MAKING A GLOBAL IMPACT
HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY
THE STORY
Heriot-Watt University is a truly global institution. Spread across five campuses in three different countries, Heriot-Watt is a university that’s always done things very differently. Their commitment to innovation in research as well as delivering the highest quality teaching is unparalleled going back over 200 years. Now, with campuses in Edinburgh, Galashiels, Orkney, Dubai and Malaysia they are continuing their legacy of impact driven research.
THE BRIEF
We have been asked to tell a number of stories for Heriot-Watt University over our time working with them. From Open Day experiences through to personal stories of world-changing technology and research. The requirements are always to create content that tells the unique story attached to the individual, department, subject or campus. On this page we have collected some of the works we have delivered for the University most recently - each one bringing a different brief.
The Digital Twins video (above) had a multi-layered brief to it. The idea was for the video to bring to life the leading edge technology that had been developed at Heriot-Watt University to make the creation of Digital Twins a reality. Secondly, it had to explain the process, how it works and illustrate the experience of interacting with the augmented reality element in real time.
The Innovation Challenge stories (below) are a selection of a series for that were commissioned to highlight the journey of a selection of people from all over the world who had taken part in the Innovation Challenge to make their vision a reality. Across fashion, design, technology and a host of other areas, the University wanted to show how the structure and support of the Innovation Challenge supported these students to try and change the world.
The Innovation Challenge launch video (far below) was created to call out for entrants to that year’s Challenge which is open to all students with an idea that could have real impact. It was created at a time when conventional filming was impossible due to travel restrictions and the locations of all of the students. It also needed to have a framework around which the contributors could speak, meaning that this would need to be a mixed-media creation to ensure that this content communicated the right messages and worked to call out for new entrants.
THE SOLUTION
The Digital Twins Video was one that required a multi-faceted approach to production. It was vital that we began by understanding the true nature of what a ‘Digital Twin’ was and how the technology actually functioned. Getting a feel for the experience of interacting with the augmented reality and then translating that to a third party is no mean feat! After doing so, we wrote a voiceover script based on a series of interviews conducted with the academics behind the technology and agreed it with the stakeholders at the university. We commissioned Keith Downie of Sky Sports News - a native of Edinburgh where Heriot-Watt is based - to lend his vocal talents to it. After that was agreed and recorded, a full storyboard and plan was pulled together to realise how we could use live action footage of people at the university and composite in elements that resembled the Digital Twin interface. Filming took place on a single day at GRID with a variety of contributors. The multi-layered edit required the timing of the voice to match what was on screen without any animation overlay. When this was locked, the footage was then colour graded and lastly the original animated elements were created and laid over the actions in the video to create an insight into the responsive nature of the technology and explain this potentially world-changing piece of research.
The Innovation Challenge stories required multi-national shoots in both Scotland and Dubai to gather the perspectives of those who had taken part in the Challenge that year. Filmed across three days in Scotland and one day in Dubai, each of the participants answered questions about their unique vision and how it can bring about meaningful change in its field. While these interviews all contained different perspectives, consistency of framing and filming was vital. In post-production, the character of what was gathered in each case was then brought out. For those whose ideas had a physical existence, B-roll was used to help illustrate it. However, for those who were in the tech world, bespoke animated content was created to bring their ideas to life and expand upon what they had created.
For the Innovation Challenge Launch video, we knew that the requirement would mean working remotely with the contributors who were spread all over the world with no access to quality recording options. As a result, we created a bespoke guide to how to film themselves using a phone and their environment to ensure that we obtained as close to consistent contributions as we could. Each person was sent this guide with examples and then filmed their own answers to the questions they were set. While we were waiting for the contributor videos we set about designing the animated elements and writing the script to explain what the Innovation Challenge is, the context of it as a competition and how students can involve themselves. Upon receiving the content from the contributors, we set about editing it to fit our narrative, recording voiceover from Keith Downie and creating a framework for the animation to knit the elements together for the final video. The result is a mixed-media production that explores the nature of innovation, the Challenge in its entirety and the experience of those involved with it.
INNOVATION IN ANIMATION
We were commissioned by GRID at Heriot-Watt to create a series of high-end animations that explored how their centre for innovation works with a variety of different stakeholders - from investors to students and staff. The commission was to create a series without voiceover and minimal typography that explained how GRID works for each of the stakeholder groups but also reflected the research and technology that is dealt with and created at GRID every day.
UNIQUE NEXT STEPS
The nature of degrees and higher education is constantly evolving. Heriot-Watt University asked us to create a series of case study videos that explained and explored the ways in which their ‘Graduate Apprenticeships’ worked for the companies and students who are involved in them. The requirement was to tell the stories of ell the parties involved and show how they provide a pathway through university that many may not have thought was possible and exemplify how everybody wins through this most innovative of courses.