Behind the Scenes: How We Film and Share Our Projects
- Rose Hill
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
We’re often asked about how we create the videos that bring our community projects to life. The truth is, it’s never just one way of doing things. It’s a team effort, and over time we’ve developed a flexible approach that allows us to document, edit, and share each project in a way that feels authentic and impactful.
In this blog, we’re sharing how we usually capture footage, what goes into creating our signature “progression videos,” and some practical filming and editing tips if you’re looking to tell the story of your own creative work.
Who Films Our Projects?
We capture project footage in a variety of ways:
🎥 Rose often captures clips herself - whether it’s behind-the-scenes shots during workshops, a time-lapse of painting in progress, or little moments of joy with the community.
📱 We have a dedicated CCC marketing team partner who joins us on projects and workshops to capture photos and videos. They’re brilliant at spotting the magic in the moment and creating content that tells a story.
👀 We receive amazing footage taken by residents, local workers, artists, or even random passers-by who stop to film a moment that caught their eye. These unexpected contributions often add a fresh, authentic perspective to our projects and are always welcomed!
📸 Occasionally, our project partners or the funding allows us to hire professional photographers or videographers to document the work. This usually happens on larger commissions, like murals or art trails, and allows us to get beautiful, high-quality visuals from start to finish.
What Are Progression Videos?
When footage is captured throughout a project, our marketing team partner edits it into what we call a “progression video.” These are short, storytelling-style videos that give a full overview of the project - from concept to community engagement, to the final result.
You can find these progression videos on our Projects pages. They also make great content for social media, helping us share the impact and process of our work in a visual, engaging way. We often repurpose these for reels, stories, and even funding applications.
How We Turn Project Moments Into Social Media Stories
Not everything needs to be professionally shot to have impact, in fact, some of our most engaging content comes from spontaneous clips captured on the go. We use a blend of footage taken by Rose, artists and passer-by during projects, content shot by our dedicated marketing team partner, and professional visuals provided by our collaborators.
This mix of sources gives us a rich bank of material to work with, which our marketing partner transforms into short, story-driven videos tailored for platforms like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. These might be quick reels showing the progression of a mural, short clips highlighting community interactions, or time-lapses that bring the energy of a workshop to life.
We also use photos from this footage in carousels, pairing strong visuals with meaningful captions to walk our audience through each stage of a project. It’s not about perfection, it’s about telling the story in a way that’s authentic, visually engaging, and platform-ready.
And when filming, it helps to think in stories, not just in individual shots. What changed over the course of the day? Was there a moment of joy, surprise, transformation? Whether it’s a progress picture or a final reveal, capturing these narrative beats helps others feel like they were part of the journey, and gives your audience something emotional to connect with.
Filming & Editing Tips from Our Team
If you’re filming your own projects, here are a few tried-and-true tips from our marketing partner to help you get started:
🎬 Capture both portrait and landscape clips
This gives you more flexibility when editing - portrait for reels and stories, landscape for websites, presentations, or YouTube.
📹 Make sure your shots are clean and clear
Try to film in natural light when possible, and take a second to tidy your frame. A quick pan across a mural, or a wide shot of a workshop in action, can be really effective.
💡 Bonus Tip: Always include subtitles on your videos, and use clear, readable fonts. It makes your content more accessible for Deaf or hard-of-hearing audiences, and helps people watching without sound still enjoy your work, especially on platforms like Instagram or LinkedIn.
🛠️ Use Canva for editing
Yes, Canva! Their video editor is simple, intuitive, and great for stitching clips together, adding captions, or overlaying music. It’s especially handy if you’re not a pro editor.
📁 Organise your footage as you go
Create folders for each project or event, and label clips clearly (e.g., “Day 1 - Community painting”, “Interview with participant”). This makes life so much easier when it comes time to edit.
♻️ Repurpose what you’ve captured
Don’t feel like you need new content every time you want to post. A single workshop might give you a full week of content: a behind-the-scenes reel, a quote card from a participant, a photo carousel with a meaningful caption, or a short video showcasing just one joyful moment. If your content is purposeful and engaging, people won’t mind seeing different sides of the same event, they’ll feel more connected to the journey.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re creating a short highlight reel or a full project video, the most important thing is to capture the story, the people involved, the moments of joy, the transformation over time. That’s what makes your work resonate.
If you’d like to see examples of how we bring our projects to life through video, head to our Projects page or follow us on social media where we regularly share behind-the-scenes content and finished clips.
Got more questions about documenting creative projects, or want to work together on one?
We’d love to hear from you! Just drop us a message via our Contact page or send us a DM on socials.
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