about
The University of Virginia’s College at Wise
Working with higher education institutions is a thrill for us. Many of us are still extremely proud of the alma maters we come from, and if you know us personally, you probably know that we all still love to learn. In addition to that, the demographic of college students are highly receptive to visual storytelling, but also present a challenge in the form of capturing attention.
Universities have provided some of the most exciting and ambitious opportunities for storytelling in Big Slate Media’s history. The University of Virginia’s College at Wise was no exception to that. As a small, liberal arts college in Clinch River Valley, they were looking to highlight a feature that sets them apart from the crowd – their Wise Works Internship Program and the brand-new co-working space, Oxbow Center, that supports it.
the project
The Wise Works Program is a stellar opportunity for students in undergrad at UVA Wise. The program’s management team has fostered relationships with companies all over Virginia to provide valuable, real world experiences for their students, and the Oxbow Center supports those companies by providing a remote office space for their interns at UVA Wise.
They approached us with the hopes of creating a video that would draw students to participate in the program and inspire new companies to partner with them. The creative process lead us to a single video solution that would connect the dots between a student’s experience and an employer’s experience in the program through testimonial interviews. One unique aspect of this video was the use of a Zoom interview for the employer’s perspective. We thought this was an appropriate creative solution that would highlight the ease of remote work relationships within the program.
the execution
Our crew spent a day in beautiful Wise, VA, with the help of the Wise Works program head, Neva Bryan. We captured some b-roll and aerial footage across campus in the morning and then took off for the Oxbow Center where we captured interviews with Neva, current and former student interns and our employer interviewee via Zoom. We are thrilled with how it all came together.
The communications team at UVA Wise loved the final product and was excited to immediately utilize it as digital marketing material for students and employers alike to grow their internship program and encourage future corporate partnerships. Huge shoutout to Genna and Nathan for their help pulling together all the details and vision!
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