Case Study: University of Leeds
Adarak is a proud framework supplier to the University of Leeds in 2021-2025, producing content to showcase the institution’s research to a wider audience, covering a broad range of themes including the challenges to societies and cultures, the impact of climate change, as well as creating content for marketing campaigns.
Adarak is owned and managed by Dan Waters, who worked for ten years in project management, before founding a video production business in 2019. Dan has a wealth of experience helping teams develop their initial ideas into a fully-fledged concept for a film, and lead them through a project without adding unnecessary complexity. He has produced and delivered numerous successful video projects, especially for universities and public sector clients such as Warrington Borough Council, The National Archives, and University of York, and Adarak is also a framework supplier to North Tyneside Council, Barnsley Council and the Centre for Process Innovation.
Production
Adarak’s director Dan Waters works in a structured manner to provide quality of service to the relevant marketing and communications teams. Dan maintains frequent communication with the relevant members of the client’s team to ensure they are updated on projects’ progress during pre-production, a full debrief after each filming day, and a weekly summary detailing delivery of outputs in line with key dates, and he attends all shoots as director and project manager.
Dan liaises with all contributors in conjunction with the commissioner to plan filming dates whilst minimising disruption to their work, and help put them at ease if they are nervous about being on camera. He provides a ‘What to expect on a filming day’ document to help put the contributors at ease, and maximise the time available on each production day. Adarak has three additional videographers, who provide support on Dan’s projects. They are trusted members of the team, who have all independently carried out location filming for Adarak, and are able to step in should Dan become unavailable.
The most common filming that Adarak carries out is on location at the customer’s premises, so we are adept at creating a studio-quality setup within a wide range of spaces. We generally use multiple 4K cameras to create visual interest, and allow for flexibility in editing, and often have multiple crew members present to allow for the smooth running of the production. Interviews are lit with multiple LED lights with diffusion, and dialogue is recorded using both wireless lapel microphones and boom-mounted shotgun microphones via a field recorder to maximise quality and for redundancy. Additional B-roll is a frequent requirement, and this is usually captured using a mobile stabilised camera rig to gain dynamic shots quickly and efficiently.
“I think you have pulled together what we are trying to get across really well using the quotes from all our partners and other academics … we have really benefited from working with you consistently across all our videos, which has allowed us to get a suite of really powerful stuff.”
Post-production
Videos are edited to ensure the pacing and tone are suitable for the target audience, ranging in Adarak’s case from potential undergraduate students through to potential funding bodies, and we have significant experience in structuring films to provide a compelling narrative within a short run time. Appropriate motion graphics elements such as animated text are designed in line with branding requirements to complement the footage, adding emphasis to key messages and increasing the impact of the piece. Social edits are a common feature of our projects, and these are delivered in several formats (e.g. widescreen, portrait) for distribution via the required channels.
Appropriate motion graphics elements such as animated text are designed to add emphasis to key messages and increasing the impact of the piece, complementing main footage such as interviews, and are created to suit with brand guidelines. Adarak follows the principles of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), from planning video content in a way that maximises accessibility, through to providing subtitling for all videos, in line with ATVOD Best Practice Guidelines recommended by Ofcom.
During the reviewing process, Adarak offers an online collaborative review tool to help manage the process, allowing timestamped comments and version tracking. When approved by the client team, files are made available to download from secure online file hosting, and a wrap-up document is provided, explaining the different file formats, and guidance for publishing, including integration of subtitles. Delivery of raw footage is always available, via online file hosting or physical delivery of files on a hard drive, and this is provided at minimal cost.
“Thank you so much for all the work you have done for us, it has been a pleasure working with you and we are delighted with the results.”