Saints Foundation are great clients to work with and we love telling their incredible stories. This time, the Foundation wanted an opportunity to outline their strategy for the coming years that builds on their 20 years of life-changing work in Southampton.
We created a short video that introduced the key focuses of the Foundation - Health, Education, Gender Equality, Employability and Pathways. Using a small crew on four mini-shoots, we travelled across the city to give a flavour of the variety of ways the community is benefitting from the support of the Foundation - and the plans going forward.
It was great to work with Saints players new and old, including Theo Walcott, Kayla Rendell, James Beattie and Francis Benali MBE. We helped create the script delivered by Kenzi Benali that brought the film together. We’re very fortunate to have such a brilliant charity supporting our hometown.
We’ve enjoyed working on corporate videos with various teams at Quilter and Quilter Cheviot recently, and it was lovely to be asked to make something a bit different and create a narrative piece for them. They wanted to demonstrate how their personal financial advice service can help a family as it changes and grows.
‘Your Families Tomorrow’ was inspired by stories from real life clients. We used these insights to create a script, that followed the story of a client throughout her journey of life. We filmed this over two days with a small crew and worked with a great wardrobe and make-up artist to ‘age’ the actress through the years. It was a great challenge - even working with dogs!
The end result was an emotional film, that helped demonstrate the importance of Quilter’s service for the whole family. Enjoy!
Swim England tasked us with the challenge of coming up with a film to promote the sport of Water Polo to competitive swimmers and encourage them to transition to the sport for Team GB.
Bullet wrote the script for the film and pitched the idea to Swim England initially and then spent four hours filming in a swimming pool in Basingstoke with youngsters from the Swim England team. We set up underwater housings and captured a mix of photography and video on the day, to create the ‘what are you waiting for’ video and media content.
Visit https://www.bulletmedia.tv/sports-films-case-studies/swim-england-water-polo to see a snapshot of the initial script we pitched and some of the still photography taken on the day.
Vzug is a premium Swiss quality kitchen appliance and furniture company who wanted to film the launch event of their stylish new showroom in London. We attended the opening event and interviewed the key individuals to capture the ethos behind the brand and design and share their story behind the concept - and the importance of their presence in London.
This was a lovely project with great visuals, which we were able to showcase in a suite of still images and launch videos to be used online.
We’ve done lots of work with Olympic athlete, Iwan Thomas in the past, and he is a good friend of Bullet. He went through an emotional experience with the birth of his son, Teddy, who contracted Group B Strep during labour. He benefited from the support of the charity, Group B Strep Support (GBSS), who asked us to tell his story to help raise awareness of the condition and the charity. Group B Streptococcus is the UK's most common cause of life-threatening infection in newborn babies, and of meningitis in babies under age 3 months.
Please watch the film - it’s an incredibly emotional story and we were honoured to be able to share it.
We were asked by Garmin to film a launch event for their latest outdoor watch - the Garmin Instinct. The idea was to invite a number of active, ‘outdoorsy’ instagrammers to two weekend events in the Brecon Beacons to try out the watch whilst taking part in various adventurous pursuits. The group were encouraged to explore various activities whilst wearing the watch to test the features and give honest feedback on the product. ‘A watch for everyone’ was the concept Garmin were delivering.
We spent two weekends filming the events, capturing all the action and demonstrating the product being used in a natural environment. One of the major challenges for everyone involved, including the participants, was the weather! It was possibly the worst two weather weekends of the summer, however we made the most of the conditions and it was great to be outdoors, seeing the enthusiasm for the product and creating this film for our client.
After creating a number of promotional product films for Dunlop, the sports brand asked us to create a powerful brand ambassador short film, telling the story of someone who had been inspired by the world of tennis. They were open to ideas and we introduced Dunlop to Alex Krol - a man we had first met in the 2016 Invictus Games in Florida. We had been overwhelmed by his story back then, and knew he would be perfect for this brief.
