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Student spot to air during Saturday's national telecast
Viewers across the nation who tune in for Saturday's national telecast of the 117th Monon Bell Classic on HDNet will see the work of DePauw University students.
DePauw's institutional spot, which will run during the game, was created by seniors Andrew Maddocks and Duncan Wolfe.
Maddocks and Wolfe are interning this year with Jonathan Coffin, director of strategic communications. Ken Owen, executive director of media relations and DePauw coordinator of the Monon Bell telecast, reached out to Coffin and his students to see if they'd have interest in creating the University's message, which will air at least once during the game. The two seniors embraced the opportunity.
"The prompt for the spot was somewhat intimidating -- capture an institution that's so profoundly important for me, and everyone it touches, in a fleeting minute," notes Maddocks. "What, we had to consider, was universally relatable across tens of thousands of unique DePauw experiences? I think the entire team involved in this spot really tapped into something. Shots of no more than a second or two evoke the challenges, rewards, friendships and sheer fun that'll stick with me for decades."
Adds Wolfe, "I know that many schools hire outside professionals to produce this kind of project, which is why it was such an honor when they asked us to do it. For a video that would be viewed on a national stage, it was a daunting task, yet I never felt more prepared to communicate a multifaceted DePauw to a wide audience. Andrew and I hadn't done anything like this before, but I think our prior experiences enabled us to present DePauw in a meaningful and familiar way."
Music for the spot was created by members of a DePauw student band, Jack Daddy Sunrise: Connor Willett, Mac Metcalf, Zak Phillips, Andrew Hogan, Ben Stilwill and Tyler Spear. The Presidential Ambassadors and Alec Synnestvedt also contributed to the creation of the message, which was shot in high definition video.
"I spent two decades in the TV business before returning to DePauw as an employee, and the work of Duncan and Andrew is nothing short of amazing," says Owen. "By design, Jon and I gave the guys a very broad palette to work with so this spot could truly reflect student perspectives and speak in their language.
"To call this 'professional' is really selling it short -- this work really makes me proud of our students and my alma mater, which allows students to do things that don't happen on many other campuses."