Proliferating a Message of Building Excellence
Client: Passivhaus Trust
Project: Concise yet compelling, video ‘portraits’ telling the stories of the nine shortlisted projects
Celebrating the 5th anniversary of the UK Passivhaus Awards, the Passivhaus Trust is dedicated to the promotion of the internationally recognised low energy design standard as a highly effective way of reducing buildings’ energy use and carbon emissions while creating a healthy and comfortable indoor environment.
The Passivhaus Standard sets an absolute limit on the amount of energy a building can use. To design a truly beautiful building that’s competitively priced within that limit is a huge architectural challenge – and the UK Passivhaus Awards aim to celebrate exceptional buildings proven to meet that challenge and to promote the adoption of the Passivhaus Standard.
Regen Media’s Role
Our brief was to capture in short movie presentations the unique aesthetic beauty, design innovations and architectural ingenuity of each of the nine projects selected for the 2015 Awards shortlist.
Our Strategy
Focusing sharply on the needs of the client – and their target audience – is second nature to us, but in this instance there was an extra challenge: while showing each building in the best possible light it was vital that we based all nine films on a common template to ensure that no project was inadvertently given an advantage. It was equally important not to lose sight of each film’s role in the longer term – as a showcase for the individual projects and for the UK Passivhaus Awards. In short, we needed to create a formula, without being formulaic.
Challenges and Solutions
Having created similar films for the 2013 and 2014 awards we were keenly aware that a very fast turnaround would be called for – with just a month between the announcement of the shortlist and the actual awards. In addition to the time factor, the need to cover nine separate, often distant, locations added to the logistical challenge. With that in mind we planned a very disciplined schedule for a lightweight, mobile but well-equipped crew:
- 9 half-day shoots on location.
- Interviews with key people – such as architects, builders, craftspeople and end-users.
- Cutaways of the finished project and of the surrounding landscape and setting.
Time constraints meant we had to get it right first time, every time – it was not possible to postpone shooting to wait for ideal lighting conditions, for example. Consequently we allowed additional post-production time for the grading and ‘fine-tuning’ of the footage before beginning the edit to ensure consistent quality across all nine films.
Results
Now in our third year covering the UK Passivhaus Awards, we are very proud of what now amounts to a substantial body of work – and it is gratifying to find that visitors to the immensely influential sustainability blog Treehugger seem to agree. When our films for last year’s awards were featured there, the number of views they attracted was very impressive indeed – with 395 visitors on the day of posting, and more than 400 more the next day.
In conclusion, the films we have created not only fulfil their role in the UK Passivhaus Awards process admirably but also serve as a powerful longer term marketing vehicle for the creators of all these inspiring projects, for the Passivhaus Trust and for the sustainable architectural design movement as a whole.
Let’s Talk
To find out how Regen Media’s creative yet cost-effective approach to video production can help you promote your business on the internet, just give us a call or email to arrange a chat. You’ll find us a very positive, friendly bunch!
