In the interest of full disclosure, I must go on the record that I went to Harvard. So there may be some unconscious bias on my part.
Let me set the scene as I imagine it unfolding: a stodgy, traditional university is starting to suspect that they may be falling behind the times from a marketing standpoint. They turn to some recent alums and ask them to make one of those Web 2.0, viral video, social media content thingees that they’ve been reading so much about in the Media and Advertising Section of the New York Times. This, they assume, will make their university impossible to resist for hip, young, Glee-watching high school students.
What could possibly go wrong?
See for yourself.
If you somehow managed to watch until the credits, you’d see that literally hundreds of people worked on it. If you know something about video production, you would recognize that this was shot on expensive gear with lots of fancy production value (crane shots, dollying, lighting, etc). Yet the result is an awkward, hard-to-watch infomercial set to cheesy pop muzak.
Compare it to this much scruffier production by a much less famous school.
After watching these two videos, which school would you want to spend four years at?
The orchestra is clearly taking its cues from Bob Jones University.
Columbia.
Wow. Neither. SO neither.
Yeah…the Yale video is pretty awesome. It shows off all the facilities in a beautiful way, and it gives all the practical information that a prospective freshman needs. So the music’s cheesy…I think they knew that too. The more professional the production, the better the joke of the whole video. Sans pretenses, it’s hard to believe that many prospective students would think that this video is awkward or hard to watch. Something tells me you’re missing the point.
^ except if you’re a prospective student at Brown or Wesleyan or
Vassar or Columbia or Oberlin or Berkeley, and the list goes on. Can you imagine kids at these schools making this video?
The choreography in the Comm UQAM video makes my head hurt.
both these videos are GREAT! they’re just really, really different. i can’t imagine the columbia video was any less difficult to make. whatever you might argue for “costs,” the amount of time coordinating all of those folks for one seriously rad long shot is far more daunting to me as someone who makes films. i’m not sure i see the point of this blog entry w/ regard to “stuffy/expensive” vs “fun/inexpensive,” what we’re really comparing here is two different aesthetics of awesome. my two cents!
Alec:
I’m afraid you’re fight on the money brother. EPIC FAIL. And I went to Yale. My (Yale) buddies and I have a new drinking game which is to see how many minutes we can make it through — the first to peel away has to buy a round.
Truly disgusting on so many levels…
…oh… and the letter writing campaign to the admissions office from concerned alumni is only beginning… they’re never going to see another dime from me…
While, I’ll admit I enjoyed both videos, I prefer the second one.
I don’t know… To me, the Yale video seems…vain. Like the whole purpose was just them patting themselves on the back for how awesome they are. Yes, I realize the video is intended to inform(I even kinda wanted to go there after watching it), but it felt like they were saying “THIS IS HOW MUCH BETTER WE ARE THAN YOU!” rather than “This is how awesome our school is!”.
And two minutes of lip-synced Black Eyed Peas conveys a far better sense of community than that scrawny Asian guy soloing his way through an original piece.
Also, to the person who said it probably took about the same about of time, the video description on Youtube says that the second video took about two hours and was done as part of “Integration Week.”
I have to admit, I was charmed by both. But I’m not the audience, so I think I’ll let students decide if they are successful or not.
I will say that perfect is boring in college admission sometimes, so I found the silliness of the Montreal students delightful.
I watched the Yale video because a fellow alum suggested it. I thought it was a good representation of the school, but long for anyone not seriously considering Yale. I truly don’t know what all the fuss is about – for folks interested in the school it captures much (not all) of the culture that you can’t really get inside until you attend a school. I watched the Montreal video here. Perhaps it is generational, but all I got was “party” (with a bottle of Gordon’s being passed around – don’t know what the drinking age is in Montreal). There are lots of great schools (I grew up in C’ville, around UVA, and my brother and sisters went to a broad range of schools) but I don’t see what all the criticism is about the Yale video.
At least I learned something about Yale from the Yale video. The vapid “let’s dance around and party” counterpart says absolutely nothing to me. “Kids at your college dance to bad pop music and drink? Holy crap, that’s so different from every other college in the western world! Sign me up!” Your Harvard bias is showing man; lighten up.
And no, I didn’t go, nor apply, to Yale.
I kept waiting for the ‘wink wink’ it was only a joke payoff. But it never came, which only means this self-consicous piece of pap was intended to be taken … seriously? Anyone giving to Yale should ask for this portion of their gift back.
Ouch. I thought, “this has to be a joke”. But, no…turns out it ain’t.
But it goes a long way to explain the gaping disconnect between the Yale experience and reality, and should put the fear of God in anyone who wants to put Yalies in office.
I like Yale and almost went there. But this video is scary on so many levels.
I thought both videos were awesome. Agree that Yale’s was too long for some who might not have a serious interest in Yale and I agree about the other (don’t even know the name of it; Judith Jasmin (J) is only name I see which doesn’t match LIPDUB or what is the acronym) that all I got out of it was party all the time or have fun. Looked like a several levels of floors building and inside studio but no class rooms or curriculim beside the talents of the arts of those in video.
On other hand Yale’s emphasized community and support from peers and professors. Live in student guidance counselors. Availability of professors. Mentoring of professors. Community within community residences and from freshmen till graduation you will not be left alone and lost all by yourself. Suite styled apartment dorms has emphasis on relationships, friendships, conflict resolution of personalities, variety of essential life skills to learn or perfect skills to improvement. Without people skills it won’t matter how good you are at anything if you can not adapt and be adept at maturely dealing with people from the CEO to the janitor. If others don’t like you, trust you, believe you, you won’t last long or you will stay at the bottom of the ladder and pecking order and sentencing yourself to low income, unfulling carerr, loneliness, etc. miserable life and existence.
I am a returning student after struggling 25+ years because alot by poor people skills and bitterness of my lack of enjoyment because just surviving life insteading of living life.
Which road do you want? It is your choice?
LAST THING:
People don’t care what you know until they know how much you care. No millionaire, that I am aware of, has ever don’t it by himself without the help of a support team and accountability. Any one who claims self made make me wonder how many they “stabbed” in the back and though their bank account and asset qualify as millionaire how are their personal lives are? balanced or a wreck; content or miserable; married or divorced (over and over)