Heathrow Terminal 5 Night Shoot

At C60 we always like to keep our range of work varied, diverse, and interesting, well nothing’s more interesting than shooting an exclusive training video for British Airways at Heathrow Terminal 5 at the dead of night! British Airways wanted help recording an employee training video for scenarios where you could convince passengers to upgrade their tickets and journeys, having 2 real check-in workers play as the actors for this scenario.
- Crew beginning setup at the start of the night
- Sasha making sure the Camera captures everything we need
- Over the shoulder of our 2 starring actors
- Peter Shevlin directing the 2 on their lines and ways to improve
Meeting up with Clients Paula and Mason West at 7:30pm, we had our usual team with head and director Peter Shevlin, assistant and runner Alphie Howard, Rob Lewis as cameraman 1, Sasha as cameraman 2, and Chris Roberts recording sound. We also had a new addition of Sadiye Ozkul as our standby makeup artist for whenever out actors needed a freshen up to reduce shiny skin and neat hair.
- Making sure everything’s A-ok on the monitor colour and lighting wise
- Chris setting up the shot and testing the light inputs
- Chris capturing b-roll around an empty Terminal 5
- Everything having a quick check over the first take to be safe
Terminal 5
Getting to the Airport at 7:30pm sure was a different experience, despite being the latest terminal with a hustle and bustle each day, the whole place was eerily quiet and empty, with signs lit up ready for the morning, and announcements falling on overnight employees who were probably tired of them by now. The night really kicked off at 8pm when all crew had arrived and had until 9-9:30pm to prepare kit, capture b-roll, and get in positions while actors Cathy (last name) and Kiran (last name) got dressed and makeup done for rehearsals.
- Bustling escalators now just quiet and empty
- Front row seats in first class to set up our equipment!
- Not a soul in sight at the checkout desks
- bts of the cameras from our actors persepctives
Despite damp rainy weather, and what felt like a long night ahead, the whole shoot only lasted until 2am, wrapping up a whole hour earlier than expected, and file transferring to the C60 hard drive within taking 40 minutes which ran in the back while we helped pack the kit away and said our goodbyes.
Running into obstacles
- Our makeup artist prepping our actors for their roles
- Mid shot as everything’s rolling and going smoothly
- POV you’re acting in British Airways trainving video
- BTS trick to how we managed to get tracking shots from lower angles
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the most part, as right from the beginning we had to shuffle our whole set up from Area J to the other end by Area A due to the environment just not popping right on camera. Something that feels rather tedious, but the final shot speaks wonders and makes the whole thing worth it, as comparing a bright busy background with figures walking past occasionally to a blank wood panel wall is night and day.
Our bigger issue that couldn’t be resolved but rather, had to be worked around was noises. Although having an empty terminal to yourself might make you think it’d be quiet as a mouse, there was still the background noise from all the electrics running, the cleaning staff doing their rounds, and construction taking place from 12-6am. Despite our best efforts there wasn’t actually much that we could do other than keeping an eye out for any oncoming hoovers or sweepers and wrapping up a shot just before they were within earshot, and in the case of the construction behind the scenes we could only stop and pick up around their erratic schedule.
- Out makeup artist Saidye starting her part for the night
- Peter Shevlin helping setup equipment
- Chris and Peter mid set up for sound and light
- Our 2 camera men getting their panning shots via a creative method
- Sasha testing out his camera and making sure it’s all connected up to the monitor to adjust shots live
- BTS equipment setup from the first class lounge
- Sasha on his way to record some b-roll in the empty airport
- Peter setting up our small adjustable lights for the night
It was also an interesting experience having to direct something along a script. With C60 we capture real and genuine responses, from our Vox Pop street interviews, to our many podcast collaborations, but where those had an outline that we could work with or around. However this time we had a strict script of what needed to be said and followed, with some open parts for slight adlibs to make it more genuine and believable. However despite the nerves of doing something new and taking control we believe it turned out amazing, and Cathy and Kiran clicked immediately with each other so directing them to act friendly and natural was a breeze.
Despite the flaws we ensure we caught numerous takes to give plenty of material and options of cutting around the small slip ups or noises.
Final thoughts
Overall we got to do something new, different, and very memorable. From standing behind a check-in desk, to learning about the tips and tricks to upgrading your journeys ticket, and the importance of socialising and being friendly with staff, we got a whole heap of knowledge for travelling just from a 6hr shoot! Here’s to hoping for any future collaborations with British Airways, or even any other cool opportunities that pop up, and as always we’ll be sure to keep you updated. Contact us today to learn how we can help you create resourceful training videos.
