largeblue:
Ice Cool Under Pressure
A potentially crucial promotional film for a high-profile client that needed to persuade and impress but also comply with extraordinary deadlines. What made it all possible? The expertise of London-based video agency, largeblue, working exclusively with Apple technology.
“We had one day to finish the film. We were under a lot of pressure, but the technology was fantastic. It facilitated us rather than getting in our way.”
If ice sheets continue to melt and sea levels rise at the current rate, between 40 and 50 percent of the world’s coastal wetlands will be underwater by 2080. Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (who, as he points out, knows a thing or two about the effects of melting), was determined to do something to help tackle the problem of climate change. So he joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and polar explorer Marc Cornelissen, and set up the Climate Change College.
The College aims to turn a group of 18 to 25 year olds into committed — and successful — climate change campaigners through a programme of lectures, workshops and a hands-on visit to the Arctic.
The project needed an effective promotional film and electronic press kit to help attract top-notch students, raise general awareness of climate change and capture the imagination of the public, as well as the journalists at the London press launch. When it came to selecting a video agency to create the film, largeblue seemed like an obvious choice.
This entirely Mac-based production company has gained an enviable track record in environmental films, with clients including the Countryside Agency, Greenpeace and the Field Studies Council. In the words of Ade Thomas, largeblue’s director, the company is “very polished at making these sort of emotionally-driven, extended adverts”.
However, this particular job turned out to be completely unique, and a huge challenge for the small largeblue team. Thomas explains: “There were two clear stages to the edit: first there was footage coming back from Greenland over a period of weeks, which accounted for approximately two-thirds of the film. The last third, however, was based on material coming back the day before the press conference. In effect, we had one working day to finish the film, output it, make a whole bunch of DVD copies and get it ready for the launch”.
Editor Michelle Coomber handled the first part of the film, then Marc Cornelissen and Jerry Greenfield flew in from Greenland the day before the launch to hand deliver the remaining footage. Technical director Matt Thurling says: “We were expecting a few finishing shots but they arrived with nine or ten rushes tapes and less than a day to get through them all!”
