Countryfile Live

Brief
BBC/ SME commissioned Octopus to produce a highlights video of this high profile event, to be used on social media to advertise the following year’s ticket sales.

Background
Countryfile Live welcomes around 35,000 visitors daily and hosts an enormous variety of live shows, exhibitions, stalls, and hands-on experiences. With such a plethora of colourful content to capture, we combined meticulous planning with editorial precision to ensure the crew’s time was deployed effectively.

Our approach
Giles worked collaboratively with BBC/ SME producer Katy Roberts to plan the best way to cover this large, busy event which often featured several live elements running simultaneously.

We supplemented recordings of the magnificent live shows and general buzz with testimonials from visitors and choice sound bites from the BBC presenters and stars.

Octopus’ footage was later re-versioned to produce an ITV TV ad, offering the client a very cost-effective package.

Outcome
We now enjoy an ongoing relationship with our delighted client. As well as capturing each year’s event, we now extend our services to include pre-recording the BBC presenters’ introductions (which get streamed onto screens in the main arena).

Production breakdown 
Highlights video production:
Days work per film: 0.5 days preproduction, 1-day shoot, 1-day edit.Crew: 1 person crew – operating camera/sound. The client directed the shoot.
Budget guide: £1250 plus VAT

Busy crowds at Countryfile Live
A fairground ride at Countryfile Live
Event filming at Countryfile Live
A screen shot from one of our event videos, featuring a woman and two horses

I’ve worked with Octopus Films on a wide variety of shoots, and they’re consistently reliable, enthusiastic, creative, collaborative, talented, flexible and always a pleasure to be around. I’d have no hesitation recommending them for all types of filming.

Katy Roberts

Event Producer, SME/CountryFile Live