83 videos, 22 instructors, 11 months

After making exceptionally efficient use of the Governor’s Emergency Educational Relief (GEER) grant it had received, Vincennes University had additional funds remaining and wanted to use them to further its mission. While VU had an established presence in high schools throughout the state, with dual-credit offerings approaching their 5th decade, this funding provided an opportunity to connect more directly with students and educators throughout the state.

VU wanted a series of videos which would provide factual, valuable information in relatively bite-sized pieces. First and foremost, these would need to be information-rich enough to be part of instruction plans for teachers, and serve this purpose in both physical and virtual learning environments. Secondly, this series would be making some of the educational excellence of VU faculty accessible to Hoosier learners and educators who may not otherwise have a relationship with the university. Finally, while the series could not be used directly for marketing, its existence would clearly demonstrate the breadth of programs available to anyone who would like to join VU’s 16,000+ students from around the world.

At the start of 2022, VU had most of the team needed to produce the series. With a project manager, two faculty liaisons, and a scriptwriter, all they needed was a team who could turn concepts into videos.

Vincennes University Mission Statement

Vincennes University develops people and enhances communities through accessible, high-quality educational programs, strategic partnerships, and active engagement.

Our Approach

Once Blueline was first selected to produce the video series, our first order of business was to pick two instructors whose videos could serve as a “vertical slice” of the series. With each video requiring a different mix of on-screen instruction, practically-filmed demonstration, animated illustrations, and informational graphics, it was crucial that the bulk of the videos were not filmed until we had established the overall look and feel of the series.

After scouting and filming with two aviation instructors, we identified several methods we could use to streamline production which were informed by both the production days themselves and the editing process. We established a project-specific shot listing format which helped both production and editors delineate between objects, actions, and processes that were completely foreign to them.

Simultaneously, our designers iterated through styles for both the repetitive assets that would be necessary, such as bulleted lists, thumbnails, and callouts, as well as topic-specific animation styles. We worked closely with the VU team to ensure that graphics would clearly convey information while remaining readable on mobile devices.

Pilot Videos

These two videos were used as our "vertical slices" to iterate on design, illustration, and animation practices that would carry on through the series. After these videos were approved by VU's president, we shifted into mass production.

Learning and teaching together

Blueline always assumes that our clients are the experts, and it is our job to make their expertise understandable and relevant to their target audience. We specialize in learning enough to re-teach the most important pieces of information over the course of a project, and this Career and Technical Education series was an exercise in training this skill through endurance.

With VU’s provided scripts, which were based on introductory calls with instructors, we had additional conversations with instructors before production and throughout their shoot day to ensure that their instructional content was captured in the best possible way. In editing, we continued to work with the VU team and instructors to ensure that every video as accurate, clear, and understandable to a general audience.

Results

Over the course of 21 shoot days and 11 months, our team learned and helped teach topics ranging from surgical tech to agribusiness, from surveying to welding, and from piloting a plane to maintaining one. In total, we produced:

83 total videos
22 instructors represented, most with 4 videos
Over 5.5 hours of video content, all closed-captioned
Unique thumbnails and YouTube interactions

Visit the VU Career & Technical Education YouTube Page

A Team Effort

In addition to all the work performed by Blueline's team, this project could not have happened without the substantial support from many folks inside VU, as well as other vendors who provided creative, script, and logistics support. The team assembled by Vincennes set a high bar for creative partnerships in an educational setting.

And of course, we're exceptionally grateful to the nearly two dozen instructors who shared their expertise, time, and patience with us.