‘The Yorkshire Tea Train’ was the brainchild of the Taylors of Harrogate marketing team. It was to create an exclusive once-in-a-lifetime celebration of Yorkshire Tea for over 200 VIP tea lovers, who were a blend of customers, bloggers, celebrities, journalists and Yorkshire Tea staff.

The big difference for us was that the majority of filming was to be done by the guests themselves, not the Limehouse film crew (to the disappointment of a couple of lifelong Orient Express fans in the office). The idea was to turn filming into a parlour game for the guests and make the whole thing jolly good fun – the event was magical and had an almost Alice In Wonderland quality to it.

Taking the user-generated flip-cam content and stylised video footage from the day, we pulled together an art deco style edit that captured the party atmosphere of the day and the unique luxury train journey. It would be used as a highlights reel, broadcast via social media, for all passengers on board to delight in and share online with friends and family.

Logistically, it was an incredibly tight turnaround that was a bit of a military operation. We had to ensure the small and easy to use HD video flip cameras arrived at London’s Victoria Station and were distributed throughout the carriages in time. At the end of the return journey, they were then whisked back up North to Limehouse HQ for editing.

We ran machines converting all the cross format files overnight so the footage was ready to edit first thing the next morning. From start to finish we managed to get everything turned around and signed off just 48 hours after the event. The charming and fun video production was then uploaded to the Yorkshire Tea Brew Tube YouTube channel ready for the weekend.

After all that, we needed a proper brew, we can tell you. Why don’t you grab one and watch the video for yourself – click here.

At 9am yesterday, our friends over at first direct announced that they had secured the five-year naming rights for Leeds’ 13,000-seat first direct arena that opens in July 2013. It is first direct’s first-ever major sponsorship and big news for Leeds too – news that needed conveying internally to first direct staff across the business and externally to the media and public. To do this, first direct called in Limehouse to help and as someone they could really trust to keep the announcement under wraps, whilst responding with our usual zesty creativity and most importantly meeting the tight turnaround required to deliver files for the press launch.

After being sworn to secrecy in an initial briefing just last Friday, the job was confirmed on Tuesday, leaving just Wednesday for the Limehouse crew to film and edit the video elements on-site. Talk about tight!

One of our key attributes is that we’re adaptable – this project required us to be incredibly nimble in approach. Fitting around technical and dress rehearsals inside the first direct arena to capture the various video elements and then edit the footage on-site at the venue itself, to be signed off and mastered before the announcement the following morning.

It wasn’t only the TV news and press that buzzed with the news. Social media went wild with the announcement; with the first direct arena trending on Twitter and messages of congratulations from many of first direct’s 26,000 Facebook fans.

Phew what a week! The film crew are still getting their breath back after the adrenalin rush of the action packed last 48hrs but as always, already looking forward to the next demanding internal communication challenge or video production waiting just around the corner.

Limehouse Heritage is our specialist creative production company that’s dedicated to designing and creating entertaining and educational gallery and museum exhibits and material. As part of Eureka’s largest single gallery development, Limehouse Heritage beat off stiff competition to win the project to design and produce key exhibits for their new £2.9m ‘All About Me’ health and body-themed gallery which is now open to the public.

It was a huge project that the highly experienced Limehouse Heritage audio, video and interactive multimedia team really threw themselves into. They set to work designing numerous exhibits including: interactive touchscreen games, cartoon animations, video sequences, audio games, and large scale wall graphics and photographs.

Tudor Gwynn, Eureka! Projects Director said: “We chose Limehouse because they have strong experience working with other museums and because they demonstrated creative insight and robust solutions to our brief. I’ve been really impressed with the way things have been delivered to meet our expectations – also their flexibility and sensitivity to our changing needs within a very tight schedule.”

Avram Buchannan, Limehouse Heritage Creative Director, summed up his team’s excitement: “It has honestly been an absolute dream project to work on, how could you not get excited when designing and producing robots, interactive games, fun activities, along with the exploration and science of burps, farts and snot!”

