This is not your every day admissions piece. In fact, it is one that only works for one day out the year, specifically October 31st. Radford University decided to show off their University in a unique way by highlighting how they have something for EVERYONE at their school, including zombies and vampires. Today their webpage was taken over by these special students and their stories.
Check it out on their homepage.
Here is the video that tells their story:
Happy Halloween from Radford University from Radford University on Vimeo.
I got a kick out of the fact that they were willing to do this on their homepage for Halloween. It is a very novel way to get some attention for their University; they even got a writeup in the Washington Post. I asked Jaslyn Gilbert, Radford's Multimedia Producer, to explain how this project came about and here is what she shared with me:
On April Fools' 2011, we changed one of our standard four rotating student profiles on Radford University's homepage to a photo of a campus squirrel. We received positive feedback on the change and the university's ability to show a little sense of humor. Naturally my boss, Jaime Hunt, director of web communications, wanted to push the envelope a little further and came up with the idea of changing all four student profiles to various monsters for Halloween.
In order for this project to be successful we really needed to collaborate with the theatre department, students, faculty and administrators who were willing to participate. While one of the goals was to have a little fun on Halloween, the more important goal was to showcase what our students learn in classroom. Three amazing students from the theatre department transformed four students into a zombie, monster, vampire and werewolf.
Pushing the envelope in higher ed is not easy and this project was no exception. Though we received approval for our concept back in August, we really had prove to a committee of administrators that we would showcase the talent of Radford University students with this project. It wasn't just about a University with a sense of humor.
“This project really showcases the talent of our students while giving us an opportunity to demonstrate that while we are an institution that takes academics seriously, we also know that halfway through the semester, students often need to take a break and laugh,” said Jaime Hunt, director of Web Communications for Radford University. “A project like this gives students who are learning about stage makeup the opportunity to practice their skills and see how their work must stand up under real-world conditions.”
Jaime Hunt, Director of Web Communications, wrote the stories and Jaslyn Gilbert shot the photos and the video. The video was shot using a Canon 7D. Here is a behind the scenes video that shows the transformation process:
Radford University's Halloween Project - Behind the Scenes from Radford University on Vimeo.
Jaslyn Gilbert has been with Radford University since March of this year, prior to which she was the University Photographer at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. You can see more of her work at http://jaslyngilbertphotography.com