Best Practices for building a task:
The title of the task should be short, and communicate the topic clearly.
Structure your task according to 4 simple ideas (or "WNSP!")
What: What’s the purpose of the video? What message should the student communicate?
Narrative: Offer a few talking points, or suggestions of what to discuss. Don’t get too in the weeds on this - the student should have latitude to tell their own story.
Shot structure: Remind the student of how and WHERE to record themselves. As often as possible, we want campus to be the backdrop of the video.
Personality: Remind the student to be themselves, or if the tone should be more professional, this is a good place to mention it.
3. Be SURE to click "Assign to future creators" if you want the task to appear for students who sign up at some point in the future. Also, select any of your existing content creators whom you want to record.
5) Be SURE to click "Assign to future creators" if you want the task to appear for students who sign up at some point in the future. Also, select any of your existing content creators whom you want to record:
About me & Why I chose my school
What: Help us get to know you a little, and learn more about why you chose your school.
Narrative: Where are you from and what’s your major? What stood out to you about your school during your search? Everyone has their own story about how they ended up at their college. What’s yours? What are you involved in on campus that could help us get to know who you are as a student?
Shot Structure: Record your video somewhere ON campus. Your school is sort of a “character” in your video, so do this one selfie style, and pay attention to what’s in the background - maybe an iconic building on campus, or a nice green space, or the coffee shop you hang out at between classes. Upload pictures of yourself with friends, footage of campus, or any of the activities or other things you may have mentioned.
Personality! This is your time to shine! Be your true self and treat this like you’re making a new friend.
Housing Tour
What: Give future students a glimpse into what living on campus looks like.
Narrative: Just talk about your housing situation. Are you in a dorm/residence hall, or a suite, or apartment? Is it a double, single, triple? Were you assigned your spot, or did you get to choose?
Show us what comes standard in your living space, and what you brought. Or any pro-tips on what students should bring from home.
Shot Structure: Obviously this should be recorded IN your room/apartment! Record yourself walking up to your door, opening it, and do a pan of the room as you talk about what you see. Try to get a combination of selfie clips and some behind the camera.
Personality! This should be casual and fun! Pretend you’re showing your friends back home what your living situation is like.
Show us a Campus Event!
What: Record your experience attending a campus event. This could be anything: a basketball
game, a festival, club day, a keynote speaker, a musical performance, a film screening…
Narrative: Talk casually about the event itself. What is it all about? Who organized it and why? What are people doing here? Grab a few quick interviews with other students who’ve attended. Ask them what they’re enjoying most!
Shot structure: Record AT the thing itself! Selfie style is great, with activity in the background. Try to get plenty of clips that show WHAT is actually happening. Event signage, people having fun, smiling and waving to the camera… action shots!
Personality! Remember to be yourself, and talk to the camera like you would a friend.
Campus Life & School Culture
What: Help future students get a sense of the student body is like at your school.
Narrative: Describe the overall spirit, or vibe on campus. What do you like the most about the spirit, or feeling you get when you’re on campus? How would you describe the student body?
Shot Structure: Walk and talk! Record this someplace on campus. Walk around, record in selfie mode, or have a friend record you. Grab shots of students between classes, or whatever other pictures you have that help support your thoughts on campus life.
Personality! YOU are part of your campus community, and getting to know you is as important as the information you share.
Out and About / Tour of town
What: Help future students get a better sense of the community off campus.
Narrative: How would you describe the town or city where your campus is located? What are some of your favorite things to do around town? Where do you go out to eat? Shop? Hang out with friends?
Shot Structure: This video should be shot ON LOCATION - meaning, record yourself somewhere out and about. It’s one thing to hear you talk about your favorite restaurant, it’s another to actually SHOW it! It’s ok if the video isn’t all encompassing - just show off one experience or one place that you really enjoy. Get some shots behind the camera that help support your narrative.
Personality! It’s always fun to hear about interesting places from the people who actually live there. Always bring your fun loving self to your videos!
Campus Traditions
What: Every school has different traditions that make it unique. What's special about yours?
Narrative: What makes your campus unique? What are some of the more memorable, or special campus traditions that students at your school generally all know about?
Shot Structure: Think of this as a “tell, then show” kind of video. We need to be able to see the tradition in action. So, when you record yourself talking about whatever this “thing” is, if it’s tied to a location, well, record it there! If it’s something like a cheer at football games, or a special place on campus where everyone high-fives the mascot - -record it happening live!