He was an injured serviceman, who had found positivity and drive in wheelchair tennis and used the sport to encourage other disabled people back into the game. We reached out to him and, by fortuitous coincidence, he was running a tournament for wheelchair tennis at the time, which meant we were able to follow his journey to Oxford, Liverpool, Glasgow and onto the finals in Loughborough. We spent around eight months filming his story, interviewing the inspirational people we met along the way, hearing fascinating stories and meeting his family.
It was an incredibly emotional journey and really moving to see first hand how he used tennis to inspire others. We produced an 18 minute film for Dunlop, which is definitely worth taking the time to watch, and several trailers for the film.
Here's a behind the scenes video of the Tyson Fury TV advert for insurance brand Tom that we shared earlier this week. As you might be able to tell, it was lots of fun and great to work with Tyson and his team!
Keen followers of Bullet will know that we love our boxing films, working with fight choreography, lighting and sound design. So when life insurance for dads brand Tom.co.uk invited us to pitch a TV advert, working with boxing legend Tyson Fury, we jumped at the opportunity. We were given a basic brief to work on and presented five ideas, of which the winning one secured us the pitch. We based the storyboard concept around the ‘count’, working on the idea that in life, sometimes you get knocked down, sometimes you get up - and if you don’t, make sure you leave memories and security.
Our filming took two days in Morecambe and it was a privilege to spend time with Tyson and his team, interviewing him and ensuring his narrative delivered the brand messages. From this filming session, we created around 300 edits for direct response video emails, all targeted at different potential customers, as well as an emotive TV advert, which first aired during prime time breakfast TV. Check out the film here - look out for our BTS video later this week! Best played with sound 👌 🥊
https://www.bulletmedia.tv/corporate-clients/2022/11/11/tyson-fury-tom-tv-advert
The Aaron Page Classic Event Film
We've worked with The Barbell Division over the past couple of years and have been proud to be able to support the business and watch them grow into a successful weightlifting gym. It shocked and saddened us when one of the founders and weightlifting greats, Aaron ‘the Rage’ Page suddenly passed away last year from Covid.
Barbell Division has always enjoyed an incredible sense of community, so it was no surprise that Daniel, the co-owner, decided to create an annual event in Aaron’s memory. The first event took place on 20th November 2021 - on the anniversary of his death - and brought everyone together to enjoy a log and strongman competition in his name - The Aaron Page Classic.
We were honoured to film this event, which we found emotional ourselves, and were pleased to be able to create a highlights film that captured the essence of the whole event and did Aaron Page and the Barbell Division proud.
Test-driving the Garmin Catalyst
One of Garmin’s latest products is a new SatNav-based device - the Garmin Catalyst, aimed at helping racing drivers get the best out of racing lines on a track. Garmin invited members of the press and leading racing drivers to try out the technology for the first time and see what impact it made to their driving skills.
As part of the launch, we filmed professional racing driver, Seb Morris, as he test-drove the product, and captured his opinions and views in real time as he was using the device on the track. The product trial went well and we were able to capture plenty of positive content to showcase the benefits of the Catalyst in this promotional film for Garmin.
A single moment - bare knuckle boxing film
A Southampton-based Russian boxer wanted a film to build up his presence and momentum ahead of a bare-knuckle fight in Russia. We were asked to come up with a concept that showed the power and commitment he put into his training and his determination to succeed.
We were given the license to ‘go create’ on this film, and developed the script based on a wolf tattoo the boxer had on his chest, which we then had translated into Russian for the voice-over, with subtitles in English. We spent an evening in Bitz Boxing Gym, filming his moves, as well as some training locations around the city. It’s a great gritty piece, which we’re proud of as a short film in its own right!
Vitality sponsored 5k walk - We March Together
Yesterday we shared the story of one of the Saints Foundation's stars, Ellie, who helped promote a 5k walk for the charity, sponsored by Southampton FC's official event partner, Vitality. Here is part 2 of that story - the walk itself - which took place to honour the incredible work the Saints Foundation has done in Southampton over the last two decades. We filmed the walk and captured interviews with supporters along the way, encouraging them to tell their stories about how the Foundation has impacted their lives over the years. We met some inspirational people including Ellie and some familiar faces from the Saints Foundation Stories series that Bullet has been filming recently.
