ABOUT

Brief:
Brother needed a new promotional film to highlight the launch of their new Skitch machine, the company’s first app-controlled embroidery machine. Controlled by Artspira, Brother’s innovative mobile design app, this video needed to communicate the significance of this innovation for the brand and its customers alike.
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Our goal was to create an exciting, engaging, and high-energy video that would attract crafters and sewers who would like to personalise and upcycle their makes. We needed to produce a video that showed the audience what the new age of embroidery looks like.

The target audience for this promotional video was young creatives, crafters and sewers of all abilities, within the Millenial and Gen Z demographics.

Pre-Production:
In pre-production, we put together a proposal with our concept for the video, outlining how we’d use a robotic arm to create dynamic visuals, focussing on the key features of the machine. We opted to use bright, colourful backdrops so focus would remain on the product, while also leaning into a visual style that would engage the target audience.

We wanted the method for making the video to reflect the innovation of the machine itself, so opted to use LiDar scans and NeRFs (Neural Radiance Fields) through Luma AI to create a 3D model of the machine. This allowed us to experiment with camera movements, dialing in a sequence that we could send to the client before shoot day.

Completing this work in pre-production not only saved time on set, but gave everyone involved in the project an idea of what the final video would look like. It also allowed the client to tweak text, discuss graphics and leave any additional comments. Paired with an upbeat track from Artlist, which itself had been processed with AI to remove the vocals, the video was ready before a camera was even turned on.

Production:
Production took place over 2 days in Leeds, shot on our RED Scarlet W. We opted to hire cinema lenses to capture the product as sharply and cleanly as possible, also giving us the ability to control focus when mounted on the robot.

The machine was lit with an overhead Aputure 300D as a key light, with another Aputure 300D and an Aputure Nova P300C through diffusion as fill lights. We had one further Aputure 300D with a spotlight mount adding a subtle edge light to the machine.

With our extensive shoot-day experience, and a clear storyboard already established, we worked through each shot one-by-one, making sure to highlight the machine and app as much as possible.

‍Post-Production:
The video was edited by our in-house team, following the pre-visualised edit we created before the shoot. We utilised our VFX experience to clean up and enhance the clips, making use of rotoscope and masking tools to change the backdrop colours and isolate the machine, among other things. We also added a series of motion graphics to highlight features and design elements, making the video and designs feel alive. This also helped us cut between clips, letting the video flow smoothly.

The video was completed with a bank of sound effects procured using Splice. We wanted these sound effects to be playful, but not childish, adding an audio layer to the video. When combined with the visuals, these sounds create a fun, bouncy and playful feeling to the video, highlighting how the machine allows crafters to unlock their creativity.

The final video was delivered in five separate languages, ensuring widespread accessibility for Brother’s audience across Europe.