New Projects for Signal
Aberdeen video production company signal have just completed a range of films for three prestigious local clients. signal’s Managing Director Jamie Baikie sees signs of a more positive outlook: “Although Aberdeen was the first UK city to experience a second lockdown, it seems that the city has learnt from that experience. While many businesses, including our own, have found the last few months challenging, these new projects suggest businesses have adapted and are tentatively looking ahead to 2021”
Above: filming under lockdown is still possible!
The projects include three films for Barratt Homes promoting their developments in the Aberdeen City and Shire area (main image). In the same period signal have also completed more ‘Insights’ films for recently rebranded energy services company Vysus (formerly Lloyds Register).
The films combine footage and animation to promote Vysus’ Asset Integrity and Maintenance Optimisation services. signal have also been filming new material for Aberdeen Harbour. This is part of a three-year long film project documenting the construction of Aberdeen’s £350m new South Harbour – the single largest infrastructure project in Scotland.
signal have also delivered a remotely directed series of interviews for Shell for the Brent Alpha decommissioning project, with the camera crew filming in Aberdeen, and the client directing from London. This required detailed planning and a rigorous risk assessment in line with new covid-19 procedures, as their office is officially closed.
Baikie says “While our counterparts in England have been forced to enter a second nationwide lockdown, we are grateful to be able to continue filming – provided of course that we maintain Covid-19 safety standards. Legally we were able to keep working safely during the first lockdown and have every expectation that this will not change even if Scotland were to lockdown again”.
However, signal acknowledge that not all clients will be comfortable going on camera during a pandemic “Happily we also have an in-house animation team, and we were able to rework several projects recently to convert them from filming to animation”.
Above: realistic animated sequence for Chrysaor.
This is the process that signal went through with a safety training film for their client Chrysaor: several scenes that were proposed to shoot offshore had to be rewritten when Covid made that impossible. The film was entirely created and released in lockdown and is currently in use as part of an offshore safety campaign.