Windfall Films for BBC

Editors: Dominic Lester & Richard Lester (no they’re not brothers)

Get your fancy dress ready, yes it’s here, watched by over 160 million across the globe- it’s the Eurovision!

Digital postcards have been designed to introduce the audience to each participating act during the semi-finale and finale of the contest, the famous Eurovision Postcards will this year use pioneering drone technology and 360-degree cameras to take viewers seamlessly between locations across Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and each participating country.

Dom Lester has been working tirelessly with Windfall since February to edit these iconic postcards and has thoroughly enjoyed himself! He comments: Windfall did an amazing job on a hotly anticipated event with a huge amount of expectation.  It was so busy that at times it felt like I was working in a news room – hearing the crews coming and going, discussing the different locations and challenges they each would bring. 

This project was given the green light in December 2022 and had to be delivered by March 2023. The concept required filming in 111 locations, from Iceland to Australia, and of course filming in a war zone in Ukraine, and all requiring specialist crews.

Each postcard had 4 external 360 footage graphic elements plus text elements generated in unison with other partners involved in creating the show. It was amazing to be apart of such a great team on such an amazing project.

Obviously Satu was very worried about which editor was in charge of Finland, but it was in the safe hands of Rich Lester. He reports: It was great to discover and work with so many beautiful locations, artists and themes, with a wonderful team. I feel the tiny worlds and flip transitions add a unique dimension to the postcards and help unite the Ukraine, UK and host countries together in an interesting way. The talent were all taking part in different activities, which was also fun to craft into short stories.

The Semi-Finals have been on all week and the final is on this Saturday, Satu will be wearing her traditional Finnish costume for the big event – The Finns have not disappointed with their entry for this year…