— PixelRain Field Notes

Field Notes

Guides, shoot diaries and the occasional thought, from a studio that spends most of its time outside.

— Start here

A few useful reads to begin with.

James Strawbridge seated on the harbour steps at Mousehole, sketching the village with a watercolour palette beside him, during production of Forgotten Cornwall for History Hit

Guides

How to Brief a Video Production Company

This is practical advice from the production side. The things we wish every client knew before they got in touch.

20 February 202618 min read

An in-car camera rig filming James Strawbridge during a recipe film shoot in Fowey, Cornwall

Behind The Scenes

Sea to Plate with James Strawbridge in Cornwall

A day on the water and at Readymoney Beach with James Strawbridge, making outdoor cooking content and smoked mussel carbonara in Cornwall.

9 November 2025

A dark and atmospheric view inside the Pirates exhibition at National Maritime Museum Cornwall

Behind The Scenes

Filming ‘Pirates’ at National Maritime Museum Cornwall

A behind-the-scenes look at the atmospheric social teaser we filmed for the Pirates exhibition at National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

31 March 2023

The latest

Guides

How to Brief a Video Production Company

This is practical advice from the production side. The things we wish every client knew before they got in touch.

20 February 202618 min read

Behind the scenes of a PixelRain on-camera interview at Newlyn harbour, Cornwall, showing the interviewee seated on a waterfront deck with cinema camera, boom microphone, and professional lighting setup

Guides

How to Prepare for an On-Camera Interview

Practical advice from the production side of the camera for anyone preparing to be interviewed on film.

17 February 202610 min read

Red Cove above Mawgan Porth beach, filmed for Perfect Stays

On Location

Filming Coastal Luxury at Red Cove for Perfect Stays

This clifftop home in Mawgan Porth, recently featured in The Times Luxx, is the kind of place that stops you in your tracks the moment you step through the front door.

4 January 2026

Behind The Scenes

Sea to Plate with James Strawbridge in Cornwall

A day on the water and at Readymoney Beach with James Strawbridge, making outdoor cooking content and smoked mussel carbonara in Cornwall.

9 November 2025

The founders of Ungraded photographed during the marketplace launch campaign

Behind The Scenes

Building Ungraded, a new kind of trading card marketplace

How we built the launch films, founder story, photography and weekly drop content for a trading card marketplace based around 3D imaging.

1 August 2024

A PixelRain cinema camera filming a cooking setup with ingredients and kitchenware in the background

Guides

How to Make Social Media Video People Actually Want to Watch

A practical guide to social media video for brands, covering planning, filming, Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn, Shorts, editing and measuring what works.

18 March 202417 min read

The audience at Kernow Learning’s Kernow Challenge event inside Hall for Cornwall

Behind The Scenes

Inside The Kernow Challenge at Hall for Cornwall

Seven films and an event photo story from the day Kernow Learning brought its teaching community together at Hall for Cornwall.

1 February 2024

Historic Cornish mining documents being studied for Cornish Lithium’s exploration work

Behind The Scenes

How Cornwall’s mining past is helping find its lithium future

Two films connecting 4,000 years of Cornish mining history with the modern technology guiding responsible lithium exploration.

1 October 2023

A family exploring the Cornish landscape during the West Carclaze Garden Village lifestyle campaign

Behind The Scenes

Selling the feeling of a village before it existed

Lifestyle films, a seasonal recipe series and a printed cookbook built the identity of a Cornish community before its first residents arrived.

1 October 2023

Behind The Scenes

Filming ‘Pirates’ at National Maritime Museum Cornwall

A behind-the-scenes look at the atmospheric social teaser we filmed for the Pirates exhibition at National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

31 March 2023

A PixelRain camera operator filming a blacksmith at work inside a traditional workshop

Guides

What Kind of Video Does Your Brand Actually Need?

Brand film, social content, case study or explainer? A practical guide to the different types of video content and when your brand should use each.

28 March 202311 min read

A film still from PixelRain's Getting Building Fund project films for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership

Behind The Scenes

Filming the Getting Building Fund for CIOS LEP

An archive case study from six public-sector project films documenting Getting Building Fund investment across Cornwall in 2021 and 2022.

