From the Roberts London archive: Vlogmas day 24, originally published on 24 December 2015.
Christmas Eve in London 2015 called for a little reflection. After weeks of daily Vlogmas films, I brought some of those moments together in a festive montage, with the city itself providing the backdrop.
This episode plays with familiar London scenes. Piccadilly Circus, cinema frontages and Regent Street become frames for clips from the month. The footage is composited into the displays in the edit: a playful way of looking back at Vlogmas, rather than a record of the films being broadcast on those real screens.
Christmas Eve at Piccadilly Circus
The opening puts a Christmas Eve title among the bright Piccadilly Circus billboards. Traffic moves through the foreground while the displays light up the street above the shops. Then I appear in a Santa hat beside the Christmas tree, tucked into the billboard scene.
There is something enjoyable about placing a small, personal Christmas film inside such a recognisable London view. The lights, passing vehicles and people remain part of the picture. The Vlogmas footage becomes another layer within it.
A festive montage on London’s screens
The edit moves on to an Odeon frontage, where the screen above the entrance becomes a frame for more of the film. People cross the pavement beneath it as the images change overhead.
These scenes give the retrospective a different rhythm from a straightforward sequence of clips. Sometimes the eye follows the street; sometimes it follows the film within the film. A Christmas tree at home and a busy London evening can occupy the same shot.
Regent Street lights and red buses
Regent Street brings another familiar Christmas view: illuminated decorations stretched across the road, pale building fronts and red double-decker buses passing below. The montage carries on within the overhead display as the street keeps moving.
Looking back now, those night scenes are part of the attraction. They preserve a glimpse of London in December 2015, alongside the smaller moments recorded throughout the month. This is a Christmas archive film, with the decorations and displays of that particular year.
Looking back over Vlogmas
Later sequences return to the cinema-screen idea. Festive London views and a glimpse of the Borough Market sign appear within the edit, gathering earlier outings into one final Christmas Eve reflection.
In the original description, I said that the best was still to come and that Christmas Eve seemed the right moment to reminisce about the preceding weeks of daily vlogging. That remains the spirit of this episode: a pause to enjoy what had already happened before Christmas Day arrived.
The film closes with a Merry Christmas greeting, its letters filled with moving images. For the next instalment, revisit Christmas with Boris and the handmade gifts.
Watch Christmas Eve in London 2015
Watch the original Vlogmas day 24 film on YouTube. Published on 24 December 2015.
