Adam Pelling-Deeves: Video Production, Oxford – Corporate & Creative

Posted on September 26th, 2012 by Adam Pelling-Deeves

I recently worked for a week at the China World Hotel in Beijing, editing a highlights video for Ernst & Young’s Global New Partners Program 2012 with HMX Corporate Communication. I’ve edited on-site a number of times before but until now only at events in the UK.

Working as an editor, I get to know various camera operator’s styles (and even hear snippets of their conversations) but don’t often get to meet them in the flesh, so this was a great opportunity to talk shop. Shortly after meeting at Heathrow we were amused to work out that I had coincidentally been editing his work through another production company the week before-hand. Corporate video is a small world!

This kind of job generally involves the director and camera operator capturing the event’s varied schedule as well as interviewing its participants during breaks and whenever possible, running back to my suite to dump the video files. Monday and Friday were lost to travel but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were 15/16 hour-long days editing at a desk in the hotel cloakroom, as well as dealing with jet-lag.

While the first rushes were being shot I had a chance to block-out the event on a timeline over three or four music tracks, with a couple of sections for interviews where the music breaks down and can easily be looped or lopped to fit the content. Working this way gives everyone a good indication of what still needs to captured and how many shots are needed to fill the relevant sections. The process becomes more of a collaborative and flexible paint-by-numbers.

Usually, I’m either editing with a director or producer, sometimes joined by the client, but more often than not, I’m alone with the rushes. Working on-site however, gives me the privilege of regular communication with everyone involved in the production, as well as a more intimate feel for both the event’s messages and its personality. I have a closer understanding of how elements need to be prioritised, which ones should be treated seriously and which ones, handled the right way, might even get a laugh.

The production went very smoothly. The director had planned an efficient shooting schedule and interviewed consistently, and the camera operator was equally dependable, capturing excellent images and sound. I had no problem finding perfect shots and soundbites for the cut.

The highlight for me came on Thursday evening when not only did I have the rare opportunity of joining the audience at the video’s premier showing, I was also able to travel with the delegates to a dinner at the Great Wall.

Watching your edit as it plays out to a room of over a thousand people is a strange experience — like preparing a complicated dessert only to see it swallowed down in a couple of mouthfuls. This sensation was reflected later at the Great Wall where my role was switched from creator to consumer.

Although I was unable to escape the corporate bubble, my first visit to China, Beijing and the Great Wall was lots of fun. It was an amazing professional opportunity and an experience I’ll never forget.

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