In March this year, MTP were lucky enough to team up with Academy Films to service produce Seb Edward’s ‘The Journey’ for Aviva. The shoot was spread across five days with locations taking our hundred-person crew across the length and breadth of Scotland. We came out the other end with an epic commercial that showcases the rich cinematic landscape that Scotland has to offer. With that in mind, we thought we’d break down five of our most memorable locations.

DAY 1

Glencoe kicked off our Aviva campaign tour. The breath-taking landscape was shot beautifully with a drone. With dramatic mountains, roads and skies that stretch for miles, cinematographers are truly spoilt for choice in Glencoe. Similar to our ‘I Love This Place’ campaign, Glencoe’s sweeping scenery was the perfect pairing for ‘The Journey’s’ epic action.

DAY 2

Nestled in the North East corner in the Firth of the Clyde, lies the small town of Hunterston, where we shot both the rain scene and the coffee van scene. Ironically, the main challenge of this scene was the unusually glorious weather! Amidst the clear, sunny skies, production organised equipment to mimic rainfall. The road on one side was bordered by the water and production equipment, with the forest and backdrop on the other side. The versatility of the location allowed for a stunning backdrop with the means for production to make it rain!

DAY 3

We filmed our flood scenes in the north of Glasgow at an open air pool, with the help of underwater prop rigging. These shots were later overlayed during post-production onto street scenes that we filmed the following day in Crieff.

Following the flood scenes, we moved to a downtown office that had been transformed by the art department into an architect’s office, to film our opening scene. The office location was chosen thanks to its versatility and timeless look - as if it could have been in any city.

DAY 4

On our penultimate shoot day we filmed the previously discussed street scenes in the idyllic market town Crieff, in Perth and Kinross. We then made the hour-long unit move to the centre of Glasgow to shoot our night scenes. These shots, filmed from mobile camera rigs, captured our main character leaving the city office and embarking on the long journey home.

DAY 5

The idyllic cottage scene - the emotional culmination of ‘The Journey’ - was filmed in a hidden valley on another glorious March day in Selkirk. Our unit base was located at a local farm, from where the crew travelled on track-friendly minibuses to the cottage.

Wrapping on a sunny high, our five day shoot took us all around Glasgow and the surrounding Scottish countryside. Filming underwater, from the air and on the road, MTP navigated multiple exciting and varied script demands, in a service production journey we’ll never forget.