How you can combine bagpipes & bhangra boldly to get a stonking brand video
Behind the scenes on a brand video with the unlikely combination of bagpipes and bhangra
As brand design studio in South Devon, shooting beautiful brand videos for creatively-inclined businesses across the UK, we take a little look at what goes into a brand video with unusual elements.
Although this was for a wedding, the process and principles of achieving impact for a brand are the same for a private couple. It’s vital to understand the aims and purpose of the video and how they relate to the audience.
This brand video was for Jazz and Scott’s wedding and we’ll look at how we captured the attractive fusion of an East meets West wedding and used social media to create a buzz around the event.
What goes into a brand video in a nutshell?
Jazz has been a friend of ours for many years, so it was a pleasure to plan a package of videos that captured the moments of the day special to her and her groom, Scott.
It was a success for the following reasons:
Jazz was pleased, which is always the key - keeping the bride happy!
We produced a quick teaser video before the dancing was even over, which created a lot of interest and engagement on Facebook
It felt good to be working locally with a local couple in a local venue - The Roundhouse (grade II*)
A great venue for a brand video
The reception took place in The Roundhouse in Derby, which houses Derby College and is located conveniently on Pride Park, near Derby County Football Club.
The Roundhouse is an elegant and impressive building with a fascinating history. It was formerly the engine shed for locomotives and part of the Midland railway station complex. It housed around 30 train locos within wonderful expanse of arching steel girders.
In the 1970s the station was demolished to make way for the modern building that you can see now, but the engine shed was preserved with a Grade II* listing and transformed into a working venue.
Aside from Derby College, Roundhouse Events makes the space available for weddings, exhibitions and events and is a thriving hub of activity in Derby.
We enjoyed working alongside the Roundhouse Events team, although unfortunately the venue closed to public events in August 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
There are plans to redevelop and repurpose it as a flexible work space and teaching area, as reported by the Derby Telegraph.
Challenges to overcome with a brand video
As with a lot of people - which is completely normal! - Jazz didn’t know much about videography, so the process started with her putting out some feelers on Facebook.
Anyone know of a good & reasonably priced videographer for events in the Derby area?
Given that people may not know what goes into commissioning a video, we spent time meeting with her in person in Derby to talk about her requirements and then refine the brief until she was completely happy.
Our brief was to produce a stylish, intimate video set to a complementary soundtrack that captures the special details of the day and moments unique to the guests, including a separate vows & prayers standalone and a short, shareable highlight video for social media.
The impact a brand video can deliver
It creates a buzz
Since we are local to Derby and knew a lot of the guests, we were able to add value to Jazz’s video by posting the teaser on Facebook as the dancing was cranking into gear.
Someone even commented on that in the Facebook post:
I still have no idea how Rachael Cox edited all this footage and put it so skilfully to music by 10:00pm when I'm sure she was there until late! Well done Rachael! Incredible
This had a snowball affect in which lots of people were drawn in - those who attended the earlier part of the day; friends who weren’t in attendance; and friends of friends who wanted to see the dance moves!
As such, because of the way that the Facebook algorithms and mechanics work, it generated a lot of comments, shares and views, leading to over 1,500 views in a short space of time.
Overall, a lot more people were able to appreciate the day and the special moments because of social media than without it.
Awesome. Very jazzy!
It matches the theme of the day perfectly
For video and film projects we generally choose a custom, premium soundtrack to complement the footage.
This step is absolutely critical, as the music influences the choice of shots, ambience and pace of the overall video, so we put a lot of thought into it.
In fact, the soundtrack is often the first thing to be chosen in the post-editing phase of a video project.
Given the heavy Asian influence in the wedding from Jazz’s side, we felt that the soundtrack had to reflect the bhangra vibe, so that was settled.
After an amusing diversion, trying to find Punjabi MCs ‘Bhangra Knights’ on Spotify, it all came together around a sultry, sophisticated number.
In Jazz’s words:
The music you’ve chosen is great & we love seeing all our family & friends enjoying themselves & dancing their hearts out.
Why is a brand video so impactful?
Footage, social media, music may not sound much, but it’s the fusion of all of these elements that is so important to creating a successful film.
Jazz’s wedding project is a good example.
The fusion of Jazz and Scott’s respective backgrounds was really important, and reflects the nature of the marriage ceremony, so we wanted to be sympathetic to both bride and groom.
The sheer joy of the occasion shines through, amplified by the fun and frivolity of the reception dancing, and then again in the comments and engagement on social media.
The easiest approach is to provide a chronological run-through with blocks and segments.
What we did was capture the heart and essence, unique to Jazz and Scott and the day, and brought them together in a way that was much more memorable.
Thanks so much for this fab video!! Scott & I love it so very much, as it captures the wedding party atmosphere so well. The music you’ve chosen is great & we love seeing all our family & friends enjoying themselves & dancing their hearts out. We keep watching it over & over again.
Surprises from shooting a brand video
Overall, this project went very well. In terms of surprises or things we have taken away:
Equipment setup
We like to go lightweight (pack light, pack happy), but unfortunately a full-sized DSLR camera with lens on a gimbal is not light - about 3-4kg. A full day of shooting meant that Rach’s arms and shoulders were pretty tired by the evening, so next time we’ll be adding a simple belt holster to provide all-day support.
Talking on the job
Although it made for a very sociable working day, being around lots of wedding guests that we knew meant lots of people wanted to stop and chat. Sadly this was not possible for Rach, as she was on shift! That’s the downside of shooting a local wedding for people you know, and knowing how and when to move on from a short conversation is critical.
Riding the wave
As we mentioned above, it made a huge impact, producing the short social media video teaser for Facebook before the end of the night. Being local made this realistic and achievable, and it was really pleasing to see so many friends and family enjoying the day and moment remotely via social media.
This is something that we’ll definitely aim to do in future, to ride the wave of the day and feed into the wedding buzz. However, it is much simpler to do when the bride or groom are friends, as you can tap into the mutual network of friends. Doing this for someone outside your network requires a bit more setup.
Tag-teaming
We shot this on a Saturday and have three small children, so you may be wondering who was looking after them. While Rachael was out, Simon held the fort, and it worked well.
One of our strengths is working as a team and understanding each other’s respective skills. While Rachael leads the creative aspects, Simon provides a lot of the support and follow-up, particularly in marketing.
If you want to make a husband and wife business work, understanding and playing to each other’s strengths is critical, and you may find that it challenges the traditional male bread-winner, female care-giver mould. We get round that by recognising that we want to build something bigger and more impactful than the two of us, so teamwork is vital.
If you thought it was impossible to combine bagpipes and bhangra in a brand video before, perhaps this has shown you it possible after all. Brand video is a powerful way to show the unique elements of a small business, helping it stand out and get impact in its market. If you’d like to learn more from us on brand videpo or get visual inspiration, follow @wildings.studio on Instagram. You can read more of our blogs on brand video too.
