[vimeo http://vimeo.com/54622705]
By: Maggie Delaney ’15
The Panther talked with Joseph Eusebio ’13 about producing and directing the new Seattle Prep Promotional Video
M.D.: Why did Prep want to make the promo video?
J.E.: Every five years, Prep makes a new admissions video to give prospective students an understanding of what the Prep environment is like. When the prior admissions video was made, the school had different focuses. Currently, Prep is striving to stay on top of modern technological advances with an internet savvy public. [Because of] competition from Holy Names, the focus of the prior video was explaining the benefits of a co-ed education. The current video was meant to break from that and instead focus on the Prep students and the heart of the Prep community.
M.D.: How did you become involved with video production and making videos for the school?
J.E.: I have loved filming and editing videos since grade school. During the summer before my sophomore year, I heard about a new video production class, and I heard that the teacher would be Mr. Othman. After that first year of video production came the advanced video production class, which had a large focus on gathering footage for the admissions video. Now, for senior year, I decided to forgo my mock trial activity to start a video club. I was also asked to be a part of the first Prep video crew, which consists of me, Keenan Leary (’14), Will Delaney (’13), and Renard Bansale (’13). The video crew records important Prep events like Homecoming week and Olympic week. The video club, along with creating film festival entries, has been taking the footage shot by the video crew and turning it into upbeat videos for the Prep Vimeo site.
M.D.: What sorts of things did Prep want you to film for the video?
J.E.: Mrs. Goodwin, who was the leading figure in bringing this video together, wanted footage that was personal and that reflected Prep’s spirit from a student perspective. For the last video, the production company that worked on it only came to Prep for a few days. We wanted to do better this time. We were able to capture all of the hidden things that make Prep great.
M.D.: What assistance did you receive from outside of video production or Seattle Prep?
J.E.: Mr. Othman enlisted 2R Productions, a production company headed by Jason Reid. Mr. Othman knows Jason through a former teaching partner from Assumption St. Bridget and has worked with him before.
M.D.: How did you go about making the
film?
J.E.: The process started with the compilation of footage gathered by the advanced video production class. We took HD cameras to the events we attended, the classes we were a part of, the sports we competed in, and whatever else we thought would work throughout the year. Later, Jason’s crew came to Prep to get footage of the school and interviews with the students. Mrs. Goodwin asked the questions, went through the footage and wrote a narrative composed of the interviews. Over the summer, Cory LeeWays ‘13 and I went to 2R Productions’ operation for a few days of looking through the B-Roll footage and putting aside the good bits. I stayed to continue the hunt, and got to work editing a rough cut of the video. The process continued with me going down to Jason’s operation whenever I could.
M.D.: What vision did you (or the school) have for this video?
J.E.: Mrs. Goodwin really wanted a video that showed the school from a student perspective. The prior admissions video felt far more corporate and disconnected. We wanted to change that by adding some heart. Our video wasn’t about flashy graphics or a loud presentation. We wanted prospective students to see what it is like to be a part of our community.
