Behind the Scenes: Filming for The Herald in Edinburgh
This was a project about timing, light and letting the city do the talking.
Simmerdim was brought on by The Herald to produce a short film for their latest campaign as they expand into Edinburgh. The idea was simple but ambitious; show the faces behind the journalism, ground them in the city, and make it look effortless. We had two days, no room for error, and a lot of ground to cover.
Day one was hot. One to test both the hydration levels and the top end ability of ND filters. We spent the day filming eight of The Herald’s Edinburgh-based journalists in locations that felt tied to their beats: the National Galleries, the City Chambers, St Andrew Square, and both Easter Road and Tynecastle. We leaned into the light, rather than fighting it, using it to create strong contrast and texture.
Most of the work was done on the Sony FX6, which is fast becoming our go-to for commercial and doc work. For movement and gimbal shots, the A7SIII flew on the Ronin RS3. We moved quickly, stayed light, and kept rolling.
Day two started early. 5am call, kit loaded and on the streets before most people were even up. We wanted that first light and we wanted empty streets. Try filming Greyfriar’s Bobby after nine and you’ll be queueing with a million tourists. Using The Photographer’s Ephemeris, we mapped out timings for each location, which served us well for morning shots and for lighting up Murrayfield in the evening.
By the time the sun cracked over the rooftops, we were already filming the Usher Hall. Then it was on to Greyfriars Bobby, St Giles, Portobello Beach, Granton Harbour and Murrayfield. The city looked like it was holding still for us.
On day one we also had a solid bit of British improvisation. Needing to record voiceoversa outside of a controlled studio environment, we built a makeshift sound booth with a padded bodywarmer hung between two locker doors. It looked ridiculous. It worked perfectly. Recorded on a Zoom H6 with a Rode NTG2 shotgun mic, the result was surprisingly clean.
This shoot had all the usual moving parts, short windows, fast light, tight edit deadlines, but there’s something brilliant about filming in a city that you know will give you something if you just show up on time and press record.
It’s not about making Edinburgh look good. It already does. It’s about catching it when it’s not trying too hard.
