Originally published in July 2009 Televisual Magazine.
Andi Jepson, director at iceni, on the highs and lows of directing royalty through the streets of London.
Day 1: The good. We’ve been asked to deliver a film to promote World Congress 2010. The event takes place from 16 - 19 June 2010 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London.
Day 2,3 and 4: Thinking. Thinking about the audience. Thinking about how the film will be used. Creative team are excited about Hi Def aerial footage of the city, tracking graphics onto signposts so everywhere points to the event location, Gaz likes the style of the intro sequence to Jools Holland’s Later show. And just like that, the Queen was on her way to the event in the back of a London cab with Jerusalem playing in the background.
Day 5: Pitching. It’s a nervous wait for the reaction to the idea. Luckily the client loves it and she will make ‘The Board’ love it! We’re on.
Day 10 and 11: The bad. Making it happen throws up a few challenges. First the Queen double has double booked, so the shoot shifts and the deadline looms ever closer. Then on the way to the shoot a distracted driver runs into the back of the director’s car and we are out of the race. Two calls later, Rebecca, one of our staff directors is on the way, briefed and raring to go.
Day 12: The Queen. Today the real George Bush is in town visiting Parliament, right next to the conference centre. There are looks of surprise from protesters as our real fake Queen Elizabeth potters past in a black cab. As we wind through town past landmarks, people are waving and asking for photos. The Queen responds with a well rehearsed wave.
L-R The Queen, Scotty, Rebecca
Day 15: Cutting it. To get the most out of the budget, the DOP shot the film on Sony’s new solid state Hi Def camera. We’re well versed in Panasonic P2, and the data is wrangled from raided drives to SDLT, but the suite booked for the edit needs an upgrade to work with Sony’s new format. Another couple of calls to Avid and a new copy of Media Composer is up and running and the Queen is hailing a cab.
Day 17: Showing it. A little tweak with the end slate and the video is live, and immediately needed for a presentation in New Zealand. A DVD image is put on our client server and instructions sent. It goes down (under) a storm…
Recently, the US film festival awarded the film a golden gong for creativity and effectiveness.
The client loves the film. They say, “The creative team have delivered an innovative and broad concept that cuts across many cultures. Totally bonkers… a great job.”
Posted: July 9th, 2009 in behind the scenes, video production by Andi | »Tags: companies, corporate, iceni, london, production, queen, tv, video, viral