Video

Videos can be fun, informative, dramatic, inspiring. We are here to help you create a video that delivers the right message for you and for your audience. With your project idea at the center, we work to ensure four main goals: 

• Authentic Storytelling: let your best advocates speak for you
• Compelling and Compact: less is more and shorter videos have much greater reach
• Flexible and Evergreen: feature ideas and feelings over bullet points and specifics
• Defined goals: measure impact of the project as much as possible

While working in direct collaboration with the COH design team, we keep consistency and college brand at the forefront of your project to help bolster the college and department identity. 

Video Process

Whether its a large project or a small concept, your video idea is broken down into the following work flow. We collaborate with you during each stage of the process.

Video Requests

Videography projects produced by the COH digital marketing team follow a firm production schedule approved by the Dean's office. If you have a video request, please use the request form for consideration of your project within our production schedule. If we are unable to handle your project, we can recommend a trusted vendor and/or provide guidance as needed. 

Our primary focus is outward facing content that increases the overall visibility of the College of Humanities and its respective units. We are available to consult on other audio/visual needs of the college but are unable to fully support all video requests (e.g., department lectures, educational video, etc.) at this time. When we do, they are the exception and not the rule. 

Please fill out a request form or submit questions to coh-marketing@email.arizona.edu.

Request Form

Looking to do some DIY video or student testimonials?

With smaller, affordable equipment, just about anyone can pick up a camera, or even a phone, and share their work with the world in seconds. But here’s the catch: while making a video has never been easier, making a great video still takes practice, skill, and a little guidance. That’s what this guide is for — to walk you through the basics and, most importantly, help you steer clear of the common bumps in the road.

9 Steps to Better DIY and Selfie Videos

1. If at all possible, use a tripod to keep your camera steady. If you don’t have the right clip or tripod to do so, ask someone else to hold the phone for you while you film.
2. Make sure your phone has enough storage space prior to filming. The longer your message the more storage space you will need.
3. Turn off notifications. Set your phone to “Do Not Disturb”.
4. Next, lighting. If possible, film in a room with natural light and stand facing the light. Don’t stand with your back to the light (backlighting) as this will make it more difficult for the viewer to see you. Also, avoid sitting directly below overhead lighting, as it can cast shadows on your face.
5. Sound. Try to film in a quiet, low traffic location. The less ambient background noise the better. Avoid busy public areas and instead find a comfortable spot at home or in a quiet area. Busy backgrounds can be distracting for viewers, and outside noises can get picked up easily on your microphone.
6. Framing your shot nicely helps keep the attention of your viewers on you, and makes the overall video look clean and well presented. Keep an eye out for the spaces around your head to make sure you’re not giving yourself too much or too little headroom. Make sure there’s nothing behind you in the background that can be distracting, for example, a poorly placed plant can make it look like you have leaves sticking out of your ears. Also, unless your intend to deliver your video in a vertical format, film your video horizontally so your video will auto-adjust on larger screens.
7. Don’t use your phone’s zoom feature -- it’ll just make your videos blurry. Instead, move your tripod closer to what you’re filming.
8. Lock your camera’s exposure to prevent it from going out of focus by holding your finger on the screen over your subject (you) until a yellow box and “AE/AF Lock” appears.
9. When you are all set up and ready to go, give it a quick test run. Record a quick, one-minute test video and make sure to play it back. Does your audio come through? Does the shot look clean, clear and focused? This practice can help you catch anything that might be amiss.

What to Wear

• We recommend solid colors or very subtle patterns. Avoid large stripes or busy prints – they distract from your facial expression and may appear to move on their own. And due to glare, matte rather than shiny fabrics are better choices.
• We love the UA, but red is a difficult color on camera because it appears to bleed into its surroundings. If you still want to wear red, we recommend wearing it under a jacket or sweater.
• Try to reflect the UA brand palette when possible:

Image

• Colored clothing should contrast with your skin tone. If you wear a peach shirt and you have peach skin, the camera may not find the difference.
• Avoid hot pink, orange, yellow and green and all- black or all-white tops. They can be harsh on camera.
• No company logos (e.g., Nike, Apple, etc.).
• Avoid clothing with rips or exposed midriffs.

Hair and Makeup

• If you wear makeup, consider a more natural look that accentuates eyes, lips, and cheekbones. Light powdering on your forehead, nose and chin will help with reflection.
• To avoid a heavy look, use matte products and avoid shimmers, such as shiny lip gloss or balm.
• If possible, avoid wearing sunblock on your face, as the lights can create a white effect on the skin.

• Hairstyles that are out of your face, but not slicked back are best. Ideally, hair is down, loosely pulled back, comfortable but still smooth and styled.