Schmidt , Grand Designs Live Exhibition Film
A premium kitchen brand steps onto the floor of the UK's biggest design show. The brief: capture the full exhibition experience in a format that works harder than a single walkthrough.
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Case Study
Schmidt brought a full-scale exhibition presence to Grand Designs Live at the NEC in Birmingham , one of the UK's most visited design and interiors events. Their stand showcased bespoke kitchen designs, interior collections, and premium finishes across a curated space built to attract architects, interior designers, and homeowners with renovation intent. The brief was to capture this experience in film and photography that could extend the impact of a three-day exhibition into months of usable brand content.
The Brief
Produce multi-format exhibition coverage , long-form video and short-form social content , that positions Schmidt's Grand Designs Live presence as a flagship brand moment rather than a one-day event record.
The Challenge
- Exhibition environments present lighting that shifts between artificial overhead rigs and branded display illumination, with no opportunity for controlled setups during live visitor hours.
- The NEC's scale means capturing both the macro presence of the stand and the material-level detail of premium finishes , marble surfaces, handle profiles, drawer mechanisms , within the same shoot day.
- Grand Designs Live attracts continuous foot traffic, so timing clean shots of the stand without visitor interruption requires precise scheduling around opening hours and VIP windows.
- Schmidt's positioning in the luxury kitchen segment demands a visual treatment that separates their content from the volume of exhibitor footage typically produced at trade shows.
- Content needed to serve both a long-form exhibition film and short-form social cuts, each with distinct pacing, aspect ratios, and platform requirements.
- Final stand layouts and product placements were only confirmed on-site during build-up, compressing pre-production planning into the first hours of the shoot day.
The Approach
- Conducted an advance site visit during stand build-up to map camera positions, identify natural light windows from the NEC's roof structure, and flag products requiring macro detail coverage.
- Structured the shoot around two parallel tracks: a cinematic walkthrough capturing the full stand narrative, and a detail-focused pass isolating individual kitchen collections, material samples, and finish textures.
- Used gimbal-stabilised movement through the stand to create a guided-tour aesthetic that mirrors the visitor experience without the visual noise of a crowded exhibition hall.
- Shot short-form vertical content as a dedicated pass rather than cropping from widescreen footage, ensuring native framing for Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
- Graded the final film to emphasise the warmth and tactility of Schmidt's material palette , oak tones, stone surfaces, brushed metals , reinforcing the luxury positioning through colour science rather than over-stylised post-production.
- Delivered a structured asset library with long-form film, social cuts, and still frames extracted from video, giving Schmidt's marketing team a modular toolkit rather than a single finished piece.
The Execution
The shoot ran across the exhibition's setup and early-access window at the NEC, capturing Schmidt's stand before and during the first hours of Grand Designs Live. Gimbal-mounted camera work moved through the full kitchen displays while a second pass focused on macro details , surface textures, handle profiles, and material transitions that define the brand's premium positioning. The edit produced a flagship exhibition film alongside a short-form social cut optimised for vertical platforms. Post-production grading was calibrated to Schmidt's brand palette, preserving the natural warmth of timber and stone while maintaining the crisp commercial finish expected at this level of the interiors market.
The Outcome
The exhibition film gave Schmidt a durable visual asset that extended the impact of their Grand Designs Live presence well beyond the three-day event. The long-form piece anchored their digital communication while the short-form cut drove social engagement across platforms. As a signature project, this commission established the template for Morax's ongoing relationship with Schmidt , an account that has since grown to encompass showroom films, property tours, team headshots, and further exhibition coverage across multiple UK venues.
Exhibition coverage that outlasts the event
If you're exhibiting at a major trade show and want film and photography that works as brand content , not just event documentation , let's talk about your next exhibition.
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