Standard Chartered
Instinctif Partners has been producing moving-image content, including films and animations, for Standard Chartered for almost ten years, bringing the Bank’s story to life for all stakeholders with brand films, recruitment films, results announcements, animations, market insights, and client and employee stories.
At the end of 2020, during the global pandemic, we produced a multi award-winning end-of-year film under unusual circumstances. Filmed outdoors in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, in accordance with strict social-distancing protocols, we produced a unique film that was a reflection of the times. ‘Building our future together’ tells the story of a challenging year, when colleagues were forced to work from home and the world felt smaller and uncertain.
Senior executives are shown in miniature form, walking past giant coffee cups, rulers and pens, as they talk about the challenges faced. As the narrative becomes more positive, the presenters steadily grow in size and the world begins to return to normal. As recognisable landmarks from Standard Chartered’s markets are placed in the scene by many hands, the final line of the film points to a brighter future; a future that will be built together.
The film has been extremely well received by employees and it swept the board at the annual Lens Awards, celebrating the best in corporate film making.
Lens Awards 2022:
We began planning the end-of-year film in early autumn when it appeared that lockdown restrictions were beginning to ease, however when we began filming in early November our initial production plans were thrown into disarray by the resurgence of the Covid pandemic and the reintroduction of stringent lockdown measures in many key markets. Not to be deterred, we resorted to some innovative film making techniques to create a film that was not only unique but also in keeping with the times.
We had intended to film each member of the management team in their respective offices around the Group, however when Lockdown was once again imposed and we were unable to film indoors, we resorted to filming people outside, whilst socially distanced, in a hastily built mobile green screen studio. These shots were then motion tracked into a virtual landscape.
We had commissioned a professional modelling company to create props for the film, but when they too were forced to close, we purchased a 3D printer and designed and printed over a hundred scale models at our respective homes.
Editing was also done remotely with an Executive Producer co-ordinating a team of editors, animators and illustrators. The result was a unique film that helped bring the whole firm together at a time of considerable uncertainty.
