Elevate Your University Video Strategy with Real Stories

Universities are great at producing video content. They’re also great at producing videos that feel… identical.

You’ve seen the formula: campus shots, smiling students, inspiring music, a few buzzwords, and a voiceover about excellence.

The problem is that prospective students, donors, and partners have seen that exact video 1,000 times. If you want something that actually works, the strategy needs to be tighter. Especially at the department level, where your story is naturally more specific.

A better approach is documentary storytelling, focusing on real people and real outcomes:

• students who are building careers

• faculty doing meaningful research

• alumni who are making an impact

• programs that have a clear identity

For schools and departments, there are four video types that tend to perform best:

1. Student outcomes: What people actually go on to do after graduating.

2. Research impact: How the work affects real communities, industries, or policy.

3. Recruitment stories: Why students choose the program and what the experience is like.

4. Donor and alumni stories: Why supporters believe in the mission and where their contributions go.

Another smart move: don’t force everything into one video. A small package usually works better:

• one strong “hero” piece

• plus a few short cutdowns for social, web, and recruiting

It gives your communications team more usable content and makes the project feel more like an investment than a one-off.

University projects also come with real-world constraints: scheduling, approvals, stakeholder input, campus filming logistics. A documentary-style process handles that better than a rigid scripted production.

If you’re looking for university video production in Pittsburgh or Western PA, we can help you plan something that feels modern, human, and actually useful.