Jacaranda

Top Ten

jacarandamimosifolia — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:33:46 +0000

Ever since Janine Gibson was a junior reporter for Televisual magazine (clearly it didn’t harm her career) we’ve supported their annual Corporate Top 50 survey – and we’re delighted to feature in the Top Ten yet again this year.

Looking at the main contenders we think that only Imagination has been around longer than us (40 years to our 25) – and our congratulations to them for their top ranking for the 5th year in a row.

Reading some of the data that has come out of the survey, we’d agree that average budgets seem to be coming down and the assertion that: “…the era of big budget corporate films telling the world a little about a client has gone.” That’s probably no bad thing.

On the other hand, Michael Proudfoot (who has also been around a while) hits the nail on the head with: “Commissioners from many companies…simply don’t understand that, when it comes to film, the old adage about peanuts and monkeys really does apply.”

Most sensible comment of all, however, is from our friends at World Television: “Production companies that cannot help clients with their delivery needs will find themselves running behind in the race…clients are increasingly concerned with distribution”.

Which is why we’ve developed our own distribution solution which has, as of today, delivered our clients’ video content to some 68,789,613 viewers. See here for more details of what we’ve been building.

Overground in Dubai and Singapore

jacarandamimosifolia — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:36:41 +0000

We’ve just completed a programme for a major client to form part of an important presentation to the Iraqi government. The film is about a major infrastructure project – an important contribution to rebuilding the country and its economy after the war.

Based around interviews with senior executives in London, Singapore and Dubai, the film also made extensive use of photorealistic animated CGI sequences – created in partnership with the excellent Flock London (famed for their brilliant broadcast work).

In the office, one of Tom’s more challenging jobs was finding the correct sound-effect for a CGI concrete jetty emerging from below a riverbed…whilst in Dubai and Singapore, Scarlett worked with very talented local crews and organised the complex logistics of scheduling safety briefs, shooting interviews in tiny offices and squeezing in panic purchases of dates in Dubai’s Duty Free.

She even managed to wangle her way to the top of the Raffles tower to film Singapore from the highest possible point. Clearly she was disappointed not to be in Hammersmith.

Underground in Namibia

jacarandamimosifolia — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:45:54 +0000

We’ve just completed a major shoot in Namibia and South Africa for mining giant Vedanta.

Heathrow to Johannesburg was uneventful, then onto a tiny plane to a tiny airport called Upington, where the crew arrived at the Black Mountain Mine. Surrounded by mountains and deserts the barren landscape was reminiscent of the recent footage from Mars.

In the intense heat, keeping hydrated was a concern to the UK crew but something they were used to having worked in similar climates for many years.

Shooting in the mine itself, 1500m below the surface, presented its own challenges. Here the heat and humidity intensified as the crew headed towards mine face. Working at this depth was a unique experience that gave everyone enormous respect for the people who work down here on a daily basis.

Travelling by road for six hours to the next location in Namibia took the crew alongside the famous Orange River, an amazing location worthy of any Attenborough documentary. Skorpion is an open pit mine – so quite a different environment, which the crew were able to capture at ground level and from a helicopter.

The last night was devoted to capturing GVs of the desert, the amazing scenery and sunset. The only thing missing was the wildlife – other than a few lazy ostriches – but in any case it was a very welcome change from the British December climate…

Our Clean-Living Crew

jacarandamimosifolia — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:32:55 +0000

Around 6% of the world’s population are living with diabetes, one of the major causes of premature illness and death. Many of them rely on these regular doses of insulin to stay alive – often using delivery pens.

We’ve just completed a shoot for long-term client Rexam – one of the world’s leading providers of healthcare packaging. Shooting in a state of the art production plant in Nuremberg, Germany, we captured the highly sophisticated manufacturing process of the Lantus SoloSTAR insulin delivery pen. The factory produces over 10,000 pens an hour but it’s not an easy product to manufacture and the intricate assembly required an equally intricate shooting schedule.

To avoid contamination all injection and assembly operations are carried out in a clean production area with filtered air. This meant that the crew had to wear extensive specialist protective clothing which, at first, took forever to fight into and out of. However, after much practice Scarlett has claimed the quick change record of 90 seconds…adding to her already impressive range of important Production Manager skills.

More news on this film will be posted in the ‘Work’ section of our website shortly.

