Creamfields Beijing 2018: Festival Aftermovie
Use this as a referenceThe Brief: Electronic Music against a Historic Landscape
The Beijing edition of the UK-born Creamfields festival brought electronic music to a setting beside the Great Wall. Darkroom Studio was commissioned to create an aftermovie that would record the festival’s energy while exploring the contrast between contemporary electronic music and the historic landscape.
The Approach: Rhythm and Scale
The coverage brings together the scale of the setting and the detail of individual experiences:
An Aerial Opening: Drone footage travels across the Great Wall and surrounding mountains in early light. The expansive opening establishes the landscape before the film moves into the intensity of the music festival.
Artists and Audience: Stage-side filming captures performances by Alan Walker, while close-ups of the crowd — flags waving, excited faces and emotional reactions — show the audience’s connection with the music.
High-Energy Editing: The pace builds around the EDM soundtrack and its drops. Changes between lighting, pyrotechnics and laser effects bring the movement of the live event into the edit.
The Finished Film: A Record of Creamfields Beijing
The aftermovie combines the festival’s performances, audience and location into a visual record of the Beijing event. The historic setting gives this edition a distinct identity within the wider Creamfields story.
About the Creamfields Beijing 2018 Aftermovie
Location: Beijing, China (The Great Wall)
Year: 2018
Q&A
How does the film connect the Great Wall setting with electronic music?+
The Great Wall setting creates an immediate contrast with an international electronic music festival. Darkroom Studio opens with drone footage that places the historic wall alongside the modern stage. This visual contrast establishes the location’s character and gives the festival film a sense of scale before moving into the performance footage.
How is an EDM aftermovie edited around the music?+
The edit depends on audio-visual synchronisation. During the build-up, slow motion allows anticipation to grow; at the drop, faster cuts and strobe-like visual effects change the energy. This music-driven structure connects the pace of the images with the rhythm of the DJ set.
How can an aftermovie extend an event’s life beyond the festival?+
An aftermovie can be both a record of an event and material for future promotion. The film collects moments of shared excitement — confetti, pyrotechnics and fans dancing in the rain — to convey what it felt like to be there. These scenes can create a sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) for viewers who missed the event and introduce the experience to potential future audiences.
- Client
- Live Nation Electronic Asia / Creamfields
- Project
- Creamfields Beijing 2018 Aftermovie
- Services
- Festival videography, event highlights and aerial cinematography
- Date
- 2018-07-09
