tothepoint

Jags Virtual Open Day Video

Bringing a school to life for open days during lockdown, through engaging video and drone filming.

The brief

With the school closed for the first lockdown, and leavers not having the opportunity to celebrate their last days together, we were initially asked to create a leavers’ video for them. During this work, we also discussed the longer-term issues of Open Days and that the school had very little digital material to show off the school and not much time to produce it. They knew they needed a video to show the full potential and facilities to new parents and pupils who were now unlikely to be able to visit the school in person.

The creative idea

We put forward the suggestion of working with and art directing both our videographer, Duncan Smith and a drone pilot, Jason Smith, so that we could capture the school in different ways. The idea was to combine talking heads of key members of the staff, including the new headmistress, Mrs Alex Hutchinson, with the more interactive feel you get from drones.

Disciplines

Videography
Photography
Editing
Animation

Using a VR headset, and careful planning, we were able to fly a drone through the school film their amazing facilities. Some tricky manoeuvring by our photographer under the lid of a grand piano and around the hanging obstacles in the art room left us all speechless at his skills with a drone.

Following our first film shoot we returned to film various classes on their first few days back at school after COVID. Our new drone footage captured the excitement and enthusiasm of so many pupils returning to school after such a long absence.
Our video work for James Allen’s Girls School shows that there is great potential for virtual tours online. They provide great instant remote access to locations. Also the use of drone footage can create a seamless walk-through experience and go one step further, filming from a perspective that wouldn’t be possible in person.