A Movember to be Proud of! – Tom’s Blog

tomatjacaranda — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:02:31 +0000

A moustache used to bear the sign of power and prowess, inducing respect from those around you. Take this man for instance. Lord Kitchener and his moustache could have persuaded the Julian Assangee of the era to go to war! However over the last 10 to 20 years the moustache has been associated with laziness and creepiness, not quite a warming beard or a sharp clean shave but that weird something in between.

However things are beginning to change particularly in the month of November or as it is called amongst many social circles these days, Movember.

Now, at the beginning of November men or MoBros as they are called have a clean shave, then will their testosterone to take over and battle embarrassments to produce an awesome moustache. This simple task of sporting a moustache is helping raise awareness and money for cancer studies and particularly Testicular and Prostate cancer.

Having only recently been able to grow a beard I found it hard to let go, especially with the added stigma of my girlfriend saying I look like a frog without one! However after the initial shave and the cold it brought with it I started to enjoy my sleek new look. Now however the moustache is starting to take shape and where in the past I may have found myself looking down at the floor with such an affliction, I look up and notice fellow MoBros and their moustaches of all shapes and sizes and I hold my head high as I stroll into Pret and order a soya skinny latte with chocolate sprinkles in my most manly of voices!

Jokes aside I think this is a fantastic movement as the more the issue is in the public sphere and people know about symptoms and treatments, the more people will feel less embarrassed and seek treatment sooner. Personally i would like to encourage anyone to take part and make a donation, small or big to help this great cause! Anyone can take part, MoSistas included so no excuses!

Thank you to those who have already sponsored me and if you would like to, please find my movember page on the link below:

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/4024517

Happy Movember,

Tom

In the Cannes

jacarandamimosifolia — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:21:41 +0000

We were delighted to win an award at the 2012 Cannes Corporate Media & TV event last week for our film ‘Working in Oman’ produced for BP. It’s the first time we’ve been to these awards (we were one of only a handful of UK companies awarded) and it was a revelation in many ways.

There’s obviously a certain glamour implicit in the conjunction of the words ‘Cannes’ and ‘Awards’ – and the organisers have, very sensibly, done their best to capitalise on this. Pre-dinner Champagne on the terrace overlooking the yachts in the bay is always going to beat a tumbler of warm Riesling in a windowless basement in London. But it’s not just about how it feels.

In only their third year, the awards attracted entries and visitors from more than 35 countries - making these awards (unlike others) truly international – and the sheer breadth of countries now producing good corporate films was an eye-opener.

Not so long ago, we all somewhat arrogantly assumed that any major multinational was likely to beat a path to London to commission their corporate film – but this is certainly no longer the case. We saw some examples of great award-winning work for major European businesses produced in their home countries.

In particular it was fascinating to meet some producers from Abu Dhabi, who, like their neighbours in other Middle Eastern countries, are beginning to see the potential of their home-grown corporate production market. It would seem unwise for any UK-based production company to bank their future on a steady income stream from this part of the world…

Thanks to Gary Birch for directing the film, to the organisers and congratulations to the other winners…particularly our fellow Brits.

Pictures courtesy Filmservice International / Blaise Tassou

Keeping Your Hand In – Tom’s Blog

tomatjacaranda — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:50:49 +0000

A couple of months ago Jacaranda was chosen to create a new corporate image film for new client Invensys. I was tasked with gathering existing footage from which we will create a footage library and, combined with new footage, create this new corporate film.

This was one of my first major tasks in my new job as Production Assistant and I obviously wanted to impress with my work. I started the task full of energy, contacting production companies the world over to gather all the rushes we thought would be useful. Hard drives were sent in their droves and it was nice to receive something important and work related as oppose to my usual post of Love Film subscriptions and pizza menus!

When the wall of hard drives started to obscure my view of my colleagues I knew it was time to start the mammoth task of logging EVERY SINGLE SHOT! It soon became too much and reinforcements were called in. As we trawled through the shots hour after hour, day after the day morale was at a low but when things are low and times are rough we always had doughnuts and blooper shots like these to give us the much needed boost to finish the footage log.

In this particular shot above, a production company had travelled to the great Niagara Falls in America and managed to get this fantastic shot of the waters edge. This really was the shot, the whole shot. Now I understand shots like these can happen when you’re jostling for space but as I understand it Niagara Falls is a pretty big water feature!

Anyway with the help of my colleagues, confectionery goods and a few bloopers we were able to finish the footage log and my first major piece of work was presented to the client. He was happy, my bosses were happy because he was happy and I was happy because they were both happy and it meant that doughnuts in the afternoon are now seen as an integral part in creating a hardworking and happy workforce at J House.

