Remote direction
The longest partnerships here come with their own crews, in their own countries. Directing those crews from a distance is what this studio does before a shoot.
The short version
What you get. Practical guidance for your crew, with recommendations checked against the next recording.
Is this for you? For the partnership whose crew is in another country and another timezone. That crew reports to you, so the job is influence without a chain of command to lean on. Not if you would rather someone were physically on the set; this is influence at a distance, and where a shoot needs a director in the room, it is the wrong tool and we will say so.
What leaves your plate. Reviewing footage, explaining the changes and documenting agreed setup decisions for your crew.
Start with the Free Audit.
Running a set from a distance
The crew is yours
Your crew holds the room and schedule. We work with them as colleagues, explaining each recommendation and agreeing what is practical before it becomes part of the shoot plan.
The room is read from what it sends
None of these rooms has been visited. What there is instead is a month of material, which turns out to be a great deal: a window that only becomes a problem in the second hour, a level that drifts across an afternoon, a hum that arrives when the lights do. Direction on this page is diagnostic, taken from files somebody else recorded, and every recommendation is checked against the next delivery to see whether it landed.
Decisions get taken by people who will never open the software
At one partnership the raw footage was arriving in a format with almost nothing left in it for the grade. The request to change what the cameras were recording went to a crew in another country, by mail and then on a call, and from the next shoot onwards the files came in the format the grade needed. We never touched a camera, and every colour decision made since was made possible by that one message. Read more: colour grading →
Being absent is the constraint that makes the notes good
A studio in the building can walk over and adjust something. A studio a continent away cannot, so everything has to be settled before the day and written in a form that keeps working when it is forwarded to somebody who was never on the call. Being physically absent turns out to matter far less than being organised, and the organising is what these partnerships have been paying for.
The monthly cycle, run across a time-zone gap
From files to a short list
Files arrive. They get watched for the next shoot as much as for this edit, and a short list goes back in priority order with the reasoning beside each item and the easiest one marked. Anything needing agreement goes on a video call; anything needing doing goes in writing, so there is a record on the shoot day instead of a memory of a conversation.
Written for the next person who needs them
Each note records what it is protecting, so a new crew member can understand it and judge what still applies when the room or setup changes.
Who is at the other end
A production head running a crew, an independent videographer, or a creator holding the camera themselves. Those are three different jobs and three different registers, and one note written the same way for all three gets followed by one of them.
What we will not do from here
We leave decisions needing direct knowledge of the set with the people there. Where we need more evidence, we ask for a call, test or additional recording before giving a firm recommendation.
At the bench
The work, demonstrated
Try a decision from the craft: drag, tap or toggle, then read the trade-off.
These are illustrative models; no partner’s results are shown.
More demonstrations at the bench →Speak as a colleague working towards the same footage and never as somebody issuing instructions, because on that set nobody has to do what we say.
What changes for you
A shared plan your crew understands, with recurring issues checked across shoots. You have a clearer record of the intended setup and the reasons for it.
Related: Shoot planning · Microphone setup · Shot and b-roll lists · Camera and lighting setup
Send recent videos. We will identify changes to the recording setup that could improve the next shoot.
Request your Free Audit.
Three fields, and a written reading back.
Your audit usually arrives within three working days. We use your details only to reply to your enquiry.
What you will get
What is working, what could improve and whether we can help.
Two or three priorities, with the reason for each.
A recommended next step, even if that step is not us.
There is no obligation to continue. We only arrange a call if you ask for one.
The work, written up
The case studies keep their dates, sources and limits visible.
See the casework →