The Realm VR

Advertisement videos: planning, scripting, shooting and editing

Client: The Realm VR, Edinburgh

I created two promotional videos for The Realm VR, a virtual reality gaming venue in Edinburgh. My role began with working closely with the business owner to clarify goals and define the key messages—especially the importance of highlighting the venue as both exciting and safe for children’s parties, while also appealing to adult gamers.

After the initial discussions, I developed a storyboard under our videography brand Need Yellow (which I run together with my wife, who kindly assisted me on this project).

Once we finalized the storyboard, we decided to split the project into two videos: the first showcasing the venue itself, and the second tailored specifically towards parents interested in children’s parties. The idea was to show an actual party as it happened.

The key scenes

Filming the party was a real test of our ability to work under pressure—after all, children came to have fun, and they weren’t going to pause just because we had cameras rolling. Our approach was gentle: we let them be themselves and focused on capturing authentic moments. To ensure we had enough strong material, we asked them to repeat a few key scenes (such as arriving at the entrance) two or three times.

FX

To convey the sense of safety, we highlighted the friendly, expert staff during the introduction and visualized the “chaperone boundaries”—the virtual lines inside the headset that warn players when they’re near walls. Using After Effects’ Rotobrush 2.0, we were able to seamlessly separate our talent from the background for a polished result.

The final result

This video will be used both on the venue’s website and in direct communication with customers.

Main Promo

The main venue video was less challenging to organize, though it still came with its own hurdles. One major challenge was lighting: we needed a setup that worked with the existing lights rather than against them. We used two Neewer 660 RGB panels and several smaller portable lights to add visual interest.

One of the most challenging shots: no remote focus and/or rails

That's the final shot: not quite Apple Vision Pro ad, but we'll get there... One day

The second video, geared more towards an adult audience, involved experimenting with immersive “flying” gimbal shots. These required multiple takes to achieve the right movement and feel. In post-production, we focused on careful color grading and detail recovery, as we were working with a cropped-sensor Sony camera paired with an f/2.8 lens.

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