Explore Locke at East Side Gallery

In a recent whirlwind adventure, we headed to one of the most iconic neighbourhoods in Berlin with the aim of capturing the essence of a brand new Aparthotel for our client Locke. The unique thing about this location? It sits right next to a piece of living history - the Berlin Wall.

The Brief 📝

To capture footage of Locke’s elegant rooms, state-of-the-art gym, inviting lounges, bustling reception area, vibrant bar, and scenic rooftop. Then to throw the drone up for some stunning aerial shots of the building and its fantastic surroundings, which we’d combine into a compelling 2-3 minute-long piece.

The Challenge 🤔

With a limited filming window due to flight times and daylight hours, it would be straight off the plane after a 4am start right into the action. Lighting and shooting all the different rooms in the time period was daunting, especially as the communal spaces were to remain open to the public. For the aerials and externals, we also had to make sure we were permitted to shoot in sensitive locations in a built-up area.

The Approach 🎥

Plenty of coffee to start with, followed by working efficiently and to a tightly planned schedule. Also making sure to get as much as possible done on day one rather than leaving too much for the second day when the clock would be ticking down to take off.

Instead of splitting up for the externals and internals we decided we’d be quicker working as a team, one lighting the other shooting, while two sets of eyes were would also be cast over the externals and aerials. In the tighter bedroom spaces we were able to use natural light supplemented by some additional fill, but kept things all natural in the communal spaces. Shooting multiple spaces with a similar style and look can also make it tricky to add variety to the edit, so we were regularly varying our angles laterally and vertically to leave no stone unturned. We’re particularly fond of low angles shooting slightly upwards to really accentuate the room size.

It was a shoot requiring precision, adaptability, and creative problem-solving to make the most of their limited shooting window. Oh, and making sure the gimbal was kept charged up - the RS3 really earned its keep over those 36 hours!

Camera Operators - Callum O’Toole and Victor Goras

Drone Operator - Victor Goras

Edit - Victor Goras