Newsletter #11 - Quick Starts, CGI Stunts, and Hedge Knights

This newsletter covers recent aged care video production for Anglicare, large-scale CGI and animation projects for national brands, and purpose-driven brand storytelling produced by Sydney-based Machine Studio.

Damo here, let’s get to it.

Machine Studio hit the ground running this year with a multi-day shoot for our friends at Anglicare, capturing video content across two of their newest communities: Woolooware Shores and Oran Park.

Anglicare needed warm, confident, sales-supporting video content that showcased their newly furnished display suites while helping prospective residents and their families visualise what life could look like in these spaces. More than just beautiful buildings, the focus was on lifestyle, community, and care.

Across both locations, we filmed a mix of guided walk-throughs, lifestyle moments, and sit-down interviews with residents who were already well and truly settled in. From casual chats over coffee, to morning walks, gym sessions, creative workshops, and quiet moments by the pool, the goal was to reflect the rhythm of everyday life within the village.

​​Across two packed shoot days at two huge locations, Hugh and Rory shot and produced a dense, ambitious shot list covering interiors, exteriors, interviews, lifestyle moments, and aerials. Rory handled the interior gimbal work, navigating tight kitchens, hallways, and bathrooms with smooth push-throughs that make the spaces feel open and inviting. It’s one of those skills that looks simple when done well, but takes real patience, precision, and footwork (likely sharpened during his mid-week futsal sessions).

A new addition to the kit also got a proper workout: our Mavic Pro drone. Hugh captured aerials of both communities that genuinely stopped us in our tracks during review. At one point, the footage looked so clean and precise it could’ve passed for a 3D render.

Back at HQ, the pace didn’t slow. With over 50 deliverables across both locations, the turnaround was tight with one week per site. Each video carried its own messaging and call to action, which meant careful copy checks, and constant communication with the client. Projects at this scale rely heavily on process, and Anglicare’s clear briefs, timelines, and ongoing collaboration made all the difference.

Espolon and Hoka

While cameras were rolling on-site, I’ve been buried deep in the world of AI-assisted visual effects and compositing. If you caught last month’s newsletter, Hugh mentioned some high-pressure fan noises erupting from my computer. That was courtesy of back-to-back social briefs for Espolòn and HOKA, created in collaboration with our friends at Fortem.

For these projects, AI is part of the toolkit rather than the whole story. We use tools like Flora to generate base imagery and explore visual directions quickly, before bringing everything into Photoshop for retouching and After Effects for compositing, animation, and final polish. The end result is grounded, intentional, and built for real-world environments.

Fortem bring us in not just for execution, but for concept development as well. These jobs still start the same way for me: pencil and paper. Sketching ideas by hand is the fastest way to explore compositions freely, especially when keeping vertical phone framing front of mind.

The Espolòn brief centred around their official partnership with Laneway Festival, announcing a VIP ticket giveaway. The idea was to bring Espolòn’s iconic calavera character to life on the Laneway stage.

From concept to delivery, the turnaround was just over a week. In that time, we developed the character, animated the trumpet-playing skeleton, composited him into the Laneway stage environment, updated the stage branding for 2026, edited and separated existing footage, rebuilt foreground crowds, and introduced a towering Espolòn can dripping with condensation.

The final piece is a layered composite built from multiple elements, stitched together to feel like a single cohesive moment. Fast, fun, and unapologetically bold.

Espolon storyboard to AI video production

Shortly after, it was time to shift gears and promote HOKA’s free shipping announcement.

The idea needed to land instantly. After sketching concepts involving luggage conveyors and airplane loading bays, the solution that stuck was deceptively simple: shipping containers made from HOKA shoeboxes.

They’re modular, instantly recognisable, and they put the product front and centre from the first frame. Less complex than a trumpet-playing skeleton, but still required careful design, lighting, animation, and compositing to make it feel grounded and believable. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones that hit hardest.

Hoka - storyboard to AI 3D concept - Damien Boneham

Bandu

You might’ve noticed we wear a few different hats at Machine, and Sam was balancing a fair few for his recent work with Bandu Organisation.

Bandu offers complete, culturally grounded solutions for Indigenous employment and corporate Reconciliation. Their work spans recruitment, training, and long-term support, staying connected to ensure success for both participants and partners.

Bandu came to us needing a refreshed website video alongside new content for their digital channels. Sam handled the full production process end-to-end: pre-production, location scouting, shaping the story beats, and shooting on location. Rory stepped in during post-production, pulling everything together into a clean, confident edits that reflect Bandu’s purpose-driven work without overstatement.

Bandu - Purpose driven video production by Machine Studio

Animator Spotlight: Hajime Kutsuwada

I wanted to take a moment to shout out an animator whose work I’ve been returning to a lot lately: Hajime Kutsuwada.

Hajime creates experimental motion graphics that blend organic forms with glitchy user interface overlays, resulting in reactive, living systems that feel halfway between organism and machine. His work feels hypnotic in its pacing and strangely relevant.

There’s a sense that the digital has crept into the subconscious, existing symbiotically with something biological. At the same time, there’s tension, like the balance could tip at any moment and the system might collapse. I didn’t expect to write that sentence, but it genuinely captures how his work makes me feel. Highly recommend giving him a follow.

What I’m Watching: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

To cap off what’s already been a strong start to the year, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has arrived and I’ve been loving it so far. Here’s the top 5 things I’m loving from episodes 1 and 2.

1. The tone

This isn’t Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. It’s warmer, lighter, and more grounded. Less scheming nobles, more everyday people. When Dunk rides toward the tourney at sunrise with his three horses in tow, it genuinely reminded me of Gandalf rolling into the Shire for the first time. Sam described the show as a “warm blanket,” which feels spot on.

2. Dunk

The entire story rests on his shoulders, and he carries it beautifully. Honest, kind, brave — and maybe a bit too trusting. His naivety adds tension as he navigates the world as a newly minted hedge knight.

3. The horses

I was stressed the entire time. Fully expecting something terrible to happen. For now, they seem safe — which probably means I should be worried.

4. The Houses

Hearing familiar names like Baratheon, Tyrell, Dondarrion, Tarly, and Darklyn never gets old. Seeing earlier, very different versions of these houses adds real texture to the world.

5. The joust

No notes. I was completely immersed.

Sir Duncan The Tal rides off with his three horses in tow.