Cal Poly alumnus Matt Yoon has released eight professional-quality videos highlighting the university’s accomplishments this school year.
Benjy Egel
[follow id=”BenjyEgel”]
When Matt Yoon was studying journalism at Cal Poly, he starting making short videos in his free time, never affiliated with the school.
Seven months after his graduation, Yoon is the man behind the university’s newest public relations tool.
Since the beginning of the academic year, Yoon has released eight professional-quality videos highlighting the school’s most impressive accomplishments. Cal Poly’s interest in Yoon’s work can be traced to an effort to digitize the school’s public relations, add some aesthetics to promotional content and present subjects in a favorable light.
“They’re doing print, writing newsletters and emails, but … their focus has now turned to, ‘How can we tell a story with video?’” Yoon said.
It all started just before Yoon’s graduation in June 2013, when his promotional video for Cal Poly Athletics captured the attention of school administrators.
When Yoon received word Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong lost a bet and had to wear Fresno State clothing, he jumped at the opportunity to get involved with a high-level project. Yoon reached out to Armstrong with the idea for a video, then recorded him performing poorly in the Recreation Center as a modern-day Samson, weak without his trademark Mustang apparel.
As Armstrong shed his Bulldog clothing and donned a Cal Poly shirt and shorts, he was able to bench press 225 pounds and dunk a basketball.
Yoon said Armstrong was happy the video made him seem down-to-earth and approachable, and recommended other departments take advantage of the recent grad’s skills.
“He said he felt like he could be comfortable,” Yoon said. “He wasn’t a stiff; he was himself.”
The video attracted Cal Poly Marketing and Communications employees, who commissioned Yoon for other projects, such as the announcement of a live mustang as a new university mascot.
Yoon said he thought Cal Poly’s emphasis on promotional videos is an embrace of the digital era. People often have shorter attention spans when online, but can be reeled in by videos with quick messages and flashy graphics, he said.
The College of Science and Mathematics’ public affairs and communications specialist Rachel Henry echoed Yoon’s sentiment.
“There’s a definite population that’s more likely to click a link and watch a two-minute video than to actually read the information in printed material,” Henry said. “Things are consumed very visually these days, and I think that’s the advantage (to videos).”
Music senior Ryan Waczek, one of Yoon’s friends, often provides background tunes for the videos. The two plan to team up throughout winter and spring quarters for more university-sponsored projects.
“I can’t talk specifically about projects that they want to do, but they want to have me around for the next year,” Yoon said.
While Yoon has been heavily involved this year, Cal Poly wants more videos than one person can supply. University spokesperson Matt Lazier said individual departments are responsible for creating their own videos, including hiring a videographer.
“(International, Graduate and Extended) Education, their video went entirely through their office,” Lazier said. “They used their own independent contractor.”
Henry hired a local company called Red Canary run by Cal Poly alumnus Todd Peterson for the College of Science and Mathematics’ video celebrating the unveiling of the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics.
The $4,000 video was intended to show the college’s gratitude to all the building’s donors, Henry said.
“We wanted something that would show off the Baker Center to all the people who had helped to create it,” she said. “I think it was a very collaborative effort.”
While Yoon sometimes doubles as director and cameraman, Henry assembled a team of professors to plan out the Baker Center video before enlisting Red Canary.
The video’s focus on how the Baker Center will impact students clicked with donors at a celebratory dinner, Henry said. The university’s goal of producing effective, stimulating visual messages had come true.