Stena Line are an international ferry company, based in Sweden and are one of the largest ferry companies in the world. Ardmore Advertising approached us to help with their latest project - to show off their three new ferries and tell the story through both a passenger and a crew member’s perspective. The plan was to create 2 x 40 sec TV commercials.
Over the years we have worked on a series of different ferry brands, so we have some experience in the field, but every job is different. This time we had director Richard Oliver at the helm (of the crew, not the ferry...)
There were many challenges our crew faced during the three days of filming on the ferry.
The main obstacle to overcome, was the time restrictions to get everything shot each day. We were always on a tight schedule, with the ferry going between Holyhead and Dublin (3 hours each way) meaning as soon as we boarded the ferry, we had to be quick and efficient in setting up the kit and getting both the cast and multiple supporting artists ready.
To add to the difficulty, storm Dennis was in full swing during our filming period, which meant delays to our travel and very limited daylight to capture the scenes as they had been planned. However, the crew were always thinking of ways to deliver despite the situation.
From the beginning, the aim was always to unveil the exciting new features of the Stena Line ferry, but to execute the idea in a way that would engage the audience as much as possible.
To do this, Ardmores creative had us following two hero cast around the ferry, with each of them delivering the script in various areas. Doing this meant we could keep the script light and clever, whilst we let the visuals tell the story.
The resulting TV commercials are currently running across the UK and ROI. The campaign is also being used on social platforms, cinema and radio.
Client Testimonial - (short but sweet!)
"Can’t recommend The Gate Films enough….they made a storm a breeze."
Crew & Agency
Agency – Ardmore
Director - Richard Oliver
Producer - Josh Boswell
D.O.P - Evangelos Polychronopoulos
Steadicam Operator - Stamos Triantafyllos
Editors Rob Featherstone & Harley Spence
Grade by Big Buoy
Art Director - Pete Rodwell
Stylist - Liz Corkish
Sound Mixer - Keir Stewart
