Museums Sheffield
Entertainment
Event Studios
2018
In 2019, Sheffield Museums curated a unique public spectacle - a full-scale circus performance in the heart of the city. The goal was to bring families, art-lovers, and community members together for an unforgettable experience. But they didn’t want to stop there. Sheffield Museums wanted to reach beyond the crowd physically present on the day and share the joy with audiences watching remotely.
To help them do that, they turned to Stream7. Known for their expertise in live streaming and content creation, Stream7 was brought on board to film, broadcast, and produce on-demand content for the event. The project not only made the circus more accessible to those unable to attend in person, but also provided Sheffield Museums with long-lasting digital content that could be used across platforms and preserved in archives.
At its heart, this wasn’t just a performance – it was part of Sheffield Museums’s ongoing mission to make art and culture open and inclusive. The event was free to attend and designed to engage audiences of all ages. But physical attendance has its limitations, especially for families with young children, people with mobility restrictions, or anyone living outside the city.
Sheffield Museums were looking for a live streaming partner who could capture the spectacle of the circus while preserving its energy, intimacy and visual magic. Stream7’s role was to handle the entire broadcast process – from filming and live event coverage to post-production and content editing. The final output needed to be polished, versatile and suitable for future use across social media, education, and internal promotion.
Planning for a live stream of an outdoor, movement-heavy, performance-based event like a circus presents several challenges. The Stream7 team began by visiting the site to assess the layout, power availability, natural lighting, and sightlines.
The chosen location – in the heart of Sheffield’s city centre – was visually striking but came with technical challenges. Camera placements had to be discreet to avoid obstructing the live audience while still capturing the best angles of the performance. Weather, connectivity, and acoustics also needed to be considered.
Based on this assessment, Stream7 designed a multi-camera filming plan, combined with a mobile broadcast solution capable of switching live between feeds and handling real-time encoding for social media streaming.
To truly capture the circus in all its colour and motion, Stream7 used multiple professional video cameras, including both fixed-position and handheld units. Each camera served a different storytelling purpose: one to follow the performers, one to capture audience reactions, and another to get wide establishing shots that showed the scale of the event.
The filming team worked closely with the event director to understand the structure and key moments of the show, ensuring that high-energy sequences and performer highlights were captured in real time. Audio was taken both from the PA system and through directional microphones positioned around the stage, ensuring clear sound quality for both live and recorded content.
All feeds were monitored and mixed live by a vision director operating from a nearby mobile production unit, enabling real-time switching and branded overlays.
The event was streamed live to Sheffield Museums’s Facebook page and embedded on their website, allowing people from across the region (and further afield) to tune in.
Real-time monitoring meant that the team could respond instantly to any unexpected changes – whether that was adjusting to a change in lighting conditions as the sun set, or switching camera angles to follow an unscheduled part of the performance.
The stream ran smoothly from start to finish and was watched by hundreds of people live – with many more engaging through likes, comments, and shares. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with viewers thanking the organisers for making the event accessible online.
After the event, Stream7 edited the full-length show into a high-quality video that could be shared and revisited by those who missed the live stream. The footage was also used to produce a shorter highlights video, ideal for social media and marketing purposes.
The team carefully selected standout moments – daring acrobatics, audience laughter, and emotive music – and cut them into a fast-paced, accessible reel that captured the essence of the experience in under three minutes.
In addition, behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with performers and organisers were edited into supplementary videos to add depth and context. These helped show the planning and passion behind the performance and allowed the content to be used in educational workshops and funding bids.
Live streaming this event significantly expanded its reach. Not only did it bring joy to families who couldn’t attend, but it also demonstrated Sheffield Museums’s commitment to inclusivity. For many arts and culture organisations, streaming is no longer just a nice extra – it’s a vital way to meet accessibility goals and connect with wider audiences.
People living with disabilities, parents with small children, older adults, and those living remotely were all able to enjoy the show from the comfort of their homes. By recording and creating on-demand content from the broadcast, Sheffield Museums were also able to make the event part of their long-term cultural programming.
The production involved:
Multi-camera coverage, using HD cameras with remote vision mixing
Branded overlays including the Sheffield Museums logo and event titles
Directional microphones and feed integration with the PA system
Social media streaming to Facebook Live with real-time audience interaction
Live encoding via bonded internet connection for stability
Post-production editing and mastering for on-demand content
Exporting clips in multiple formats for different platforms
This complete end-to-end workflow is a hallmark of Stream7’s content creation process – bringing together filming, editing, and digital delivery to give clients maximum value from their events.
One of the biggest benefits of a project like this is its ability to live on long after the event is over. While the circus may have packed up and moved on, the video content created by Stream7 continues to be used for:
Promoting future events
Showing funders and partners the reach of cultural programmes
Supporting educational and outreach initiatives
Building brand visibility for Sheffield Museums and their collaborators
With high-quality video, the circus didn’t just take place in Sheffield – it became part of the city’s digital culture footprint.
This project was more than just a technical job. It was a collaboration between creatives, performers, cultural leaders and video professionals, united in a shared goal: to bring people together through a shared experience, no matter where they were.
Stream7’s ability to handle every stage of the process – from filming and live broadcasting to post-event editing and content creation – meant that Sheffield Museums could focus on delivering an incredible show, confident that every moment would be captured and shared in the best possible way.
Whether you’re an arts organisation, a museum, a charity or a festival organiser, Stream7 offers everything you need to deliver professional, engaging live streaming and content creation.
We can help with:
Live streaming to multiple platforms
Event broadcasting for outdoor or indoor events
Multi-camera filming and editing
On-demand content creation
Social media clips and highlight reels
Branded motion graphics and overlays
We operate across the globe and work with clients of all sizes to bring their events to life online. Talk to us about your next event.
