Focusrite
Never Stop Creating
Bringing the Focusrite Scarlett to life and showcasing the diverse user base that depends on it.
At Storm & Shelter, it’s no secret that we’re big fans of Focusrite. Not only have we created some magic with them in the past, but they’re an integral part of our creative process as the Scarlett range is almost exclusively what we use in post to get that sweet, crisp sound.
So when they asked us if we would like to produce a series of content to bring the latest version of the Focusrite Scarlett to life and showcase the diverse range of their users, we felt like we’d hit the jackpot.
Here’s an (artistically-stretched) recreation:
Them: “Hey, do you wanna work on your dream project showcasing the product you love?”
Us: “Is the Space Pope reptilian? Absolutely! What time scale we lookin’ at?”
Them: “6 weeks”
Us: ‘Sure, no problem” *starts sweating profusely*
The approach
For the scale of the brief (and how much we cared about doing the best job we could), six weeks was not a lot of time. Throw in the fact that it was being filmed all over the UK, during a pandemic, on short notice, and we were in for a hell of a month.
Always up a challenge, we hit the ground sprinting because Josh knew exactly what he wanted the end result to be. But keeping everything stored in that beautiful mind of his was of no use to anyone else, so using our new favourite tool, Miro, we smashed out some mood boards and a mood film that encapsulated the ~✨~ vibes ~✨~ we were going for.
All now in one place, we could lean and say “Yeah, this is gonna be cool”. The client agreed. Now, all we needed was to agree on who we were actually filming.
Thankfully we had Ollie on the A&R team at Focusrite. Like a true champion, they pulled together a stellar roster of talent for us to choose from. Working closely with the creatives overseeing the overall Scarlett campaign, we drew a solid list of diverse artists that spanned a breadth of genres and—more importantly—were available during times that would allow us to create a workable shooting schedule.
A large part of this campaign’s focus is to show just how universal Focusrite is, and how varied their customers are. Visually, we wanted to reflect that by giving each of the featured artists a distinct look-and-feel that felt in line with their individual styles. With no time for a reccy, the window to get the shot right would be tight — in some cases a couple of hours — so Lewis worked up detailed lighting plans and shot ideas to maximise our time on set and focus on telling each artist’s story.
8 artists, 3 countries, 6 cities, 7 days. LET’S GO.
For this to work, we needed a crew with more gel than Guy Fieri’s hair. So, we recruited some of our tried, tested and Josh-approved™️ mercenaries to complete the squad so that we were confident we could capture our vision smoothly and quickly.
T-minus 2 weeks and we were back in the studio and ready to create over 30 assets including the main ad, spotlight films for each artist involved, YouTube pre-rolls, Instagram Stories, TikTok ads, ya know... the whole shebang.
Usually, we’re big advocates of a healthy work-life balance, but sometimes, things just need to get done. The whole team smashed some long ol’ days to get this over the line, all while appreciating the delicious irony of simultaneously using the same piece of kit which was also featured on-screen.
Did we hit our deadline? Of course, we did.
Strongest content that we've ever put out
That says it all really.
Strongest content that we've ever put out
That also says it.