11 August 2022

Drone operator monitoring the live feed on a DJI controller screen during aerial filming of the Kernow Asset Management sand art shoot on a Cornish beach, by PixelRain

Behind The Scenes

A Logo in the Sand and a Race Against the Tide

Behind the scenes of a Kernow Asset Management brand film, combining a large-scale sand artwork with drone filming on the Cornish coast.

1 February 2022

Film still from Forgotten Cornwall, a two-part documentary series produced by PixelRain for History Hit

Behind The Scenes

Making Forgotten Cornwall for History Hit

Behind the scenes of Forgotten Cornwall, two 25-minute documentary films researched, produced and filmed in Cornwall by PixelRain for History Hit.

14 December 2021

G7 Cornwall United Kingdom 2021 signage at Events Square in Falmouth with the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in the background during the G7 Summit

Behind The Scenes

When the G7 Came to Cornwall

An archive case study from the five films PixelRain made for CIOS LEP when the G7 Summit brought the world’s media to Cornwall in 2021.

28 June 2021

Monsters of the Deep exhibition at National Maritime Museum Cornwall

Behind The Scenes

Filming Monsters of the Deep

Behind the scenes on the films PixelRain made for National Maritime Museum Cornwall’s Monsters of the Deep exhibition.

27 September 2020

The kitchen team at Fifteen Cornwall during filming at Watergate Bay

Behind The Scenes

Filming Fifteen Cornwall

Four years filming Fifteen Cornwall, its apprentices and the Cornwall Food Foundation at Watergate Bay from 2016 to 2019.

15 January 2020

Maritime signal flags flying from Jonik's mast, photographed during filming of the Heritage Boat Tours, Falmouth Harbour.

Behind The Scenes

Filming the Heritage Boat Tours

A summer morning filming National Maritime Museum Cornwall’s Heritage Boat Tours aboard a restored gentleman’s launch in Falmouth Harbour.

17 August 2019

Will Keating performing during a Summer Garden Session at the Alverton Hotel in Truro

Behind The Scenes

Cornwall My Home at the Alverton

A small archive film capturing Will Keating performing Cornwall My Home during a Summer Garden Session at the Alverton Hotel in Truro.

2 August 2019

Ollie Oakenshield speaking on stage at TEDxTruro 2018

Behind The Scenes

TEDxTruro 2018 · Wonder

Revisit all eight talks from TEDxTruro 2018, filmed by PixelRain around the theme of Wonder at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro.

21 December 2018

Behind The Scenes

TEDxTruro 2017 · Breaking Barriers

Revisit all eleven talks from TEDxTruro 2017, filmed by PixelRain around the theme of Breaking Barriers in Cornwall.

14 December 2017

Field Notes

A few useful reads to begin with.

How to Brief a Video Production Company

Sea to Plate with James Strawbridge in Cornwall

Filming ‘Pirates’ at National Maritime Museum Cornwall

The latest

How to Brief a Video Production Company

How to Prepare for an On-Camera Interview

Filming Coastal Luxury at Red Cove for Perfect Stays

Sea to Plate with James Strawbridge in Cornwall

Building Ungraded, a new kind of trading card marketplace

How to Make Social Media Video People Actually Want to Watch

Inside The Kernow Challenge at Hall for Cornwall

How Cornwall’s mining past is helping find its lithium future

Selling the feeling of a village before it existed

Filming ‘Pirates’ at National Maritime Museum Cornwall

What Kind of Video Does Your Brand Actually Need?

Filming the Getting Building Fund for CIOS LEP

A Logo in the Sand and a Race Against the Tide

Making Forgotten Cornwall for History Hit

When the G7 Came to Cornwall

Filming Monsters of the Deep

Filming Fifteen Cornwall

Filming the Heritage Boat Tours

Cornwall My Home at the Alverton

TEDxTruro 2018 · Wonder

TEDxTruro 2017 · Breaking Barriers

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A little clarity.Your choice.

A little clarity.
Your choice.