Personality! Not every tradition is for everyone! Talk about something that’s meaningful to you.
Key Campus Locations
What: Feature a place on campus that students should know about.
Narrative: Select a place that either offers some kind of service or resource to students, or is just a cool place to know about. This could be the library, your academic building, the student union, dining hall, coffee shop, tutoring center, gym. Talk about where you are, what happens there, and why the location is important to students.
Shot Structure: Go record yourself (selfie mode works great!) at an important building or landmark on campus.
Personality! Be honest and choose places that matter to YOU!
Where to eat
What: Food is important! Give a review of the place, or places you eat the most.
Narrative: What’s your overall opinion of the food? Is it awesome, or just pretty basic? Are you on a meal plan (share the details)? When is this place busiest?
Shot Structure: Take us on a little dining adventure with you! Use selfie mode, or get a friend to record you giving a little intro to the place you’re eating, talk about it, and then DEFINITELY show us what you grabbed for that meal! It’s SO important to actually show the food! Get some shots of the salad bar, or the pizza counter, or whatever’s available.
Personality! If you’re with friends, ask them what they think of the food! The more the merrier in these kinds of videos!
Internships + Career Development Opportunities (Undergrad)
What: Preparing for your future is huge. Talk more about opportunities you've had that have put you on a path toward future success in your chosen field.
Narrative: Highlight one or two meaningful career building experiences and talk about what you got out of them. How did you find the opportunity and what was your biggest takeaway?
Shot Structure: This is a drier topic, so make sure you choose an interesting background wherever you record (preferably on the job, or at the internship). Upload some photos of your workspace, or with co-workers so we can layer them into the video.
Personality! Obviously be yourself, but like, the more professional version!
Internships + Career Development Opportunities (Graduate)
What: Grad school is largely about setting yourself up for career progression. Talk more about opportunities you've had that have put you on a path toward future success in your chosen field.
Narrative: Highlight one or two meaningful career building experiences and talk about what you got out of them. How did you find the opportunity and what was your biggest takeaway?
Shot Structure: This is a drier topic, so make sure you choose an interesting background wherever you record (preferably on the job, or at the internship). Upload some photos of your workspace, or with co-workers so we can layer them into the video.
Personality! Obviously be yourself, just the more professional version.
For Alumni
What: Share a bit about your student experience and how your time at college/in your program informed your current success.
Narrative: Tell your story! Introduce yourself: Your name, where you live, what you studied and when you graduated. What made you decide to attend your school or program? Reflect a bit on the experience. How did your time as a student grow you or change you as a person (or a professional)?
Shot structure: You will most likely be recording this at home, so try to choose a place that’s got some color or point of visual interest. If you have pictures of your time in school, upload those as well and we’ll stitch them into the video to help support your story.
Personality! This isn’t a job interview, so just be yourself and speak casually and honestly about your student experience.
A Day in My Life
Pick any day and record a bunch of clips that show us what it was like! Don’t overthink it - record what we ask for below and we will pull it all together!
What to record:
Welcome clip: Tell us what you’re going to be doing today. Set it up so we know what we’re about to see.
Moments throughout the day. Each clip should be 10-15 seconds long. Shoot for a mix of selfies where you narrate what’s going on and then scenery shots. You can work from this shot list if it helps:
PACK UP YOUR STUFF - What do you take with you before leaving for campus? Notebooks? Laptop? Phone? What else?
FOOTAGE OF YOUR JOURNEY - You’re walking, driving, biking, or riding to class (we’ll speed this up in editing), talking about the journey
ARRIVING IN CLASS - Show us the classroom as you settle in, slow pan of the room with students, teacher, etc.
ALL THE REST OF THE STUFF whatever else you do that day, take a few seconds of footage of each bit in selfie mode.
Going to the gym, sports practice, rehearsal, club meetings, grabbing lunch with friends, studying in the library…
Back at home - what’s the evening look like? Homework and studying? Dinner with roommates?
3. Narration + Sign off: Sit down at when you’re done recording everything and talk for a few minutes about what you did, so we can use it as voiceover for the rest of your clips. Sign off with something like, “Thanks for coming along with me on a day in my life as a ___ student!”
Photo dump!
Have great photos of you and your friends doing fun stuff on campus just sitting on your phone that we can use in our social posts? Upload them from the CampusReel Creator App!
You and your friend having fun!
Enjoying activities on or off campus
Wearing campus gear
Attending events, sporting matches, performances, etc.
Selfies on campus!
Study abroad pics