Case Study

BLUEBIRD: PROUD TO BE A BLUEBIRD

One day of video and photography. 401 finished assets.
The video & photography adverts for Bluebird Care's national campaign.
Plus a library of content for their website, brochures, social channels and
franchisee network.

One More Step, 30 sec story

"I've just had a watch through and they're looking great, especially the hero edit."
Kris Sale, Senior Designer, Zello, on the first cut of the films

The brief

Zello, Bluebird's agency, came to us with a campaign built on a simple idea: the moments people are proudest of are the small ones. Keeping a family recipe alive. Getting back to the music. One more step in the garden. Bluebird needed a hero film, story films for social, and photography strong enough to lead the campaign.

The challenge

Bluebird wanted a video campaign and a photography campaign from the same day, plus a large library of photographs and clips, all shot at the same time. It all had to happen in one house that could pass for the homes of three quite different Bluebird customers without looking like the same house on screen. Photography and video usually fight for the same room: two crews, two lighting setups, and one of them always waiting. With three scenes, three customers, a real Bluebird carer in each and the agency and client team on set, there was no slack in the day for that.

Our approach

We planned the day so both could shoot at once: same light, same moments, one look. Every scene was storyboarded, and we cut an animatic so the story and each shot were worked out before anyone stood in front of a camera. By the time the crew walked in, the day was already planned shot by shot.

The outcome

401 finished assets from one production day: 4 video adverts for social media cut vertical, 4 landscape films, 3 hero photographs, 295 photographs, and 95 graded video clips handed over as a library so their own team can cut new content without booking another shoot. The campaign went live in early September 2026 across Bluebird's social channels and their franchisee network. The kitchen photograph is now the cover of Bluebird Care's national Facebook page.

"Great news - Bluebird absolutely LOVES the videos,
Kara even got a bit emotional!"
Emma Treddenick, Brand Director, Zello, after Bluebird's first viewing

Photography in action

The cover of Bluebird Care's national Facebook page, September 2026

Behind one day

The logistics behind a one-day campaign of this scale:

20+

houses shortlisted

houses scouted

house dressed as three different homes

casting agencies briefed for the customer roles

real Bluebird carers put forward, 3 cast alongside the models

stories storyboarded, shot-listed and animated

trusted creative and production crew assembled

hours on set

What the day delivered seamlessly:

films: 4 cut and edited, each in two formats

hero photographs

295

photos selected and supplied

graded video clips handed over as a library

401

finished assets

"Thanks for such an epic day yesterday! Everyone came away absolutely buzzing."
Emma Treddenick, Brand Director, Zello, the day after the shoot

How one day was made to work

From plan to screen

Every story was storyboarded and shot-listed, and an animatic, a rough cut of the film made before the shoot, agreed the story and pacing before anyone stood in front of a camera.

Storyboard and shot list, Cooking Up a Storm: every shot planned with its time, framing and note — 3 scenes storyboarded and a shot list drawn up.
Every shot planned, timed and framed.

The animatic, cut before the shoot

The result: the finished hero film

The location

The house had to look like somewhere an older person would live, with room for a film crew and a stills set at the same time. We shortlisted more than 20 houses across eight location libraries, scouted three, recced the client's first choice with the team, and shot all three scenes there.

The casting

We wrote the casting brief and put it out to 15 casting and model agencies: aged 70 to 85, natural, warm and believable, for "warm, authentic, handheld" storytelling, "not slick TV-ad style". Three models were cast as Bluebird customers, one for each scene. Bluebird put forward five of their own carers, and three were chosen and paired with the models.

Styling and props

A fashion and prop stylist dressed every scene: wardrobe for the cast, props for each room, and the guitar and keyboard hired in for Music Hero.

The day

One call sheet, ten hours, three scenes of about two hours each with a thirty minute reset between them. Stills and video shared the light, so nobody stood waiting for the other. The hero photographs took about ten minutes each, because the lighting was already done.

After the day

Edit, grade and delivery: all films in two formats, photographs supplied, and 95 clips graded and handed over as a library for their own team.

Behind the scenes.
Stills & video directed, lit & captured simultaneously.

"Thanks again for the shoot last week and how accommodating you both were with everything. It all looked great and can't wait to see it all come together."
Kris Sale, Senior Designer, Zello, the week after the shoot