“Before we decided to work with Feature Media, we kept hitting the same barrier. We were free to do what we wanted so we struggled to think of ideas and didn’t know what the right way forward was. Julie at Feature Media took the time to really understand the company and to work with us to come up with concepts we wouldn’t have thought of on our own. This filtered through to helping us decide on the people to include in the videos; considering who would be comfortable on camera and giving a true representation of our day-to-day operations, the team’s different roles and the diversity within our workforce. When Julie showed us the finished video I was unexpectedly overcome with emotion and pride as the videos show so well how much we’ve achieved over the years and the personalities and expertise of our team.”
Paul Stead, Head of Marketing and Sales
Saftronics is a Leeds based company that specialise in process control systems, LV switchboards and control panel manufacturing. Saftronics is well known for working on larger projects for the water utility sector however, they also work with a wide range of sectors including chemicals, oil & gas, minerals, aggerates and cement. When they gave their website a complete overhaul, they required a series of videos to celebrate a big milestone, improve internal communications and help customers and potential future employees better understand the business.
Paul Stead, Head of Marketing and Sales, and Lisa Lister, Marketing Manager at Saftronics, first approached the Feature Media team based on a personal recommendation from Lisa who had previous experience of working with us. Saftronics had just launched a new website and wanted some video content for it. The purpose of the video was to promote Saftronics’ ability to work with many different sectors and businesses of varied sizes. They also wanted to promote Saftronics’ values and their strong background as engineers and problem solvers.
Like the majority of our projects, the script planning came first. It’s really important that we understand the business quickly so we ask lots of questions to drive out key messages that might not always be obvious to our customers. Although this video was going to be interview led, we wanted to create a script structure so we’re able to draw out all the main points during the interview. It also allows us to plan visuals and create graphic elements and a shot list, prior to the shoot.
The video consists of interviews with various people within the company, accompanied with B-roll of the manufacturing facility in Leeds. It’s understandable that when it’s someone’s first time in front of camera they can often feel nervous. A few of the younger team members didn’t feel comfortable in front of a camera, so we collected enough B-roll to be played over them speaking. For those that gave camera facing interviews they were guided and directed in order to give the best performance. Making interviewees feel relaxed and natural on camera, is one of our key skills.
The video includes some stylistic elements to make it stand out from other corporate videos. A lot of B-roll was filmed with the aid of a gimbal, this allows the camera to produce moving, tracked shots whilst also keeping it steady. Some of the footage was filmed with a higher frame rate so it could be later edited into slow-motion clips. We also made the choice to include some speed ramp transitions, these create a sped-up panning and swooshing effect between clips. These were made by panning a camera away at the end of the clip, then speeding up the panning section in the post-editing. The video also includes tracked graphics, which include keywords that summarize the message from the video. Combining all these small elements helped to create an overall more engaging video.
Paul and Lisa also let us know that he was interested in creating a video about Saftronics apprenticeship program in the future. A lot of the footage from the original video we created for them was later repurposed into the apprenticeship video. This ultimately saved time and money since we only had to have one day on-site to film.
Once completed, the video was shown to Paul and Lisa who were pleased to see how well the video showed what Saftronics do, what they’ve achieved and the personality of the company as a whole. Although it wasn’t the aim of the video, they were all shown internally to members of staff which has helped within internal communications efforts and built a real sense of pride within the organisation.
Paul and Lisa said the apprenticeship video has been incredibly well received and has boosted apprenticeship applications drastically. After Leeds Apprenticeship Hub shared the video on Facebook, they received six applications within just a couple of hours. Several other partners have also shared Saftronics’ videos including, Leeds Chamber of Commerce and Leeds Manufacturing Alliance.
Paul and Lisa told us they are delighted that staff, suppliers and customers have all commented on how well the video conveys Saftronics – what they do and who they are. As It has been so well received and explain so quickly and clearly the benefits of working with Saftronics, the sales team are now use the video as a tool in their meetings with new customers.