Between the Scenes - Peloton Edinburgh.
We’re kicking off a new blog series we are calling, Between the Scenes. SO every Wednesday until we run out of things to write about we’ll be putting out blogs on things like tips and techniques, project breakdowns and industry thoughts. So put it in your diary, set the alarm, sit back, and get ready for your Wednesdays to get a lot….slightly….a little bit better, maybe!
First up, a look at our recent project with fitness-tech mega brand, Peloton.
Client: Peloton.
For those that don’t know, Peloton is a pioneering exercise equipment and media brand. Founded in 2012, it has exploded over the past few years. Let’s be honest, if you haven’t heard of them, where’ve you been? You can find loads of articles and blogs about its early days, but the founder John Foley spent years knocking on doors to get funding, apparently NO ONE wanted in, shows what the world knows!!!
Peloton’s iconic piece of equipment is its tech-laden stationary bike. The bike’s USP is the live link it provides to spin classes you can tune into day or night.
Peloton Edinburgh: The Video Production Brief.
Back in 2018, Peloton launched outside of the US, targeting big European cities. In early 2020 they set about expanding into Scotland. What’s wild about Peloton is they have a specialised team that deliver and install the bike in your home. Kind of sounds obvious, but when you look behind the scenes of the logistics, it’s nuts! To deliver this service, they opened a warehouse in Edinburgh to service most of Scotland. They called upon us to capture the new service and highlight the Peloton Edinburgh team’s achievements.
How we did it: Content Strategy
First up, we wanted to understand the how’s, why’s and who’s of Peloton. How the warehouse worked. Who the team was. What parts made the whole thing tick. What a typical day looked like, and champion the product. To make sure our content strategy was spot on, we spoke met with the head of operations to give us the inside track. We needed to understand where the content would live, and who the audience was. This audience insight determined the shape of our content production strategy.
Once we had all the information, we began by working up a storyboard. This ensured we captured all aspects in an exciting way for viewers, while working hard for the brand.
Pre-Production
Our approach focused on how the bikes are built and the journey they go on. After seeing how slick Peloton’s operation is for ourselves, we knew we needed to show the full warehouse process. With our content strategy approved, we went into pre-production for brand video.
With the video highlighting Peloton’s Scottish operation, its team wanted to highlight area’s good looks. To achieve this, we planned in drone shots at three locations around Edinburgh. We settled on the majestic mountains, rugged coastline and the city’s famous bridges. (Turns out, there’s three!)
Our first challenge was the mountains. After spending hours searching online and scouring Google Earth, we found the perfect spot which was the ‘right’ kind of rugged.
Next up, the coastal path. I thought this one would be easier, loads of nice coastal roads in an around Edinburgh, right?? Nope, it’s amazing how something sometimes doesn’t look quite right when you look at it in a bit more detail. Again, after a few hours of searching, we found the right place.
As Google earth hadn’t bothered to send its funny lollipop camera car down here for a while, there was a few things that didnt match up.
Luckily, we stumbled on the perfect spot.
(Also, shout out to the guy who owned the cafe for letting us park in his car park.)
Finally, when it came to shooting the bridges, we left it to pro drone pilot, Phil Harris [check him out]. After consulting him on where we could actually launch, we settled on a location. He Nailed it.
With the locations for our shoot scouted, there was a few outstanding considerations.
While we had the flow of the video, we needed to work out how that would actually translate into a filming schedule. Teams were working A+B shifts for COVID, so we couldn’t shoot them consecutive days. With a little bit of flexibility we got there.
With the final practical pre-production considerations (flights, hotel, cars) sorted, we were set!
Peloton Edinburgh Filming Schedule: Day 1
After our first COVID flight experience (won’t lie, not the best), we arrived in Edinburgh. After a brief pre-production recap and a drone pilot anxiously refreshing the weather report, we were good to go. Up at 5:30am to catch the early shift at the warehouse. Hadn’t been up that early in a while, and I’ll admit, it hurt a bit. After catching up with the team, we kicked off the shoot nice and early. The team delivering the bikes had to hit the road by 7am, so it was crucial we got those early working shots.
We then worked through our shot list for the day, picking up the different teams and the jobs they do.
After lunch, pilot Phil arrived, heading off with Zach to pick up the bridge drone shots. Whilst they were gone I stayed behind to capture some voice overs with the team.
Once these were in the bag, it was on to capture more operations shots around the warehouse. We also worked to capture some scenes with the brilliant, Lyndesy. As Peloton’s Operations Manager, her storyline was significant to our final film. She runs the place, after all!
Day 1 wrapped – More Deliveroo (the pubs were closed), catch-up with Phil in the hotel and then BEDDDD.
Day 2
Up at 6:30am, a lie in compared to the previous day, and late enough that the Pret across form the hotel was open. BUT, they were selling fruit and croissants. Not a muffin/bagel or baguette in sight. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement.
We headed out to the first drone location, arriving 30 mins ahead of schedule. Met our drone team, and did a few run throughs on that road. Once we captured what we needed, we headed off to the final drone location.
We got the drone up, captured all the shots we needed, and the drone was a WRAP! After saying our goodbyes to Phil, it was on to the city centre to get a pick-up of the van delivering a bike.
We were going to shoot it arriving at Lyndsey’s house. But, for those quicker than me, we realised that it would look a bit weird dropping a bike off at the bosses house!
Instead, we headed to the most idyllic street we’d seen in our location scouting. We got the shot and it looked perfect! Now, time to head to our final on the ground location.
Here, we wanted to shoot the vans going across the bridges. The plan was to do both bridges, shooting the first one way and then the other on the way back. But one was closed for repairs! Bridge and van all wrapped, it was time to head to the warehouse for a few final pick ups. The final job of the day was to capture the staff headshots, you can see these at the end of the video.
Day 2 wrapped – Deliveroo, third time now. Then bed.
Day 3
The final day was much easier for us. We weren’t flying home until the evening. So we picked up a few quintessential shots in an around the city centre. Checked out some coffee shops, and headed along the coast to see some sites.
We had a realisation that Glasgow wasn’t actually that far away, so drove there for an early dinner.
Flight home and done!!!!!
Edit, was actually nice and smooth. Check out the final result…
Our Final Video for Peloton
Get in Touch
If you want to talk about a project, find out a bit more about what we do, or just say hello. Give us a shout.
We Are Even is a full service video production agency working in London and the South East. We work to promote brands on social media by producing video content that inspires audiences.
Check out some of our work here, and learn a bit more about what we do on our blog.
Some BTS Snaps
