What spatial sound did for a corporate interview
We ran a trial of binaural audio processing on a leadership interview and the client could not articulate what was different. They just felt it. That is the point.
CATEGORY
Production
28 articles
The podcast set that made executives sound like themselves
We spent years filming executive interviews the wrong way. The fix was obvious once we stopped fighting what the camera was actually doing to people.
The rehearsal everyone wanted to skip, and why we never do
Every client thinks they can wing it. Every client who has stood on a virtual studio floor knows differently.
Running a panel that does not sag in the middle
The middle twenty minutes of a panel are where you lose the audience. Here is what we change in the studio to stop that from happening.
Why your webinar feels flat, and the staging change that fixes it
A client's product launch lost two-thirds of its audience before the Q&A opened. The content was strong. The staging told viewers to leave.
What a broadcast director watches that you never see
Inside the monitor stack of a live show director. The signals, the tells, and the split-second calls that keep a broadcast looking composed.
The live stream that dropped and the redundancy that saved it
A live broadcast failure nobody saw coming. What the backup plan looked like, how the audience never knew, and why redundancy is not pessimism.
The difference a producer makes on a chaotic shoot
When a shoot falls apart, the crew looks to one person. Here is what that person actually does, and why the role is worth every penny.
How we de-risk a one-shot client testimonial day
One executive, one morning, no second chance. Andrew McLean walks through the pre-production sequence that turns a high-stakes testimonial day into a clean delivery.
The kit you do not need, and the three things you cannot skip
A 23-line quote for a single interview day on the Southbank is not thoroughness. Tom Burke explains where Southbank shoot budgets actually go wrong and what genuinely cannot be cut.
Planning a Southbank exterior around weather, light and the Thames
A Southbank exterior sounds simple until the tide table says otherwise. Andrew McLean explains the three variables that determine whether you shoot or reschedule.
The last-minute booking that became an expensive lesson
A client needed a filming space at five days' notice. What happened next was predictable, expensive, and entirely avoidable.
What a London crew does in the hour before you arrive
The hour before a client arrives on set is the one nobody sees. Here is what a professional London crew is doing while you're in the cab.
The permit mistake that nearly killed a London shoot day
One missing document nearly shut down our Southbank shoot. Here is what we learned about permits, compliance, and never leaving this to chance again.
Why the Southbank still earns its place on a shoot schedule
Andrew McLean on the real risks of filming on the Thames and why, when the brief is right, the Southbank keeps delivering what a studio cannot.
The talking head that worked when most do not
Most talking heads fail before the camera rolls. Andrew McLean on what the floor crew does differently to turn a reluctant exec into a compelling subject.
The virtual set we built for a product launch in 48 hours
The studio call came at 3pm on a Wednesday. The launch was Friday. Here is what we actually did, and what a compressed timeline teaches you about which risks are real.
The remote guest who joined our London set from Tokyo, seamlessly
She was joining from Tokyo at 10:17 PM her time. Our panel went live in London at 2:00 in the afternoon. What made it seamless had nothing to do with luck.
The day a client cancelled a location shoot and we moved it to a virtual set
A flooded venue, eight hours to shoot day, and a crew that had not been briefed. Here is exactly what happened next.
What actually goes wrong in a live virtual broadcast
A director's account of the small failures that sink live streams, and the unglamorous habits that keep a virtual studio show on air.
The jargon-free guide to hiring a film crew in London
I once approved a quote with a line item I didn't understand because asking felt unprofessional. It cost us. Here's how to hire a film crew in London without pretending you know the words.
Why booking a London crew last minute goes wrong
We booked a crew with four days' notice and got one. Everything that went wrong on that shoot traced back to those four days. This is what last-minute actually costs in London, and how to never need it.
Filming on the Southbank, why location is still a production decision
We lost a morning of filming on the Southbank because I treated the location as a backdrop instead of a decision. This is what the river actually costs you, and what it gives back when you plan for it.
Stop filming corporate talking heads. Do this instead
We shot four executives against a grey wall, one after another. The film tested worse than the slide deck it replaced. The fix was not better executives. It was a different question.
Why your CEO's keynote looked amateur, and the fix you missed
The slides were fine. The content was fine. So why did the recording look like a webcam call from 2020? The problem was three things nobody put on the run sheet.
The real cost of a London corporate video, broken down honestly
A quote landed on my desk for nine grand. Another for twenty-six. Same brief. Here is where the money actually goes, and the line item nobody warns you about.
A year of video content shot in two studio days, and how that works
A head of marketing told me she was out of video budget by March. We did not give her more budget. We gave her two days in a London virtual studio and a plan, and her content lasted until the following January. Here is exactly how the maths works.
Creating Buyer Journeys with Interactive Video
Interactive video makes buyer journeys