The Ask

In video production you have to account for all sorts of eventualities. It’s true that, on balance, only half of what you plan actually goes to plan. But once you’ve committed to a shoot schedule, you’re pretty much locked to it bar earthquakes and lockdowns.

Fortunately, no such crises averted our schedule back in August 2019 when we shot a video campaign to advertise EdPlace , a growing online education subscription business who provide app-based learning and revision platforms for children/students from Year One to GCSE (and 11+)..

EdPlace asked us to create video content to encourage consumers to find out more and position their brand as the smartest way to revise.

Because we’d produced video content to advertise EdPlace before, we knew the brand very well. So, this was a great opportunity to think bigger with our next video solution.

Production

After trawling across London scouting various home locations, we ended up finding the perfect place local to us in West Berkshire. (Sometimes the answer is right on your doorstep!).

We filmed in three rooms, dressing the living room and bedroom and used the kitchen for our greenscreen set up. The greenscreen shoot also coincided with the caterers cooking up an Ottolenghi-inspired meal which seriously divided our concentration!

This was our first production using the 6k capable Sony Venice camera. We had to ensure that every pixel was carefully considered for our costume, make-up and lighting design.

The result was another successful shoot with some great footage ‘in the can’. We got everything we needed, our actors were brilliant, and our clients were delighted.

In post-production, we created bespoke motion graphics elements which went through a number of iterations to reflect the ‘buzz’ of the EdPlace product.

The final output was impressive 30-second and 10-second video adverts which hit the mark for us and for our client.

Getting Broadcast Clearance

TV ad production requires a considerably extended process with lots of hoops to jump through including getting proper clearances.

Companies such as Clearcast (and RadioCentre for radio content) require approval on scripts, rough cuts and final edits which also need to be agreed on by the broadcasters for legal content.

There are sound and vision quality checks too, including the specific ‘X-height’ and duration of superimposed information text. What’s interesting is these checks are more stringent for linear (live) TV than VOD and digital catch up services.

The next step is to conform the ad to broadcast specs, add a countdown clock and clock number, video and audio pre-roll frames and upload to an online server which then uses an algorithm to check everything again. It’s an extended process! That digital file can then be summoned by the broadcasters via the media buying agency ad positioning matrix.

The Moment It’s Live

It was with absolute glee that our first linear TV advert aired on Channel 5 at 10.35am on Tuesday 5 ^th May with hundreds of placements across the two-week campaign on various channels such as ITV, E4 and Sky. A 10-second cutdown version also had to go through the same clearance and approval process. (You get no dispensation just because your 30-second version was previously approved).

EdPlace themselves said: ‘We’ve seen an incredible response from the TV ad! As an unknown brand, the ad had immediate impact. Our creative challenge was to create something that had real punch, whilst being sensitive to the current situation. CH’s professionalism and quality delivered 100%; fuelling positive brand awareness and response.’
You can view the ad  here.

Content with longevity is key for many of our clients and this project is another great example of how we can make your videos work harder for you.

It’s also the perfect project to celebrate 15 years of CH Video in operation!

How about we take you to the heady heights of TV?

Say hello@ch-video.com to get in touch.