Publicity Films on Campus
By Angeles Oviedo
On Monday afternoon, students and other members of the Santa Clara community gathered at the Mission Church to volunteer as extras in a television commercial shoot for the university.
Last week, the Office of Marketing and Communications sent an email to students notifying them of a commercial being filmed for Santa Clara and an opportunity to be involved. Santa Clara's Facebook page also advertised the event.
Assistant Vice President of the Office of Marketing and Communications Rich Giacchetti stated that the commercial will be used for a brand image spot for the university.
He explained that television networks provide a 30-second or 60-second spot to universities during broadcasts of their NCAA athletic performances, typically during the halftime of a game. Giacchetti explained that the commercial will play during this time allotment for Santa Clara basketball games and other Santa Clara games that will be aired on television.
"There are people who are watching the broadcasts who may not be familiar with Santa Clara, so this gives us a chance to just explain what it is that makes us special and different," said Giacchetti. "What we're focusing on here are our Jesuit values and the Mission of the university," referring to the shots being filmed in the Mission Church.
Giacchetti described the commercial as a "here's who we are" opportunity.
In addition to the scenes filmed at the Mission Church, shots were filmed in various other locations including the St. Ignatius Lawn and in Lucas Hall.
"The Lucas setup was of a person drawing parametric equations on a see-through white board," said junior Robert Boscacci, an intern for the Office of Marketing and Communications. Boscacci explained that shooting for the commercial took place throughout the weekend, all day on Saturday and Sunday.
According to Boscacci, the most intense shot to film was an underwater one of a student swimming. The waterproof bag in which the camera was placed began to leak shortly after entering the water. The leak was found and the camera was insured.
In addition to underwater shots, students were filmed playing soccer, water polo, music, and even dancing.
"We consider our education as about teaching people how to put things into motion and action," said Giacchetti as he elaborated on the purpose of the brand image spot. "We're doers, so we want to show people are engaged in academic activities, music, athletics, campus activities where people are doing things."
Giacchetti added that the commercial will have other uses besides television broadcasts. The video will likely be played in Leavey during games and featured on the university's website.
According to Giacchetti, the commercial is expected to be ready in mid-November, just in time for the basketball game broadcasts.
Contact Angeles Oviedo at aoviedo@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4948.