Filming a floating sauna being built at Frankton Marina
- Client
- Aluume
- Where
- Frankton Marina, Queenstown
- What we did
- Ongoing build documentation
- Delivered
- Weekly vertical cuts and a banked archive
A sauna that did not exist yet
Aluume's floating sauna was still timber and steel on the water when we started. The job was to record it taking shape, session by session, so the audience followed the build long before opening day.
That meant no single big shoot. We turned up on a rhythm, filmed whatever stage the build had reached, and cut each visit into short vertical pieces that could go out while the work was still fresh.
The one morning that mattered most
The crane lift was the moment everything else built towards: the main sections swung into place in one session, with the whole team on site. A lift like that happens once. We planned our positions the day before and covered it three ways at the same time, wide from the shore, tight on the rigging, and low from the water.
Working on a live marina
- The weather decides the schedule. A grey lake at breakfast can turn sharp and bright by lunch, so the wide shots wait for the conditions rather than the clock.
- The builders come first. We stay mobile and shoot long, and nobody pauses work for a camera.
- Water moves and bounces light. Exposure and camera position change constantly, and it is also what gives the footage its look.
Crewed from Central Otago
A local student joined as trainee camera operator for his first paid days on set, and a young Queenstown editor turned the footage around quickly. Build content loses value by the week, so speed was part of the brief.
Because every session is kept, the eventual launch film and website video can be cut from footage that already exists. More on this kind of work under corporate video.