Most projects make one big video at the start and then go quiet until the ribbon-cutting. In between, the community sees trucks, fences and dust, and fills the silence with its own story. A regular project update video fills it with yours.

A year of updates on one site can follow one simple plan.

The format

A two to three minute video, once a month or once a quarter, with the same structure every time: what's happened since the last update, what's coming next, anything the community needs to know (road changes, noisy works, events) and who to contact. A familiar face from the project presents it. Short cutdowns go on social media.

A 12-month plan

Month 1: the starting point. The site as it is, the plan, the people. Fix the drone angles you'll repeat every month.
Months 2 to 3: site establishment. Fencing, compounds, access roads, the first local contractors on site.
Month 4: what we heard. The concerns raised so far and what's been done about them.
Months 5 to 8: construction. The main works, shown from the same angles each month so people can see the change. One local worker or supplier featured each time.
Month 9: community benefit. Where local money, jobs or grants have gone, shown with the people involved.
Months 10 to 11: testing and commissioning, explained in plain language.
Month 12: the year in two minutes, with the repeated aerial angles cut together, and what happens next.

Keeping the cost down

Plan the year at the start, so each shoot day is efficient and the angles repeat.
Film two updates' worth of interviews in one visit where you can.
Use a long-term time-lapse camera on site, so the build is captured every day between visits.
Keep the same graphics and structure, so each edit is quicker than the last.

Where to share them

The project website, the project's own social channels, local community Facebook groups, council newsletters and a screen at information sessions. Internally, the same updates keep your own staff, your board and your investors informed, often with a slightly longer cut.

What it does

A year of updates lets your team show the project keeping its word, and answer questions before people ask them. At the end, you have a finished film of the whole build for the opening, the annual report and the next project's community meetings.

See our community and project update work, or read what a 12-month time-lapse involves.