Glass Half Full

jacarandamimosifolia — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:37:22 +0000

We’re delighted to have been commissioned to make another film for the Global Water Partnership. GWP’s vision is for a water secure world. They believe that an integrated approach to managing the world’s water resources is the best way to pursue this vision – a vision that encompasses all of life.

The video will show the geographical spread of the GWP network and present who they are and what they do. 2013 is the UN International Year of Water Cooperation and GWP’s work is 100% about water co-operation worldwide.

Using our existing library footage and new footage, we want to inspire new Partners to join GWP and contribute to their work. Key messages will express how water cooperation can be achieved and most importantly how this cooperation is the only way ahead for a sustainable future.

Speaking of water… did you know, there are more atoms in a glass of water than glasses of water in all the oceans on Earth…now how many glasses of this stuff are we supposed to drink a day?

A Grand Day Out

jacarandamimosifolia — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:54:58 +0000

After a very busy eighteen months helping BP to communicate their London 2012 Partnership, the Jacaranda team was treated to a grand day out at the Olympics.

We went along with other BP creative partners such as Ogilvy, KBW, Tillings and the wonderful photographer, George Logan. It felt like a jolly reunion, as many of us had met on the set of the recent BP TV commercial, for which we had produced the behind-the-scenes film.

The day started with breakfast in the Helios Lounge at the Royal Opera House, and a tour of the ‘Olympic Journey’ exhibition,which tells the Olympic story through the endeavours of ancient and modern Olympians. We produced the 90 second film promoting the exhibition, which is currently showing on the BP Summer Big Screens throughout the UK.

Fuelled by a delicious breakfast, we were guided school-crocodile-style to the tube and so on to Stratford and the Olympic Park. Surprisingly, the tube journey was quick and easy, with plenty of willing helpers to point out the way. This was almost certainly directly due to the 47 video modules we produced back in February to help the MET Police manage the safety of the Games….

The Olympic Park was so impressive, and our clients had even arranged for the sun to shine all day. We were treated to fabulous hospitality in the BP Lounge -and a riveting display of skill and astounding courage during the BMX quarter finals.

Of course, we couldn’t leave the Park without a visit to the impressively shiny BP Showcase and a spectacular 360 degree visual presentation covering BP’s operations worldwide. Our team had travelled to Angola and Azerbaijan to film BP’s international athlete ambassadors for inclusion in the Showcase presentation, a film featuring BP’s international athletes and a Legacy documentary of the BP Olympic partnership.

The day was rounded off in the BP Lounge with a welcome cool drink at the end of a long, hot, exciting day - plus a glimpse of the lovely Lizzie Armitstead who has been a joy to work with over the past year and a half, as has the delightful Jessica Ennis and all the other BP athlete ambassadors both in the UK and abroad. We salute their incredible talent, discipline and achievements. It’s been a privilege to document some of their hopes and fears along the way..

One of our clients said of our grand day out: “I’m glad you had a good time. You have been such a big part of our team, so it was nice to take a moment and celebrate. Thank you for everything you have done for us.”

Indeed it was great to take a moment to celebrate everybody’s achievements. Thank you BP.

Olympic-sized Facilities

jacarandamimosifolia — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:55:31 +0000

We’re working with Olympic Broadcast Services to gather footage for one of our clients who are official partners of London 2012. Once we’d got in, past the razor wire and soldiers with guns, OBS took us on a tour of their facilities inside the Olympic Park the other day. The International Broadcast Centre is staggering.

At 275m long, 104m wide and 21m tall, the building is roughly the same size as two football fields end to end and houses the twenty or so international broadcasters covering the games. NBC has the largest area – housing over 3,000 staff (with bouncers on the doors, for no clear reason).

The master control room is linked to the 1,000 cameras covering the games, with a monitor wall showing live feeds from over 500 of these at once. From here they’ll be broadcasting over 460 hours of continuous programming during the events and over 230 hours of 3D footage.

Apparently the servers at the Beijing Games were only large enough to store 3 days of footage online – so this time they’ve upped the spec and in London they have capacity for 5,600 hours worth of HD footage.

It’s a hugely impressive feat of broadcast engineering….but you can’t help wondering what’s going to happen to it all after the 9th September when the Paralymics ends? What will the building become? And where will all that equipment go?!