15 Sep Case Study: Fletcher Building Video Series

The background

Fletcher Building is redeveloping their Head Office campus in Penrose, Auckland and approached us to document the progress of the construction with a series of videos running from March 2016 to early 2017. Being one of New Zealand’s leading construction companies, and because they are investing substantially in the revamp of their Head Office facilities, they were keen to video the project to keep their staff up to date and showcase to clients.

It’s a complex construction project, with 15 separate projects running concurrently. The centerpiece will be a $50m pavilion building that will connect three separate Fletcher office buildings with a central meeting space, café and reception area. This is important from both a practical point of view and also psychologically – to enable collaboration and to ensure that all the separate Fletcher entities feel connected.

The idea

Fletcher’s initial ideas for video when they approached us were around using time-lapse photography. Something we love to use – but in small doses as it can lack engagement very quickly. The video series that was borne out of our fact-finding and concept discussions was a monthly update to staff and the market on the Penrose Campus Redevelopment project (as opposed to one long video at the end of the project). This gives our client regular video content to release throughout the course of the build. Then, on completion, we’ll produce a final, longer video that documents the construction from start to finish.

Our idea was to incorporate some time-lapse along with interviews and documentary style video footage taken around the site on a regular basis, once or twice a week. The thread holding each video together is an update on the project from Dave Corbett, the Project Manager. We also interview one or two other key project members and this changes out according to the focus of the project for that month.

The outcome

So far we’ve produced six monthly update videos for Fletcher’s, which they love and staff are finding interesting and engaging. Regular communication has been key. This ensures we arrive on site when there is something exciting or important to film… and construction plans change frequently. Also travelling light and having versatile kit is really needed on this project. On the first shoot around the site, we quickly figured out that a tripod for the camera was not going to be practical. Going forwards we opted for a monopod with body harness that ensures we get great shots while being able to move around easily on a busy site.

I have to say the best part of this project for me is the client. We love the down to earth guys on the site and the Project Manager, while busy, sees the filming as important and ensures that we get the info and updates that we need in order to make the videos a success. The filming is, of course, on a construction site and involves climbing on roofs to collect time-lapse photography, getting splattered in concrete, scaling ladders – anything in order to get the shot and that’s fun too!!

Check out our an example above….