HPE, the world-leading IT specialists, needed a video to showcase all its small and mid-sized business products which range from server hardware to storage solutions. They wanted to show how HPE products can work together to create an IT environment that allows the business to grow to its full potential. They asked Synima to help them create the concept and advise on how best to tell their story.
Synima wanted to show the jeopardy that SMBs can find themselves in when facing a data loss scenario, and have HPE save the day with their LTO tape storage product. We envisaged a flooding disaster where computers are affected but luckily the data was being backed up in real time. Another idea was a ransomware attack which can cripple businesses, but the offline nature of LTO tape makes it a foolproof protection against cybercrime of this type. We decided to incorporate multiple scenarios into the journey of a woman who had grown her business from humble beginnings to a small company.
As the time period spanned many years, we needed to create several looks for the actor with different haircuts and costume to show the passing of time. The camera we used was Arri Alexa with Atlas Orion lenses creating a very cinematic feel with the anamorphic aspect ratio. We filmed certain sections at 33fps – somewhere between slo-mo and real -time for a truly emotive feel. Fun fact, the location was actually a lingerie factory that we styled to look like a server room.
The result was an award-winning film that received glowing reviews. HPE’s feedback was effusive: “This is feature-production stuff…”, “Moved to tears, nicely done!”. Synima felt the video was so effective because we had communicated the joy of achieving success and overcoming adversity, which is exactly the positive message HPE wanted us to send. Of course, throughout the story we tell in the video, HPE is the confident companion. This video was so successful the client commissioned a further two videos to create a series of three, all featuring the character Rebecca.
