Video production in Geneva
Corporate film, event coverage, motion graphics, immersion. All three are commissioned here, in one place and from one person — in Geneva since 2017.
Commissioning a film in Geneva raises a question no service catalog ever addresses: who answers for the result when something goes wrong the day before. The answer lies in how a team is organized, not in a list of equipment.
Bluevista has been producing since 2004 and opened its Geneva company in 2017. What opened here was not a shooting outpost but all three disciplines at once: a corporate film, coverage of an annual general meeting and a virtual showroom are commissioned in the same place, under the same budget, with one person from the first call to delivery.
Language comes up early, because it changes the shoot and not only the edit. A film approved in French that then has to be delivered in German, Italian and English reopens the edit once per version. Planned at the framing stage — room left for longer text, clean plates for overlays, a voice-over that can be re-recorded — the versions are delivered together.
Three subjects that would not let themselves be filmed, and what became of them.
The Geneva projects of recent years give the measure of the ground: a range of machine tools presented in 3D for GF Machining Solutions, a report shot in a testing laboratory for SGS where half the installations could not be shown, and five short advertising fictions for e-Xpert Solutions on a subject that offers no pictures at all — cybersecurity.
The equipment belongs to Bluevista: a live gallery, virtual reality headsets, drones with Swiss flight authorisations, 360° cameras, a mobile green screen studio. What that changes in the conversation: the proposal is not about what would have to be hired, but about what can be tried next week.
The green screen studio deserves a mention of its own, because it is mobile, and that is what counts here. The backdrop, the lighting, the camera and the autocue fit in one vehicle: the set goes up in your own offices one morning, your speakers record six to ten pieces to camera across the day, and nobody loses a day to travel.
For events, the constraint is of another kind: an annual general meeting cannot be run twice. Whatever will appear on screen is built weeks beforehand, the gallery is tested on site, and the live stream is prepared with the interpreting team when there is one — the interpreted sound then goes out on its own channel, which lets each viewer choose a language.
The scope goes beyond the canton by the second project. Video production in French-speaking Switzerland comes down to what travels: the green screen studio fits in one vehicle, the drones fly under Swiss authorizations, the live gallery leaves with the team. A day in Lausanne, elsewhere in the canton of Vaud or in Valais is therefore prepared like a day in Geneva, and its travel appears in the quote before anything is committed.
Event filming follows the same rule. A congress, an annual general meeting, an awards ceremony: the questions are the same from one end of French-speaking Switzerland to the other — how many cameras, what sound, who speaks and in which language — and they are settled at the location scout, not on the day. Filming, the live stream and the edit that follows stay with the same team: the project does not change hands between the shoot and delivery.
And a project does not end at delivery. The debrief says what worked, where viewers dropped off, and what changes next time. That loop is why most of Bluevista’s Geneva clients are on their third project, not their first.
A company established here
Bluevista Sàrl is registered in Geneva, on boulevard Georges-Favon. The person you deal with, your quote and your invoice are in the same place as your project.
All three disciplines, not one
Film, events and immersion are all run from Geneva. A projection mapping on the evening of a convention, the film that announces it and the app that carries it further fall under one budget.
Language versions planned at the shoot
A four-language country that exports commissions a set of versions, rarely a film on its own. They are prepared at the framing stage rather than after the edit.
From Geneva across French-speaking Switzerland
Shoots run across French-speaking Switzerland, with the same team and the same equipment. Travel is costed in the quote, never added afterwards.
Nine projects, nine constraints
Getting two films out of one shoot
Two days in the SGS Art Services laboratories in Geneva: the presentation film, and a making-of produced from the same footage.
SGS Art Services — the laboratoryFilming a film crew at work
A BBC documentary shot in the Geneva laboratory, followed with several cameras, on a gimbal and in time-lapse.
SGS — the making-ofCondensing a conference day into five minutes
The event recap video of e-Xpert Solutions’ annual conference: how the day unfolded and a few interviews, edited for social media.
e-Xpert Solutions — ECD 2023Explaining a technical concept without a single diagram
A series of short films shot with two actors, putting cybersecurity into real situations rather than demonstrations.
e-Xpert Solutions — Zero TrustCarrying a brand’s tone onto television
GHI, the Geneva weekly known for its irreverent tone, in a TV commercial.
GHI — the TV commercialHolding a trade show booth with a single film
A corporate film built from footage shot at the client’s site, illustrations and animation, for screening at industrial trade shows.
GF Machining Solutions — CorePicturing a service nobody sees
The customer service of a long-established maker of precision machining equipment, shown element by element.
GF Machining Solutions — Customer ServiceAnnouncing a machine before its launch
The camera travels across what looks like a landscape. The zoom-out reveals a miniature part, then the real size of the Form S 350.
GF — “We See Big”Placing a speaker in a set that does not exist
Shot on green screen with the mobile studio: an actor keyed into a futuristic set, for the Die Sinking range.
GF — DS FamilyHow much does a corporate film in Geneva cost?
The budget depends above all on the number of shooting days, the number of locations and how much animation is involved. The concept comes to you costed from the design stage, so you know what you are committing your budget to before you take it for approval.
Do you work outside Geneva?
Yes, across French-speaking Switzerland, and beyond when a project calls for it. The team travels with its own equipment and the green screen studio is mobile: it is the shape of the project that decides, not the distance.
Can you deliver the film in several languages?
Yes, and it is the question to ask before the shoot. Versions are prepared at the framing stage — room for longer text, clean plates for overlays, a voice that can be re-recorded — so they are delivered together rather than one at a time.
How long should we allow?
Allow eight to twelve weeks for a full corporate film, of which three to four go on writing and preparation. An event date is secured by working the calendar backwards from it, never forwards from today.