Case Study: Wood Video - Grow your audience

Filming Palmerston North City Councillor William Wood’s campaign video in Te Marae o Hine (The Square) and other locations in Palmerston North.

How a simple professional video strengthens your brand

When people are deciding whether to work with you, trust you, or vote for you, they’re not just listening to what you have to say; they’re watching how you present yourself.

That’s why video has become essential for public speakers, professionals, and anyone whose reputation directly affects their success. At Briclops, we specialise in event videography and live streaming events; however, we can also create videos when you don’t have an audience present.

In the buildup to the 2025 Local Government elections, I produced a short video for Palmerston North City Councillor William Wood.

The Challenge

William was seeking re-election to the PNCC for a second term. He made a big impact in his previous campaign but didn’t want to rely on his track record to get him re-elected. He wanted to set himself up for success and expand his reach to more voters in Palmerston North. To stand out, he asked Briclops to create a simple, clear, and authentic video that he could post to his social media. He wanted a video where he was moving in front of the camera in different locations around Palmerston North to help connect him to the voters.

Briclops Involvement

I read William’s script and collaborated with him on a few great locations in Palmy that made sense for his talking points. My goal was to keep William framed well while he was moving and to work with the natural light so I didn’t need additional crew or lighting gear. I used a wireless microphone to capture clear audio. I focussed on what William needed for image continuity and I focused on what he was saying to make sure that his speaking and movements worked for each scene of his script. This was essential as he needed to memorise his talking points and spoke a paragraph or two at each filming location, and the locations did not follow the same sequence as the final edited video. We continued to record until we were both happy we had the best take from each location.

Filming in Public

I have high-quality video cameras and access to other cameras with a more cinematic feel, but to get people to connect with your brand or your message, it’s not about the gear; it’s about you. Your authenticity and why your audience should care about what you have to say. The best way to be authentic is to use video equipment that is accessible to the people viewing your content. So for William’s video, we used my iPhone.

Using my iPhone to film at locations around Palmerston North didn’t draw much attention to what we were doing. By leaving the bigger video camera and equipment in the office, it was easier to capture the footage we needed quickly, “run and gun” style. It also meant that we could move easily to the next location without needing a crew or my cart to carry video gear around.

Deliverables

The 1080P HD (landscape) video clips were edited into a final video that was 2:46 mins. In the edit, I included transitions, background music, and re-created graphics from William’s hoarding signs to add at the end with an “Authorised by William Wood…” tagline. I shared the video with William to approve the edit before I added the subtitles. The point of adding subtitles is to make the video more accessible to those who are hearing impaired and for those who like to flick through their social feed with the sound off. After final approval from William and his campaign manager, I left it up to William to upload the video to his Facebook page.

Filming in Public

To film in public you need to be mindful of other people so that you get the shots you want. So keeping others out of the frame or far enough away in the distance is essential. When I’m working in public spaces I stay patient for the shots that make you look your best.

Re-Creating Graphics

Not every file a client supplies is formatted to fit well in my videos. For William’s video his campaign hoarding sign was not in the 1920 x 1080 resolution. I tinkered with it in Canva and added the authorisation tag line to show it was approved campaign content.

Using Natural Lighting

By using the sun to light William’s face, I was able to keep costs down and bring less equipment. Natural light makes him look authentic without fancy studio lighting and being in public spaces makes him accessible to the voters of Palmerston North.

Adding Subtitles in Davinci Resolve

Some platforms can create subtitles from the videos that you upload. I find it more accurate to embed your own subtitles prior to uploading to ensure it reads how you said it.

Facebook Post

Your content is best uploaded by you to your social media channels. This shows that it is your message, and your audience can easily find all your other campaign content in the same place.

The Video Outcome

The feedback William received on his Facebook post was mostly positive and provoked voters to ask questions which gave him the opportunity to interact with them. Some of the post comments relating to the videography work were:

• “Nice one mate, great video.”

• “Great video & info… no brainer getting you back round that council table.”

• “Great video William…”

• “Well put together video 👌.”

• “Awesome video, I will support you all the way.”

• “Amazing video William… all the way.”

• “Great video, you’re our number 1 all the way.”

The result for William is that he received the most votes out of all the PNCC candidates, and some of those votes can be attributed to his video, which got 346 likes, 106 comments, and was shared 17 times.

How Briclops Can Help You

Whether you’re a public speaker, a consultant, a coach, a community leader, a performer, or someone building a personal brand, a professionally crafted video by Briclops helps your audience feel connected and clear about your message. Video content helps your audience to:

• trust your expertise

• feel connected to your personality

• view you as a leader

• share your message with others

• decide to work with you or support you

Conclusion

A campaign video is a great way to extend your reach online. It doesn’t need to go viral or blow up online, to raise awareness of what you stand for and what you can do for your audience. With Briclops, you can ensure your promotional video content will help to spread your message and work for you well after your campaign is over. Your online video content builds a picture of who you are and that will grow your audience, customers, clients, or voters.

If you want your next campaign to make a bigger impact, then get in touch with us.

"If making your own video content is driving you insane, call Briclops to film a promotion for your next campaign!”