Raynham Estate: The whole estate on film

The Raynham Estate near Fakenham is a working estate, with arable farming, a herd of cattle, historic brick and flint barns, a reservoir and The Copse, where it holds events. The estate wanted one film that shows all of that together, something they could put on the website and play when they host events, and they were clear from the start that anything going on the website needed leaves on the trees and sunshine, because that's how they want people to picture the estate all year round.

So we split the job into two shoot days and let the weather and the farming calendar decide when they happened. The first was booked for the middle of May and we moved it when the forecast turned, and ended up with a properly hot, clear day at the end of the month for the barns, the cattle, the reservoir and the estate from the air. The second was meant to be in August, but harvest was moving quicker than anyone expected and the estate asked to bring it forward, so we went out at the end of July and filmed the combines working, more aerials and The Copse.

From the two days we made a two-minute hero film, a version for reels, a promo film for the barns with and without text, a website film and a reel for The Copse, two reels for the estate as a whole and around 80 stills. We also went back in August to film one of the Beef and Burgundy supper evenings at The Copse and made a short film to help them sell tickets.