Conservation Area Appraisals are important documents, but they don't tend to set pulses racing. Torbay Council wanted to change that. As part of their National Lottery Heritage Fund Heritage Place programme, they commissioned three short films to celebrate the character of Brixham Town, Old Paignton and Torquay Harbour, and to bring residents into the process of shaping the Conservation Area Management Plans being developed for each area.

The creative challenge was to make three distinct films that each felt true to their location, while sitting together as a unified series under the Torbay Heritage Place programme. Each community needed to see its own identity on screen, without any of the three feeling like a template of the others.

We approached each film on its own terms. Brixham's working harbour called for energy and movement, with soundscapes of boats and nets and interviews with the people who make the place tick. Old Paignton focused on architectural character and community resilience, building its story through shopfronts, historic streetscapes and personal reflections. Torquay Harbour contrasted sweeping drone footage of the bay with quieter, more reflective voices talking about the town's past and its future.

Across all three, a consistent documentary style tied the series together: natural light, a mix of handheld and static camera, drone aerials that put each place in the context of the wider bay, and close-up detail that kept the films visually rich throughout. All three were delivered fully subtitled with social media cuts alongside.