First published February 2012

Video content and the ideas of internet as a broadcast channel are no longer a question. Whilst broadcast rights control the nature of content the channel delivers, content is no longer constrained by the technology around it.

Internet directly drives the nature of video content online as it aims to deliver an immersive experience rather than a linear one. Marshall McLuhan identified this in the 60s as he talked about television by saying, “The medium is the message“.

To create an environment where Creatives pick up a camera in the same way as a pen white (and myself at white) worked to develop the white film competition within the agency. The objective was to help promote the challenges, processes, techniques, highs and lows involved in creating video content. The competition targeted Producers, Account Managers, Developers, Strategists and Designers in a discipline outside their areas of expertise.

White kicked off the year with a creative concepting day. Staff was then divided into seven groups, and within each team members were allocated roles from director to production designer, editor to actor. The teams were led by people with no video production experience, with staff from the Video department taking supporting roles. With only three weeks to produce a film, the competition kicked off with a three hour masterclass in ‘Acting & directing for the screen’ and ‘Camera techniques and lighting’.  Groups were given four hours to shoot their work.

A red carpet premiere built up a healthy sense of competition with a screening at the Chauvel Cinema. See the documentary video below or visit white’s website to see the full list of films