Click here to watch the 2019 #CCU Holiday Video
Every year around this time, I like to recognize the work of our University Marketing and Communication team on a certain project. Although we are tasked with high level initiatives such as creating major marketing plans and communicating to the campus community during times of crisis, there is a certain light-hearted undertaking that we embrace on an annual basis.
Actually, wait. Strike what I just said.
“Light-hearted” isn’t the right phrase because our audience takes this project very seriously. How can’t they? The holidays are a special time and if you are going to do something that coincides with this magical season, you better do it right. For another year in a row, I think we did just that.
We debuted our 2019 #CCU Holiday Video today. After going back-and-forth in past years with videos that were either funny or sentimental, we went in a different direction this year. With our university president set to retire in the near future, we made something that recognizes his many achievements at CCU in a holiday-themed way.
But why do I keep saying “we”? Full disclosure my friends, I had nothing to do with this masterpiece. Once again, it was Geoff Insch and Lindsi Glass who developed the concept of this latest edition. They modeled the 3D flashback theme of a Rolex video that told the story of the company’s founder, Hans Wilsdorf. When they first showed me the inspiration, I thought how are they going to pull this off? But, just like every other year, they did.
The video’s success depended on President DeCenzo’s buy-in (check!), Geoff’s editing skills (never a doubt) and our photography team’s talent and dedication (they are awesome). With the President’s top moments documented and his voiceover complete, the weeks of constant editing work commenced. Judy Johns, our director of photography, worked tirelessly along with our other photographers, Scott Dean and Tad Robinson, to pull images that corresponded to President DeCenzo’s memories. From there, the trio used Photoshop to painstakingly cut out numerous people and objects. They then had to recreate whatever was supposed to behind the people and objects, many times stealing objects or people from other photos to transplant into the original one!
Judy’s team then passed their work to Geoff. From there, he worked his magic, and by “magic” I mean he spent about 80 total hours piecing the video together. Geoff took the different layers, backgrounds, and elements from the photographers and brought them into his computer. He stacked the content into multiple layers in reference to a digital camera in a 3D space. From there he could move the digital camera through the 3D scene. When the camera passed elements it would reveal other objects behind them and with all the layers moving in relation to one another it achieved the 3D effect that separates this holiday video from the hundreds of others released by universities across the country. When he was finished, there was no denying that the hard work was worth it.
Take a moment to watch the video for yourself. In an industry that is sometimes labeled as “behind the times,” I think it is pretty cool that our team took a concept from a company on Forbes Most Valuable Brands List and put our own spin on it, all the while executing the 3D component perfectly.
Fabulous job to Geoff, Lindsi, Judy, Scott, Tad, and everyone else in our department who helped make this outstanding video. Happy holidays from Coastal Carolina University! Don’t Blink.
2018 #CCU Holiday Video Review
2017 #CCU Holiday Video Review
2016 #CCU Holiday Video Review