Saints Foundation - Ellie's story
What an inspiration it was filming Ellie. As part of the 20-year celebrations for the work Saint Foundation has done in the community, we had the privilege of telling the 13-year-old's story for the charity. As a key role model for younger players, we interviewed Ellie for a morning at one of her SaintsAbility sessions to find out how the Foundation had helped her defy her disabilities and gain confidence to become a skilled football player, despite challenges with her hearing and balance.
She was a delight to work with and in addition to the case study, we used this opportunity to shoot an advert for an upcoming charity walk, sponsored by Southampton Football Club’s partner, Vitality.
Saints Foundation - an emotional journey
The Saints Foundation is one of those clients who just make everything so worthwhile. Showcasing their projects is incredibly rewarding and being part of their journey has been an inspiration over the years.
We’ve loved meeting individuals who have had their lives improved by the work of the charity, and teasing out their stories. Not only are we honoured to have met the individuals, it makes us very proud to work with a client who is such a big part of the local community, associated with the local Football Club and making a difference to local people’s lives.
Emotion has played an integral part in the stories we’ve told - and here’s a little showreel to sum up just what the Foundation means to the community and the individuals involved.
When we asked Greg Baker - Head of Saints Foundation & Community Partnerships, to comment on our journey together, this is what he said:
"We have been working with Matt and the team at Bullet for four years now, and during that time not only have they created some brilliant and innovative pieces of video content for us, but they have also been an absolute pleasure to work with. They have taken the time and effort to get to know all parts of our business inside out, and have quickly become an integral part of our team.
I can’t speak highly enough of their passion, professionalism, adaptability and the quality of their work, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to work with a video production agency – you definitely won’t be disappointed." Thanks Greg!
Benali makes appeal for Saints Foundation
Saints Foundation wanted to shine a light on their work in the community in the build-up to their charity matchday on Easter Sunday - Southampton v Burnley. The club’s main sponsor, Sportsbet.io were behind this opportunity and as well as donating their shirt sponsorship, Sportsbet.io agreed to donate up to £10,000 to the charity by matching donations.
They asked Bullet to produce two films to help raise their profile ahead of the match. One featuring the story of 35 year old Michael, who has benefited from the SaintsAbility programme, and this film, featuring Saints Foundation Ambassador, Franny Benali making an appeal for the charity. These films were both shot in a couple of hours with a quick turnaround to be ready in time for the campaign. See both films here: https://www.bulletmedia.tv/charity-films/2021/3/31/charity-matchday
Coffee Break
Time for a coffee break? Check out this light-hearted short film we created recently featuring our cheeky, energetic office dog Max, Ben’s mum and a new Sage Appliances UK coffee machine that was a bit of a ‘lockdown treat’. Sound on, enjoy!
Bullet Saints Showreel
Long term relationships are incredibly important to us at Bullet and we are delighted to have worked closely with Southampton FC for the past four years. We started our journey with them on just a single small internal video and our film work has now spanned many departments within the club, to delivery of more than 30 individual projects. These include working with the Club sponsors, the media team and the players, as well as marketing the match day experience to customers. Check out the full story here: https://www.bulletmedia.tv/blog-1/2021/3/9/four-years-of-southampton-fc
As we've taken a moment to look back and reflect on this relationship, we thought we’d share some our best bits. Sit back, sound on, enjoy!
The 220 Watch Company R J Mitchell watch launch
Following the success of the 220 Watch Company’s first project with us, we were pleased to be asked to back to create a lifestyle film and product photo shoot to launch their newest product on kickstarter.
The ‘R J Mitchell’ watch design was inspired by the Spitfire plane, which was invented by Reginald Mitchell for World War II. The theme of the launch was to take us back to WWII days, when a Spitfire pilot would have needed a super accurate watch to operate. The details on the watch are designed around the iconic aesthetics of the fighter plane.
For the shoot, we organised the model, styling and location, which involved filming with a replica spitfire as a prop. The finished film combined stock footage and our filmed content to create the wartime atmosphere. We used the opportunity to shoot the lifestyle photographs at the same time as the film shoot, and then headed back to the studio for the detailed product shots in order to provide a complete package for launch time.