Avram’s team also created the star of the show, the robot ‘Zoom’. During the design stages they were sworn to secrecy as to its identity. The development of Zoom involved a series of focus groups with school children which helped Limehouse Heritage to design a winning character. This was then recreated as a 3D digital animation that formed part of the build for two of the gallery’s ‘live’ Zoom robots. Limehouse Heritage are now putting the finishing touches to the All About Me microsite, this will be revealed soon and covered in a future blog.

We’re not only a corporate video production company expert in producing highly creative internal communications and corporate videos. As part of the University of Leeds Video Supplier Framework, we have experience and a unique understanding of producing video marketing for the education sector.

We created a total of seven individual video productions designed to showcase recent examples of the University’s Research Mobility Programme (RMP).

Leeds is part of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) and participates in the RMP. This enables postgraduates and research staff to undertake a research visit to an international partner in the WUN.

We interviewed and filmed seven different postgraduates and members of staff who shared their experiences of their trips to the USA, China, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. In each video, they explained their particular areas of research and the wealth of knowledge and inspiration they gained from their visit. Their particular areas of expertise included Dentistry, History, Politics and International Studies, Mechanical Engineering, East Asia, Healthcare and Music.

Shot at various highly photogenic locations in and around the campus, the films have real gravitas and reflect the University’s burgeoning international reputation for quality research and education.

The RMP films were then broadcast internally at the Postgraduate Open Day and all films were then made available via the University of Leeds website – you can check out all seven video productions here.

Michael Vaughan OBE, ex-England captain, Yorkshire hero, devoted tea-drinker and Strictly Come Dancing star fronted the announcement that Yorkshire Tea will be the official brew of the England Cricket Team. Our film production really captured Michael’s warmth and humour whilst conveying the key messages and explaining how cricket and Yorkshire Tea really is a match made in heaven.

The Limehouse video production crew initially created a special staff communications film to announce this sponsorship to Yorkshire Tea’s staff. The film we produced was played out over two-days of internal communication presentations. We then re-edited this into a web video production that was rolled out onto social media platforms on 4 February 2013 coinciding with the official press announcement at Lord’s. Take a moment to catch Michael Vaughan in the social media version – click here.

We at Limehouse have been responsible for many video productions and internal communications for first direct in the past. Our latest one involved two short films to promote the update of their iPhone and launch of their new Android Banking On The Go app.

Whichever platform you are on, the great thing about first direct Banking On The Go is, well… you can do your banking on the go. As part of their video marketing and online marketing communications campaign, we produced a teaser video demonstrating just how easy it is to check balances and make payments wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. Sun bathing on a beach. At a gig. On the underground. Screaming along on a rollercoaster. Hurtling towards the earth skydiving. Our short video production really hit home the power of the app.

Intrigued? Check out the teaser marketing video production here.

This was also supported by a video user guide that clearly demonstrates the apps’ features, capabilities and incredible mobility and ease-of-use.

We weren’t simply creating a social media video production to go out online on YouTube, it was part of a wider Yorkshire Tea internal communications initiative designed to include their staff in the launch of their new national television campaign. In fact, Yorkshire Tea took this one step further by actually inviting their staff to star in the television commercial itself. We were there to capture their involvement creating a special behind the scenes video production that was as much about the staff as it was about the television commercial.

We interviewed a wide cross-section of enthusiastic Yorkshire Tea staff who were having tremendous fun despite the weather. They loved being involved in the whole process and there was a real feeling of togetherness throughout filming – helped along by copious proper brews, of course.

We produced a special commemorative DVD for all the employees to take away as a memento of the day. This contained our behind the scenes internal communications video production along with the 60 and 30 second versions of the ads for them to enjoy with a brew with their family and friends.

Click here to view the new Yorkshire Tea TV Commercial.

