Paul meets Szymon
direction:Michał Bernardyn
script:Paulina Jóśków, Paul King, Szymon Kłopocki
cinematography:Michał Bernardyn
music:Kevin MacLeod
sound:Przemysław Żygadło
editing:Michał Bernardyn
prompter:Zuzanna Mielczarek
executive producer:soul seed media
producer:Instytut 21 sp. z o. o.
for:Okręgowa Rada Adwokacka
CASE STUDY
Paul meets Szymon — legal English taught through everyday situations
“Paul meets Szymon – Legal English” is a 20-episode educational series created for people working in or studying law. Instead of a conventional lecture, we developed a minimalist format built around a conversation between two characters: Paul — a native English speaker — and Szymon, a Polish legal adviser.
The challenge
The project needed to combine two areas: practical specialist English and knowledge of Polish law.
At the same time, the material was not intended to resemble a traditional lesson or a conventional presenter-led course. The vocabulary and language structures had to appear in a natural context — during a conversation about a specific everyday legal problem.
Our approach
Each episode was built around a simple dramatic situation. Paul comes to Szymon with a problem that a foreigner living in Poland might encounter, and the conversation with the legal adviser guides the viewer through the related issues.
This means that specialist vocabulary is not presented as an isolated list of terms. The viewer first hears particular words and phrases in a natural conversation, and only afterwards receives a structured summary of them.
FORMAT
Story first, vocabulary afterwards
Dramatised scene
The first part of each episode is a conversation between Paul and Szymon. Paul appears as an English-speaking client who needs help solving a legal problem in Poland.
The minimalist format keeps the viewer's attention on the dialogue, situation and language instead of distracting them with unnecessary staging.
Key phrases EN / PL
After the dramatised scene, the episode moves into its educational section, which collects the most important legal words and phrases used earlier in the conversation.
Presenting the English and Polish equivalents allows the viewer to return to the key terminology and reinforce it after first seeing how it functions in a specific context.
PRODUCTION
Three cameras for a natural conversation
Minimalist staging
The format was deliberately reduced to a conversation between two characters. The priorities were natural dialogue, clarity of speech and the ability to observe each character's reactions.
Instead of building an elaborate storyline, we used the simple situation of a client meeting a legal adviser as the consistent format for the entire series.
Three-camera production
The conversation was recorded simultaneously with three cameras. This preserved the natural flow of the scene and allowed us to move freely in the edit between the two characters and a wider view of the conversation.
This way of working was particularly important when producing an entire series: it made successive episodes efficient to shoot while maintaining a consistent visual language.
Scope of work
- direction
- development of the series format and visual language
- production of dramatised scenes
- three-camera filming
- sound recording
- prompter-assisted production
- editing
- development of the EN / PL key phrase sections
- educational video production
- film production and post-production
SERIES
A pilot for a 20-episode format
A repeatable structure
The film presented here is the pilot for a 20-episode series. The consistent structure made it possible to introduce a new legal problem in each episode without changing the fundamental format.
From the beginning, the viewer knows what to expect: first a specific situation and conversation, followed by a structured summary of the most important vocabulary.
Learning through context
The central idea was to connect language learning with a situation in which the vocabulary could genuinely be used.
As a result, the dramatised section is not simply an addition to the course — it becomes an educational tool in its own right, preparing the viewer for the later consolidation of key terms.
CLIENT REVIEW
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Michal directed and masterminded the production of an educational series for our company. He earned my utmost respect as a person and as a professional through his integrity, dedication to quality, punctuality, experience and expertise.
As a director Michal provided valuable insights that significantly increased the value of the whole teams work.
As a producer Michal was able to meet very tight deadlines while at the same time never compromising quality and paying much attention to details. This proved to be very beneficial not only during the recording and production phases but also every time we came back to using the materials Michal produced. I wholeheartedly recommend Michal Bernardyn as a director and producer.