Workshop promotional video

I filmed this workshop promotional video for Darbyshire Framers at their workshops in Gloucestershire and London.

Before filming began, I met with the Darbyshire team at their London studio to discuss the project in detail and fully understand their creative goals.

Because the company produces high-end handcrafted frames, the film needed to showcase both the precision of the craftsmanship and the atmosphere of the workshops.

Filming at the Gloucestershire workshop

Filming at the Gloucestershire workshop took place over two days, including one overnight stay.

By filming across multiple days, I captured a wider variety of framing processes and artwork production stages.

One of the highlights involved filming inside the spray room. Fortunately, the workshop used a powerful air filtration and airflow system. As a result, I could safely film the spraying process without contaminating my camera equipment with paint or varnish.

In addition, rotating turntables allowed the team to spin the frames smoothly during spraying. This movement helped create visually engaging cinematic shots for the final edit.

Filming at the London studio

I also filmed additional workshop footage at the London studio.

One of the standout moments involved filming the traditional water gilding process. During this stage, the framers carefully floated gold leaf onto a prepared frame surface before burnishing it to create an ultra-reflective finish.

Because the process required precision and delicate handling, I focused on capturing close-up details, textures, and hand movements throughout the sequence.

These shots added visual richness and craftsmanship to the final promotional video.

Video editing and post-production

After filming, I reviewed all the footage and selected the strongest visual sequences for the edit.

Using the client’s supplied music track, I edited the film to highlight the wide range of specialist framing techniques and workshop processes.

In addition, Darbyshire supplied their house graphics, brand typefaces, and text they required overlaying. I incorporated these elements throughout the edit to reinforce branding and explain the different framing methods featured in the film.

The opening shot featured artwork by Jenny Saville, so Darbyshire also secured permission from the artwork owner to include it within the film.

Filming equipment used

Because I did not fully know what conditions to expect and was travelling some distance, I packed a large selection of professional video production equipment to the shoot.

This preparation allowed me to adapt quickly throughout filming and work efficiently across different workshop environments.

During production, I mainly used:

A Miller tripod
An Atomos 7-inch production monitor
A camera-mounted Sennheiser directional microphone
A full-frame Lumix S1M2 camera

For lenses, I used:

Lumix S 24–60mm f/2.8
Sigma 14–28mm f/2.8

I filmed the project in UHD 3840×2160 at 50p. As a result, I could crop and reframe footage efficiently for both landscape 16:9 and vertical 9:16 delivery formats.