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Video General Information Features
General Observations
This was a difficult category to judge - being "general", it did not have clearly defined parameters and attracted a wide variety of entries. The entries had very different objectives, some of which would have been more appropriate in the Recruitment or Fundraising categories. In addition, the varying budgets, resources, lengths, audiences, and intended venues of the entries presented a challenge when judging them both on their own merits and as a group.
Regardless, this large category delivered several quality entries and even a few surprises. Some of the entries that were best received by the judging panel focused on an interesting event or development, and used it to showcase their institutions and exemplify their missions. Other successful entries relied heavily on style and concept to engage the viewer and stayed consistent to that throughout.
Comments on Winning Entries
Gold Medal
Dartmouth College - "Printmaking: Ink Across Time"
- The Dartmouth entry does an excellent job of making a rather specialist subject accessible and interesting. The panel was intrigued throughout the 21-minute video and unanimously declared it the best in the category. The video's structure is clear and compelling - each thought logically builds on the next, creating a story that, while somewhat obscure in nature, was easy to enjoy. The interviews provide a point of entry for the viewer and help bring the subject to life. The spontaneous, documentary style is unobtrusive and provides a sense of anticipation and discovery that is very apt for the piece. Subtle music nicely complements the video's tone and keeps the piece moving. The video is very appropriate as an educational piece and for a museum exhibition, but with its understated approach may require a captive audience to be most effective.
Silver Medals
Syracuse University- "From Hollywood to Syracuse: The Legacy of Ernie Davis"
- Syracuse was presented with an opportunity to promote the university through a major motion picture filmed on campus, and did so in a way that is both tasteful and effective. The video does an admirable job of capturing and combining interviews with of a wide-range of people from the university and the movie against the backdrop of the movie's premiere on the Syracuse campus. It is an engaging video that tells the story of the university, both past and present, and the production team made a major impact in showcasing the university to a wider audience by producing a piece that was chosen to be included in the DVD extras.
University of Central Florida - "A Medical School for the 21st Century"
- Very high production values made the University of Central Florida entry stand out. The video uses camera movement and an orchestral score to create a dramatic, even epic tone that delivers a powerful message about the impact of a new medical school - though this heavy style could backfire with viewers who perceive it as overblown. There was also some concern that opening sequence with construction workers was not a good use of time, as it gave little if any context of the story and message to come.
Bronze Medal
Walsh College - "Introduction Video, Walsh College: Live. Breathe. Business."
- There is a clear and compelling concept behind the Walsh College entry that fits well with the goals of the business school and effectively introduces a new ad campaign. The video is well shot, with good art direction and a face-paced, slick style that gets the message across quickly and effectively to its target audience. However, it is the target audience that kept this video from doing better in the category - it is clearly a recruitment video and would have been better suited for that category.