Design for what’s next
Event film at Lightroom’s London
TITLE: Design for what’s next.
ROLES: Design Director, Editor and Motion Designer
AGENCY: Inizio Engage
CLIENT: Arup
Brief:
I was invited to create the “Wow” film for Arup’s London event celebrating their 80th year. The event was held at Lightroom, an incredible immersive space that has previously hosted exhibitions such as Moonwalkers and David Bowie Is.
The challenge was that I wasn’t creating a film for a single screen, but for four walls and a floor, building a fully immersive experience. The film needed to feel open, curious, and optimistic - without slipping into wishful thinking - while conveying Arup’s visionary purpose and values. The event itself was designed to challenge audiences and ask important questions.
PRODUCTION
Tackling four walls simultaneously was a challenge, as I had to consider that the audience would never be able to see everything at once, and I had no control over where people would look. I needed to think about the entire space as a single canvas, placing different parts of the story throughout the room while matching the visuals to the poetic script written by Alex McDonnell. I worked closely with the film’s executive producer, Julia Runagall, who I had previously collaborated with on the Capgemini films I created a few years earlier.
I began by developing the graphical approach to the film, as we knew we would be combining stock footage with Arup’s own material. What was especially important to Arup was avoiding the feel of either a heritage film or a promotional piece. Instead, the film needed to engage the audience, open the event, and introduce the themes in a thoughtful and emotional way.
I responded to the script graphically first, considering the flow and rhythm of the words and how the animation could react to specific phrases and ideas. Once we had a strong sense of how the visuals would move around the room, I began editing in footage and imagery, balancing the client’s desire for something global and emotive with visuals that also felt gritty, human, and real.
Once the pacing was established, I focused on the finer details. The combined walls totalled nearly 24,000 pixels across surfaces measuring 18m x 26m x 14m, meaning every pixel - and every mistake - became hugely magnified.
POST
We had a number of test days, which allowed me to experiment with footage and movement, and get a better sense of what would work within a space of that scale. Too much movement risked creating nausea, which is the last thing you want at an immersive event.
I also had the chance to work again with Domenic Shovelton on the sound design, and he perfectly captured the tone of the film while balancing both the sonic capabilities and challenges of the room.
The film was a huge success, playing to a select group of invited guests, and by all accounts the response was incredibly positive - sweet news to my ear holes.
