Belvedere College

The Challenge

Where they started

Belvedere College’s Access Programme runs on the support of donors and sponsors. To keep that support coming, they needed one testimonial film that could show supporters exactly what their giving makes possible, in a way a letter or a brochure never could.

The catch was time and budget. We had a single day to shoot it, and it still had to look genuinely broadcast-quality. For most crews a one-day turnaround means cutting a corner somewhere. Belvedere needed the opposite: a film with real cinematic weight, made on a tight schedule.

What We Did

Our approach

• 1

  We planned the whole day before we arrived

  A full recce of the location, a detailed shot list, mood boards and a schedule timed to the minute. By the time we turned up to shoot, every setup was already decided, so not a minute of the day went to waste.

• 2

  We shot a prepared interview, not a Q&A

  The questions were written in advance to draw out an honest, on-camera story rather than soundbites, and we lit and framed it for a warm, cinematic documentary feel.

• 3

  Every B-roll shot was planned, not grabbed

  The cutaways were storyboarded and the locations scouted ahead of time, so we captured exactly what the edit needed instead of hunting for shots on the day.

• 4

  We shot on the latest compact cinema kit

  Modern lightweight cameras let a small crew move fast and still hit broadcast quality, where an older, heavier rig would have spent half the day just getting set up. That is how a one-day shoot still looks like a big-budget one.

The Work

What we delivered

“It looks great, well done! There’s a lot we really like in it, and we appreciate the work that’s gone into bringing the story together so far.”

Caitriona Doran · Development Manager, Belvedere College

Why It Worked

The difference

• A day of planning is the reason one shoot day was enough. The recce, shot list and schedule did the hard work before the camera rolled.
• The latest lightweight kit let us move fast without trading away quality.
• A real, prepared interview gave donors an honest story to connect with, not a script.
• Broadcast-quality craft gave a donor-funded programme the weight it deserves.