Photo & Video Project Request Guidelines

The Office of Marketing & Communications provides photography and videography services based on the College’s strategic plan and institutional goals. This includes imagery to support specific campaigns and objectives, as well as noteworthy and compelling events throughout the year.

Before a project is approved, we meet with stakeholders to learn more about the desired marketing outcomes and intended use for each project. If a project does not meet the specific marketing criteria described below or we are otherwise unavailable to provide coverage, we will share a list of recommended vendors for hire.

Photography and videography coverage from the Office of Marketing and Communications is often best suited for projects or events that have students, faculty, and staff interacting in dynamic environments that can be repurposed to market and promote the College and/or campaign. Events such as but not limited to dinners, panels, lectures, and award ceremonies have limited use, and we usually recommend someone on your team provide camera phone documentation themselves or work with a vendor for hire.

Photography and Videography Marketing Criteria:

Subject is related to a specific campaign with a defined audience and objective
Subject can be repurposed in other ways, making for a strong contribution to our image library
- One-off events with no opportunity for secondary use typically do not meet these criteria
Subject is intrinsically visual
- Subject offers opportunities to capture emotion, energy, and interaction, in an environment that evokes a sense of place (subjects in static environments with poor lighting and lack of interaction do not meet this criteria)

Project Consideration Checklists

The Office of Marketing and Communications will use these checklists when considering new requests.

Photography Discovery Checklist

Objective

Distribution: Where will you use these photos? (e.g. website, social, email, flyers)

Audience: Who are these photos for? (e.g. Prospective Students, Current Students, Specific Program, Alumni, Faculty,)

Desired Marketing Outcome(s): What is the intended goal for these photos? Where and how will they be distributed?

Secondary Use Case: Will these photos have any secondary use for the college?
Note: Photos of dinners, panels, lectures, award ceremonies, etc., have a very limited use.

Photo Shoot Details

Date, time, location

Point of contact at event

Image Release Form/Waiver: If this is required, we ask that you provide signed waivers before the event

Photo Shot List: Please identify key experiences or subjects you would like photographed

Deliverables

Quantity And Amount: For example, exporting 1 folder of a dozen selects max, 2nd folder a 24-30 images for Archive

Resolution: We recommend exporting 300ppi 3000px on longest edge

Proposed Due Date:

Videography Discovery Checklist

Objective

What message do you want to convey in this video? What should the audience feel after watching?

Audience: Who is the target audience you would like to watch this video? (e.g. Prospective Students, Current Students, Specific Major, Alumni, Faculty,)

Desired Marketing Outcome(s): What are the key takeaways and any call to action?

End Location: Where will this video be shared? (e.g. specific website, social media platform, email, at an event, commercial)

Secondary Use Case: Is this part of a broader marketing campaign or just a stand-alone video? Where and how will this video be shared in other use cases? If you will be promoting this video via social media, please note that, as it requires a different aspect ratio.

Is this a video of a presentation, performance, panel discussion, etc.? If your answer is “yes,” please contact EdTech https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/offices-services/edtech

Concept

Describe your idea for the video

Provide links to examples of this style of video and/or other assets such as B-roll, audio, artwork and logos

Do you have a script in mind? What are the key messages you would like to convey?

Are we interviewing talent? If so, what are the questions you would like them to answer in the video?

Recommended talent: Please identify students and/or faculty you would like to feature

Recommend locations: Please list the location(s) where you would like this video to take place

Specific call to action (CTA): please include the CTA and any website urls, contact info, etc., that apply

Client Producer Contact: (name, phone and email of someone on your team responsible for this project)

Deliverables

Duration: We recommend 1 to 2 minutes maximum. If you require long-form video content, please explain why and your intended use-case.

File Format: We recommend MP4, a resolution of 1280 x 720p or 1920 x 1080p, and 16:9 aspect ratio

Proposed Due Date:

Video Shoot Details

Date(s), time(s), and location(s)

Point of contact at event(s)

Image Release Form/Waiver: If this is required, we ask that you provide signed waivers before the event

Video Shot List: Please identify key experiences or subjects you would like filmed