featured their colours. This subtly establishes a style and reinforced a visual identity that audiences can connect to the brand.
Our production and design teams can also flag any potential accessibility issues the film might face. One of these is colour contrast scales, which measure how well partially sighted viewers can see visuals or read subtitles. Accessibility is really important to us at Faltrego and if this is an area of interest, you can read more about it in our article: How to Make Videos More Accessible.
That set life
We take care of everything leading up to shoot and always encourage clients to join us on set. Even though shoot days are long, they’re always a lot of fun and it’s great to see the action happening up close!
FUN FACT = We provide Behind-The-Scenes Images free of charge for every campaign film you commission, fully graded and ready for you to share and use as you like!
When on-set you’ll be joined by a full crew, including a project Producer, Director, DOP (Director of Photography), Production Designer, Sound Recordist, Hair and Make-Up Artist (MUA) and Production Assistant or Photographer.
The average shoot day is 10 hours, including arrival and pack-up times, so we ask everyone to arrive well rested with the promise we’ll provide the caffeine and catering!. Shoot days require a lot of work from start to finish, so we aim to schedule rest and a good lunch break for everyone, especially the camera team who endure a lot of physical work across the whole day.
Into the edit
Once we wrap filming, our team takes the footage straight into the edit where the magic begins. Within 3 working-days (if not before), we’ll also share some screengrabs of the footage so you can see shots captured and share it with any excited eyes.
Edit turnaround can vary project-by-project, but we always aim to share a first version of the film no more than 10 working days of the shoot. From there, we ask you to review the film with your team or anyone who might need to approve it and let us know your feedback.
Once you have your full list of notes, it’s shared with our team who will make any amendments requested. While timelines of projects always differ, typically our post-production team can get an amended edit reshared within a week of receiving feedback. We permit up to two rounds of revisions, but are flexible where we can to make sure the final product is perfect for your needs.
Campaign films that get results
Once we have final sign-off, we will deliver you the final film along with any further collateral materials for your campaign such as photography, graphics and templates as agreed.
For every film we provide a non-subtitled version, a subtitled version and the SRT file.
Most importantly, we love working with our partners - such as Jack & Grace - who make sure the campaign films gets results with a well-considered media delivery plan.
Under the strategic guidance of Jack & Grace, the ‘Thank You Families’ campaign film performed fantastically, racking up a total of 31,007 views. The film also got reposts from a number of high profile social media presences. Nick Knowles (of, amongst other things, BBC’s DIY SOS fame) also shared the video - a really big win.
The strength of positive feeling around the campaign has also been heart-warming to see.
Is Faltrego right for us?
Faltrego are staffed to take care of all elements of a production. Our team operates on a set of core values that are reflected not just in the kind of work we do, but how we do work.
- We care about causes
- We champion gender justice
- We mentor to greatness
- We act efficiently
- We honour our promises
- We communicate with kindness
One of the keys to success, we believe, is collaboration with our partners and clients and making sure you’re as involved as you’d like. We pride ourselves on providing a fun experience as well as a unique creative product that mobilises audiences and gets results.
If you want a friendly team of experts who can find creative solutions for your campaign needs, download our Creds Deck or get in touch with us today: hello@faltrego.com
Watch the final campaign film here:
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