There’s something different about working on event videos and visuals.
Maybe it’s the deadline. Maybe it’s the scale. Maybe it’s the slightly strange feeling of spending weeks making something that will eventually play once, on a very big screen, in front of a lot of people. Whatever it is, we love it.
Over the years, we’ve created films, animation and motion content for events across the globe, working directly with clients as well as alongside branding agencies, consultancies and event teams.
We’ve made opening films, keynote content, animated presentations, venue graphics, social campaigns and films for some unusually shaped screens. We’ve worked on five editions of the World Governments Summit, as well as events for UNIDO, the Global Women’s Forum, World Chambers Congress, PIF, the Global Cybersecurity Forum and many others.
And while every event is different, the process has taught us a few things.
There’s one very useful thing about an event deadline. It’s not moving.
At some point, the doors will open, people will take their seats, someone will walk onto the stage and whatever is on that screen needs to work. That creates a particular kind of focus.
The stakes are high and there’s definitely some adrenaline involved, especially during the final few days. Things change. Speakers change. Numbers change. Someone important sees the film for the first time. A screen turns out to be slightly different from the one everyone had been working with. And yet, the closer you get to the event, the calmer you need to become.
By that point, the client is dealing with a hundred other things. The pressure is rising and the last thing anyone needs is another problem to solve. Oddly, that same pressure can be a blessing in disguise.
Everyone is completely focused. Decisions get made. Teams come together. There isn’t much room for “we’ll come back to this next week”, so every part of the machine is fully on and working to get this thing over the line.
Trust becomes a big part of the game. We’ve now worked with the World Governments Summit across five events. With each project, there’s a little less explaining required. Everyone knows what’s coming.
And when the clock is ticking, that matters.
Event briefs often give us quite a lot of creative freedom. The ask might be to open a conference, introduce an initiative, explain what has happened over the past year or set the tone for what’s coming next. The client wants something on-brand, clear and exciting. But how we get there is often up to us to suggest.
We spend a lot of time in pre-production: developing scripts, exchanging moodboards, making storyboards, testing ideas and creating styleframes. The aim is to remove as many surprises as possible.
Sometimes we’re working before the stage design is finished. Sometimes the event identity is still evolving. Sometimes we know that certain elements will change as the event gets closer. So instead of designing one beautiful frame, we try to build a visual language that can move with the project.
That becomes especially important because the main film is rarely the only thing being made. The same visual world might need to work across an opening film, keynote presentation, social campaign, TV commercial, venue screens and a collection of smaller pieces scattered around the event.
It needs enough consistency to feel like one event, and enough flexibility to survive everything that happens between the first moodboard and opening night.
Most of the time, filmmakers know roughly where their work will end up. A television. A laptop. A phone. Maybe a cinema screen. Events can get a little stranger.
We’ve worked on content for 25-metre-wide screens, 360-degree environments, giant stage backdrops and screens spread throughout venues. Sometimes 16:9 is almost the least useful format. That changes how you think about the work.
Something that feels huge on your monitor can disappear once it’s sitting behind a person on a stage. Type needs to be readable from the back of a room. An edit that works perfectly on a laptop can feel completely different when it fills your field of vision.
You spend weeks looking at pixels on your workstation, discussing tiny details and moving things a few frames back and forth. Then you walk into the venue.
The lights go down. The sound comes up. Something you’ve been staring at on a monitor suddenly becomes enormous.
And it all makes sense.
There’s something special about event projects.
For a few intense weeks, everyone is completely focused on the same goal. You solve problems together, deal with the unexpected, and somewhere along the way, you usually make a few new friends.
Now the event has started. The deadline is gone. And you can finally take a break.
Until the next one.
