Video Guidelines

Before you begin

Contact Public Affairs and Marketing at least two weeks prior to the start of your production, or as soon as the need or idea for a video comes up. It’s always helpful for our office to be in the loop on marketing and promotion efforts across campus. We may even be able to produce your video for you, but please do not wait until the need is urgent.

Students who are producing videos for an official Hope College office, program, department or service are required to meet with the Office of Public Affairs and Marketing prior to production.

Define your audience before you begin and consider them when planning the production of your video. Some questions to consider: Who is your video intended for? How will they know you’re talking to them? Will they be represented in your video? Where will they watch your video? These are just some of the questions Public Affairs and Marketing will ask you about when planning your video.

Request Video Services (note: not all requests are able to be fulfilled)

Self-Recorded Video Tips

Use your computer or phone or tablet in horizontal mode, and shoot in the highest resolution, and try to have set up at eye level. Note: in certain cases, vertical video is now the preferred format. Think through where the final video will be shown to determine which orientation is best.
Check your framing of the picture. Try to fill the frame with your face. We would like to see from the chest to just the top of the head. This is for two reasons: a better-composed shot, and the likelihood that the person will be in close proximity to the device's microphone.
Make sure that the person recording is in a quiet comfortable spot, free of background noise and other distractions. Also, a room with books and soft cushioned furniture will record better for sound than a room with a lot of hard reflective surfaces.
Try to shoot in an area where the light is pleasing and consistent. A common issue when filming a face is when the background is blown out and the person's face is hard to see.
When sending a video file, send at the highest video resolution.

Production and editing

Video recorded with a mobile device is acceptable for sharing on social media in many instances. However, some video projects, especially those used for institutional marketing and fundraising, require the use of a professional videographer. Please contact Public Affairs and Marketing if you’re unsure which route to take as there are pros and cons to both options.

Video length
Keep in mind the average user watch time on social media is 30–90 seconds. Website videos have similar timeframes. Videos lasting longer than 10 minutes should be avoided whenever possible. Consider the following limits on length prior to creating your video:

Facebook max length: 240 min.
Instagram max length: 60 sec. (longer for IGTV)
Twitter max length: 80 sec.

Sound, lighting, photography

Videos should have proper audio and lighting quality. Avoid using a microphone outdoors on a windy day without adequate wind screens. Avoid recording lectures from across the room, as videos like this have lower viewer engagement and typically lower resolution and audio quality.

Beginning January 1, 2018, all videos hosted by Hope College must include transcription for accessibility. It is a best-practice to include transcriptions for all your videos.

All music, images and photography should have proper permission granted for use.

The CIT website offers some direction on copyright use.
YouTube provides a free audio library.
Or, an online search for Creative Commons Images/Video/Audio will find options for images, video and audio that are free to use and available in the public domain.

Layout and formatting

Mobile videos shot vertically are generally not suitable for most web video, with the exception of Snapchat and Instagram videos. Be sure you’re recording with your device held horizontally if you’ll use your video anywhere else, especially on larger screens.

Aspect ratio describes how wide and tall your video is. A 16x9 aspect ratio is the general standard for video published on the web, such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Resolutions such as 720p, 1080p and 4k are generally in this format and, in most cases, should not be altered to make your video taller or narrower.

Branding

Adherence to the Hope College brand guidelines is required for all videos including the proper use of Hope College logos, colors and fonts. Questions about the brand guidelines or our brand elements should be directed to marketing@hope.edu.

Students featured on video should wear appropriate attire for the occasion, which may include Hope College attire. It is not acceptable for students to wear other college or university attire in a Hope video.

Hosting your video

Several options are available for hosting a video file. The Hope College YouTube channel is a marketing and promotional channel maintained by the Office of Public Affairs and Marketing, and is used to help recruit and retain students, faculty, donors and employees, and to engage with our alumni. It may not be the best solution for general video hosting. If your course or program has a need for ongoing video hosting, consider hosting your video on your Google Drive and linking to it from within Moodle.

Google drive and moodle
Videos intended to be shared with a specific group such as a classroom audience or club membership may be hosted on Google Drive and linked from within Moodle. This alleviates any need for your viewers to have a particular program to watch your video, as videos may be watched from within Google’s player.

Youtube
Videos used for marketing and promotion may be hosted on the college’s YouTube channel, however, there are a few things we ask you to keep in mind:

Videos to be embedded on the Hope College website must first be published on the college’s YouTube Channel. Contact social@hope.edu to submit a video for YouTube.
Beginning January 1, 2018, all videos hosted by Hope College must include transcriptions for accessibility. You will be required to submit a transcription for publishing on YouTube or Facebook.
Privacy settings on YouTube are public, unlisted or private. Determine which setting your video needs prior to requesting it be uploaded.
Please provide a title and proper description of what the video is about with your upload request. Titles must be 100 characters or less. A proper title is critical for your video to be discovered online easily. Public Affairs and Marketing may edit your video title for YouTube search optimization.
Your video description should be a brief synopsis of what your video is about. Similar to your video title, descriptions should be thoughtfully constructed.

Hosting management

Public Affairs and Marketing is the administrative manager of the Hope College YouTube channel, youtube.com/hopecollege and Hope Athletics on YouTube, youtube.com/hopeathletics.

The Hope College YouTube channel is used as the primary online video-sharing service for all of Hope College. We encourage the campus community to take advantage of the large audience reach of the college’s channel by requesting their videos be added to one of our playlists rather than creating a unique account on YouTube, using a personal account or creating a new account with a different service. For password-protected video hosting, please contact social@hope.edu.

Public Affairs and Marketing reserves the right to request edits or decline hosting your video on the Hope College YouTube channel.