The Arts Bournemouth a Documentary style promotional video

Starting with the brief

The brief was  to produce a short promotional video between 5 and 10 minutes long for the promotion of the Evening and Saturday Short Courses offered by the Arts University Bournemouth.

After Effects Animation

The client requested the addition of inspirational titles, which initially were just going to be static titles cross dissolving from one to the next, but instead I decided to create a short sequence in Adobe After Effects as I knew from experience it was something I could easily put together. Also it would look much more impressive as an intro rather than the alternative of a static title. Of course it is much more labour intensive and would take a few hours to design and create but I and most importantly the client thought the effort was worth it.

Promotional Video – full version

The production of the promotional video itself took place over several evenings and a Saturday morning, as we wanted to film the actual classes and interview tutors while they were actively engaged with their students. The film has a documentary feel to it, a mixture of interviews and observation (B-roll), which seems to work well. For the final version I worked with the client to decide what was important to include in the film and what additional pick up shots would be needed to promote the key features of the course and benefits of studying at the AUB, after editing the final film was just short of nine minutes long. This version is intended to be shown at events and in lectures to prospective students in lecture theatres. A short sub 60 second version was edited for upload to the internet for use on the short courses website and in online promotion.

The short version of the promotional video

While using some of the same footage, I have edited it to run at a much faster pace than the full version video and with a music only soundtrack. The short After Effects animation again appearing at the start and end of the short film showing the inspirational messaging and the inclusion of the final sequence, a call to action – contact the short course department.

Cameras and some of the kit used in the creation of the promotional video

The actual production took place over a few weeks on an evening and on the odd day basis, In all I estimate 3 days in filming. The cameras used varied depending on what was available and with the introduction of new kit.

My old but great Canon 60D was used at the outset for most of the filming in conjunction with a Canon 650D for both the interviewing and B-roll. The opening sequence was filmed on my iPhone 6 using the DJI Osmo, while only a short sequence of this footage was used in the final version of the promotional video, there are several minutes shot in several locations that did not make it to the final cut.

Canon C300 MK1Finally I shot some of the interview and campus footage using my Canon C300 with the trusty 24mm to 105mm F4 L and a newly acquired Tokina 12mm to 28mm F2.8

Sound came from a mixture of shotgun microphone recording directly to camera (Stereo) and shotgun recording to a Zoom H4N (Mono). The interviews were recorded to the external recorder with the microphone attached to a microphone stand positioned as close to the subject as possible in fact just out of shot. The stereo microphone was used to record general ambience as I wanted the sounds of the students rather than just a music track.

The Team.

This is going to be a very short list, I Directed, Filmed, Edited and Produced with 2nd camera and sound by BU student Will Pattenden.

Check out the courses

AUB Short Courses