Client
Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School
Service
Videography, Motion Graphics and Visual Effects
What we provided
Campaign film and promotional visual effects showcase
Borlase 400 Campaign
The “Borlase 400 Campaign” is a dedicated fundraising film and visual showcase produced for Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School to support a major campus development push. Commissioned to aid fundraising efforts for the school’s 400th anniversary, the film was created to communicate the future vision of the site to prospective donors, alumni, and the wider school community both online and at private events.
Combining live-action videography with integrated motion graphics and visual effects, the film brought upcoming architectural transformations to life. By clearly visualising how the historic school hall would be repurposed into a modern sixth-form centre alongside an updated, revitalised canteen, the video bridged the gap between Borlase's rich heritage and its next chapter.
The Challenge: Visualising What Wasn’t There Yet
Communicating an ambitious architectural change requires more than flat blueprints and floor plans—donors needed to clearly see and feel the transformation. The primary challenge was bridging the physical reality of the current school grounds with unbuilt spaces. Rather than relying solely on abstract CGI fly-throughs, the goal was to integrate the planned developments directly into the living, breathing campus environment.
Working closely with the Headteacher and the Director of Development, we established clear parameters for how the spaces should function and feel. This close collaboration ensured that every design choice aligned with the school’s day-to-day requirements and historical character, translating initial concepts into an accurate, tangible vision that stakeholders could trust.
Execution: Blending Live Plates with Photorealistic CGI
Executing seamless visual effects required a hybrid production pipeline designed to anchor computer-generated structures into genuine campus life. Production began on-site using a blend of ground camera setups and aerial drone passes, capturing dynamic movement across the school grounds and existing halls.
Once the plates were captured, the footage underwent precise camera matchmoving in dedicated tracking software to reconstruct lens properties, perspective, and motion data in 3D space.
Inside Blender, the architect’s raw geometry served as the foundational block. From there, each area was systematically elevated:
Look Development & Detailing: Re-modelling rough geometry, adding custom architectural trim, and furnishing the sixth-form study areas and canteen layouts to match real-world specifications.
Texturing & Lighting: Applying high-resolution physically based materials and calibrated environmental lighting to mirror the exact conditions of the live-action plates.
Compositing: The multi-pass CGI elements were brought into Adobe After Effects, where ambient lighting, shadow passes, optical depth, and colour grading were balanced to composite the unbuilt additions invisibly into the camera moves.
Impact: Transforming Vision into Tangible Support
The completed film was deployed across the school’s digital channels and screened as the centrepiece visual at private donor evening events.
The response from the community was overwhelmingly positive. By grounding the unbuilt spaces in recognizable, photorealistic context, the film demystified complex architectural drawings and gave prospective benefactors complete confidence in the project's scope. Seeing the practical and aesthetic potential of the new sixth-form centre and canteen directly influenced donor engagement, with multiple stakeholders increasing their pledge contributions after experiencing the visual showcase.
