THE BIG DRAW AT NORWICH CASTLE

The Big Draw at Norwich Castle invited people of all ages to spend a day looking closely at their city and putting pencil to paper.

LSI Architects and Norwich University of the Arts set a simple brief for event participants. Each person sketched a small portion of the skyline from the castle mound, and the drawings were assembled into a 360‑degree panorama suspended in the Keep. The film needed to capture that collective energy while staying light on its feet.

Production

A compact setup kept things moving. I paired a Panasonic GH4 with a DJI Ronin‑M gimbal to float through crowds and pick up moments without interrupting the flow. TTwo primes—a wide 16mm and a 50mm—covered the range from sweeping context to hands‑on paper. Shots shifted quickly between outside vistas and the installation inside the Keep. A Rode on‑camera mic gathered clean ambient sound. It captured graphite on paper, brief exchanges, and the low hubbub that signals a room at work.

The shot list followed the event’s rhythm. Early frames establish place and purpose. Mid‑sequence shots focus on people concentrating and observing their surroundings. The finale belongs to the panorama itself as sections come together overhead.

In the edit, I aimed for clarity and momentum. Music from PremiumBeat set an easy tempo, and cuts landed on actions, so the piece felt made from the day rather than laid over it.

The result

The result is a concise record that communicates the spirit of the event without narration. It shows how drawing can create a quick community in a public space and gives organisers a clean asset for future outreach and sponsorship.