Context
- Solo director pitching for short films and commercials.
- Needed hero video to run clean on desktop and phone.
- Portfolio had to feel premium without hiding credits.
Problem
- Theme demo left placeholder styling and clashing fonts.
- Hero video stuttered and buried the play action.
- Case list was flat; no way to feature key reels.
What we did
- Built an autoplay hero with controlled playback cues and safe fallbacks.
- Cut the layout to simple grids and bold type tuned for motion stills.
- Compressed reel previews and lazy-loaded blocks to stop stutter.
- Set reusable portfolio cards so the owner can add shoots fast.
Result
- Hero plays clean without fighting the rest of the page.
- Portfolio reads like a reel sheet with room for new work.
- Professional tone matched bids for bigger contracts.
Before / After / Impact
- Before: Demo theme with jittery hero and mismatched fonts.
- After: Custom WordPress layout with autoplay reel, bold type, and modular cases.
- Impact: Buyers see a sharp reel fast, improving trust in the director’s pitch.
Nerd notes
- Autoplay hero muted with manual controls for browsers that block sound.
- Lazy loading on reel thumbnails to keep first paint fast.
- Custom type scale locked to viewport to avoid jumps between breakpoints.
- Reusable portfolio cards with consistent aspect ratios to prevent layout shift.
Status
Live and positioned for bigger contracts.