Steve McCarthy

In 2020, as the world was grappling with a pandemic, many major events were cancelled to keep the public safe. In such a time of crisis, many were forced to think fast for alternative solutions, both to protect those who depended on these events for their livelihood, but to help keep up people's spirits by bringing people together and creating exciting events that could be enjoyed in the safety of our own homes. That's when James Beer reached out to me to support him with the PRovoke Media SABRE Awards.

Awards presentations

The first major job for me for this project was producing short animations to accompany each award. This started with creating an animated template from a provided static design, which was then filled with the information and images for each award, with animation then timed to a provided voice over. Initially this was a long and laborious task, with each ceremony including over 100 awards, and each award including up to five finalists, each with an image, campaign name and company/agency name. However, as we progressed through the year into different ceremonies, I worked out ways to use databases and automation to build the compositions, meaning I could focus on the finer details, visual effects and timing.

Video editing

As the restrictions eased and PRovoke were able to bring people back together in person for the SABRE Awards, my role shifted too. Each event has a film crew in attendance to capture the day, which is then cut together to create a highlight reel to showcase the intrigue, excitement and energy of the day.