Devoto Design Spot Backstage: Design Is A Serious Game

Devoto Design Spot Backstage: some behind-the-scene facts about our brand new company video!

Today we’ll share some backstage pictures and facts about the making of our company video, about the story we wanted to tell through it but also how fun it was for us to shoot it, because after all – as we like to say – Design is a serious game…

At first we only knew what we did NOT want..

The main idea we wanted to convey was the interaction and connection among all the company departments that work together to turn an idea into reality and to deliver our projects. To do that, we decided to start from the final product and go backwards, passing through all the project work steps and showing at the same time our processes but also our faces, hands and careful eyes.

“WE DIDN’T WANT A VIDEO with the conventional scheme “from the project to the final result”.  We didn’t want a spot that showed an empty space with running machines just working on a product. This said, it was hard to realize what we wanted anyway!! But fortunately we were not alone: we were supported by great professionals that helped us make up our minds and turn our concept into a wonderful story. A spot that totally reflects us and tells people what we do but also who we are, we hope. We finally showed our faces, our work places, pieces of our everyday life… we are really proud of the result!” (Marianna Devoto, CCO, CMO)

Then we figured out what we wanted to show…

The goal of this spot is that of showing – in about one minute –  the technology, craftsmanship, care, methodology, design and teamwork that lie behind the works Devoto Design delivers.

Beauty, functionality and uniqueness are nothing but the result of the work methodology, intuitions and emotions that everyboby at Devoto puts into process.

“WE ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THE FINAL RESULT, especially because we showed our faces for the first time, the faces of those who everyday work with passion on our projects.” (Valeria Visentin, Marketing & Communication)

Devoto Design Spot Backstage: the choice of the long take

The director’s choice of a long take was the only possible visual transposition for our need to show at the same and without interruptions the work process inside our own workplaces.

Departments overlap, processes blend together and this whole complex architecture is supported and carried out by expert professionals that develop projects from the concept idea to the final product assembly and delivery.

That’s why the only way to convey this complexity and organized overlapping of flows was to use the long take where narration time corresponds to real time. A solution that the company warmly welcomed.

“IT WAS FUN BECAUSE THE VIDEO IS ONE LONG TAKE so timing was essential. Everyone of us had to move and “act” in a specific way and moment. Noboby could miss a second otherwise we had to start again from the very beginning! During the shooting, then, you could perceive the highest concentration, even tension and fear of doing wrong.. but it was really fun in the end!” (Valeria Visentin, Marketing & Communication)

Three fun facts about the video making

One: How many takes? 

As you can easily guess, we needed to shoot many times early in the morning. but then we had to wait for the sunset to come because it was essential to avoid the strong daylight that would have saturized the images.

Two: How does Devoto Design sound like?

Once we had the clips, we had to think about a proper soundtrack for the video. What to choose? After trying with some already-existing tunes that did not suit us. Though, we came to the conclusion that we needed something original and decided to involve a composer, Gianluca Verrengia that accepted to write something new according to the rhythm and mood of the clips. His contribution was essential to highlight some tiny but fundamental sounds that mark our work.

Three: Best supporting actress goes to…

… our designer Carolina! For this video she turned into a runner, because she needed to go from one place to another but couldn’t walk the fastest and easiest way, otherwise she would have been in the whole frame. So she had to run around the factory and pretend not to be breathless once she reached the final destination. And of course she had to do this more than once, untile we got the right clip.. thanks Carolina for your performance!

Design is a Serious game: watch it now!

Enjoy!

Credits and aknowledgements

We want to thank the following for their support and friendliness: 

• Koichi Takada architects for the National museum of Qatar video
• Family P.
• The Maxxi Foundation
• 9cento Studio
• Unit Plus and RT* Roberto Terrinoni
• Gianluca Verrengia
• Massimo Censori
• Everybody at Devoto