We won the competitive tender to deliver audio-visual and image production to support the visitor experience, along with the design and development of a new microsite covering key aspects of the gallery.  We’re also really excited to be working with Eureka! on the creation of a 3D robot that will replace the much-loved current robot Scoot.

Lead funded by global medical charitable foundation The Wellcome Trust, Eureka!’s replacement of its ‘Me & My Body’ Gallery aims to promote children’s understanding of the human body and the benefits of keeping it healthy and active in a playful and thought provoking way.  The completely new £2.9m gallery, which will have a new name and over 100 exhibits, is the largest single gallery redevelopment in Eureka!’s 20 year history.

We’ve lived and breathed the Eureka! tender for months, so to be awarded the project was fantastic news.  As Eureka! is our ‘home town’ museum we feel a particular bond with the organisation and it will be brilliant to see our concepts showcased at one of the best museums in the country. 

Tudor Gwynn, projects director, at Eureka! said: “As visitors come to visit us from across the country we  need to ensure that this brand new gallery is engaging, relevant and inspiring to children and families everywhere.  It needs to captivate visitors of all ages and have a positive, lasting impact, so Limehouse have really got their work cut out in meeting our challenging brief.

“We chose Limehouse because of their strong experience working with other museums and the fact that they demonstrated creative insight and imaginative solutions to our brief.”

It’s been five years in the making as Nick started our video production and visual communication company back in 2007 and it has grown from strength to strength. In fact, by diversifying into corporate video production and internal communications, Nick and his ten-strong Limehouse team have increased turnover by a staggering 900%. As far as corporate communications goes, Nick really has put the region on the map and has two offices, one in Halifax and another in Leeds.

Nick’s highly creative film production expertise hasn’t gone unnoticed amongst some of the UK’s and region’s most respected brands that are Limehouse clients. Halifax, Lloyds Banking, First Direct, Bettys & Taylors, Hewlett Packard, Glen Dimplex, Eureka The National Children’s Museum and National Museums Liverpool. They rely on Nick and the rest of our team to provide everything from internal communications and corporate video to social media web video production and motivational videos.

“Together, with my brilliant team, we’ve been able to steadily win more and more high profile clients from all across the UK, creating powerful videos that make a difference to a businesses’ bottom line and to people’s lives.  Earlier this year we expanded our service offering and we are now also creating internal communications programmes.  With the success of Limehouse exceeding even my initial vision, it is fantastic for my entrepreneurial sprit to be honoured.”

Nick lives and breathes film production. He always has. After studying theatre acting he went on to complete a post graduate certificate at film school. He got his first break in television film and video production as a runner and 3rd Assistant Director on dramas across the country, including Peak Practice and Coronation Street. Nick then became a producer at a video production company in Leeds producing commercials, music promos, and business television for five years. Proof of Concept funding and support from SPARK at Leeds University enabled Nick to get Limehouse off the ground and in just a matter of months, Limehouse scooped a nomination for a BAFTA 60 Seconds of Fame award. The rest, as they say, is film production history. Congratulations Nick – nobody deserves it more.

2012 has been a turbulent year for everyone, so first direct decided to actually bring their annual conference forward to share with staff their aspirations and plans to help build first direct. Internal communications is incredibly important to first direct. They understand how corporate video production can help to inspire their teams and focus on not only how they got to where they are but also what they are doing right and how they can build on that in the future.

We were appointed as their corporate video production company and commissioned to create the visual communication and motivational videos and all content to support the event, including multiple VTs.

‘A Day In The Life’ is a video production that captures the daily life of the people and the voices behind first direct which is set to an emotive soundtrack.

Our video production team also filmed several members of the senior team which provided fascinating insights into the real them.

To go out with a bang, our upbeat exit film was the culmination of three days of film production across their Leeds and Hamilton sites to involve as many first direct staff as possible and get across just what a fun place it is to work.

To top it all, we actually had the pleasure of attending one of the internal communications sessions to see the reception our film production got first hand at the Direction conference. We got a real kick out of seeing the reaction from the people who were so heavily featured in the films.