I worked with Mastcom again to produce a brand anthem video for Mankato State University — MSU is located in Southern Minnesota and is home to some 15,000 students and 750 full-time faculty throughout the school year. It is the second largest public university in the state of Minnesota and was established in 1868.
Mankato State University set out to create a brand anthem video to get viewers pumped up about their brand, their students and their campus. They presented Mastcom a target budget and an interesting set of challenges accompanied with a hard deadline to get the project finished before a huge MSU donor party.
The array of shots requested to complete this brand anthem were unique and nothing short of challenging, and only two full shoot days to capture it all. Shooting on site at MSU during the school week, with the caveat of our crew not disrupting the day-to-day student life, added an extra level of hurdles to overcome.
Mastcom Creative Direction, Matt Genesis, and myself coordinated with Mankato State University’s onsite contact to put together a precise, full schedule for both shoot days. With so much to capture in so little time, we made sure to be as efficient as possible with each location and planning ahead each new move. MSU allowed our crew to borrow a small golf cart so we could jet from one location to the next without wasting too much time lugging gear across campus.
I assembled a smalle, nimble crew of production rock stars to get around quick while also making the most out of each scene. Our crew set up camera and gear to give a high end look to each location while being mindful of our compressed daily timeline and having little to no impact on daily MSU student life. Our on site contact facilitated 50+ student extras to spotlight in various spots around campus. We filmed in classrooms, research labs, the auditorium, the Multi-Cultural Center, the hockey rink, football field and basketball court and captured a catalog of aerial shots with a 4K drone.
After the massive hurdle of production was surpassed, the Mastcom post production team had little time to finish the final edit of the video to get it ready for the big Mankato State University event. Mankato State University and all its representatives were ecstatic with the final product — the video was played at the conference in front of a large audience and received rave reviews.
