Home·Work·Cardboard Spaceship: Construction Library

Case study · Construction footage library

A production case study by Joey Arcisz, Producer and Director.

A couple of years after shooting construction clips for licensing on Filmsupply, I looked back at them and saw how much better they could be. I pitched a bigger, fully produced version to Cardboard Spaceship. They funded it, and I planned every setup in set.a.light 3D before a single light went up.

ProjectLicensable construction footage library

ClientCardboard Spaceship

RoleProducer · Director

Produced byGeared Like A Machine

Year2025

Previsset.a.light 3D, November and December 2024

ShootJanuary 2025

CamerasRED Komodo, Sony FX3

LicensingCardboard Spaceship on Filmsupply

The pitch

I had already shot several construction clips for licensing on Filmsupply in 2021. Looking at them again a couple of years later, I knew that with more effort behind it I could make a far better version: a real cast, a lit location, props and a plan for every frame. I pitched that version to Cardboard Spaceship and they funded it. I produced and directed it, hired everyone on the crew and in front of the camera, and ran the job from the pitch to delivery. Cardboard Spaceship owns the footage and its licensing rights, and the full library is available on their Filmsupply account.

The plan

I wrote the shot list as five sequences: a carpenter and a welder at work, a foreman over the blueprints, a drone sequence, group shots in the elevator and hallway, and a freestyle block for FPV flights. Then I built the floor in set.a.light 3D and lit every setup before call time, placing each light, the talent, the camera and the lens.

Setups board with four set.a.light 3D setups, each showing a render above its lighting plan, and a note about blue light from a welder — The setups board, November 2024. Each setup pairs its render with its lighting plan. The note at the top sets the night look: the blue light on the talent comes from a welder working nearby, throwing flashes of blue across the room.

The production

The location was an office floor stripped to bare concrete, so the space already read as a job in progress. I cast the talent, including a welder, and hired a gaffer and two production assistants. A custom blueprint was printed as a prop for the plans table. We shot on a RED Komodo and a Sony FX3, and for one setup the camera was fixed to a 2x4 that a worker carried through the room.

Location scout photo: a dark office floor stripped to bare concrete, with columns, a coffered ceiling and windows along one wall — The location on the scout: an office floor down to bare concrete.

Custom blueprint print: a white floor plan of offices on a blue background — The blueprint printed for the plans table.

Plan to final

Three setups from the board. Each one shows the lighting plan first, then a slider from the render to the delivered frame.

Elevator · Crew exit

set.a.light 3D lighting plan for the elevator setup, with the top-down floor plan, the camera view and a 3D overview — The plan: a dim ceiling light in the car, two small LED panels and a Titan tube, with the camera planned at 17mm and T2.8.

Delivered frame: a construction crew in hard hats and orange safety vests in an elevator car, one checking a tablet

set.a.light 3D render of three people standing in a dim elevator car, one holding a laptop

Drag to compare. The doorway frame, the crew stacked in the car and the cool, low-key light carry over from the render to the delivered shot.

Camera on a 2x4

set.a.light 3D lighting plan for the 2x4 setup, with the camera mounted on the end of the board, the camera view and a 3D overview — The plan: the camera on the end of the board at 12mm, a Titan tube lighting the worker, and a desk lamp on the plans table across the room.

Delivered frame from a camera fixed to a 2x4: a bearded worker in a hard hat and safety vest carries the board through a room with tall windows

set.a.light 3D render from a camera fixed to a 2x4: a bearded man in a cap carries the board through a room with tall windows

The camera rides on the board itself. The render set the wide lens, the low line along the lumber and the windowed room behind the worker.

Overhead · Plans table

Delivered overhead frame: crew in hard hats reviewing plans on a tablet over blueprints

set.a.light 3D overhead render of blueprints on a wood table with a laptop and hands on the plans

Same top-down angle on the plans, with hands working the sheet. On the day, a tablet took the place of the laptop.

What changed on the day

A real crew in hard hats and safety vests replaced the 3D stand-ins, and a tablet replaced the laptop on the plans table. The production frames are stills from the delivered edit. The previs renders are tone matched to the delivered grade so the comparison reads at a glance; the footage itself is untouched.

The footage

The library follows three coworkers through a mock commercial demo and remodel job site as they plan the work and carry it out. A few loops from the delivered footage:

Three crew members in hard hats and safety glasses look down at the plans table

Behind the scenes

Photos from the set, plus a full behind-the-scenes video my gaffer made on the shoot: a breakdown of lighting with hard and soft sources.

Wide behind-the-scenes view of the plans table: three actors in hard hats and vests wait at the table while the crew sets stands and diffusion — Setting the plans table, with diffusion up behind the cast.

Two crew members on headsets check a shot on a phone between setups — Checking a shot between setups.

Lighting breakdown by my gaffer on the shoot.

Why it matters

Stock footage sells on look. With every setup lit and framed in previs, the shoot went to light and performance instead of discussion. That planning is what turned a second pass at construction footage into a far more polished library.