Throughout 2017, Hull City of Culture’s ground-breaking community engagement project Land of Green Ginger transformed communities across the city into places of wonder, delight, magic and possibility.

In a unique commission, Octovision Media was there to film it, not only taking in the sights, sounds and celebrations of this key part of Hull’s culturally transformative year to capture footage but also to do a tricky, night-time spectator head count.

Using the company’s Inspire 2 drone to provide 4k raw footage, Octovision Media filmed the final parade in December, capturing this closing part of a series of Acts of Wanton Wonder.

Hull’s residents had been invited to delve into the story, which began in April when it was reported in local media that a huge cache of crates stamped with the words ‘To Hull: From Land of Green Ginger’ had been discovered in a vault underneath the city.

The final night was one of massed crowds, fireworks, giant puppets, acrobats and thousands upon thousands of local people there to see the show.

“This is the kind of project that is one of our specialities,” said Chris Fenton, Octovision Media’s managing director and chief drone pilot.

The footage and spectator count was done in conjunction with Hull City of Culture’s programming team which required two production areas to be cordoned off to ensure that everything was safe for the drones to fly.

“It wasn’t a straightforward job by any stretch,” added Chris, “as we had to over-expose the footage while filming at night to try and make the spectator count as accurate as possible. With a lot of the street-lights turned off for the parade, this wasn’t easy.”

At the same time, the company was also tasked with providing all the drone footage for the film, including the piece de resistance – the firework finale.

“2017 was such a successful year for this Hull, and being our home made it all the more special to be involved,” said Chris.