Aalto New Student Orientation

August 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic put many in a new situation in 2020, including Aalto University who suddenly could not arrange informational sessions for new students as in-person mass lectures. After considering several replacement options, some of the information got delivered via recorded studio sessions instead.

Aalto ARTS New Student Orientation

One of the units in need of orientation materials was Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, colloquially known as Aalto ARTS, who turned to Aalto Studios for video production expertise.

Of course the production needed to be done within a very tight turnaround, quickly planning and executing something that is informative to the new students and visually works as a coherent and thought-out whole. Roughly 2,5 hours of content got produced, split into three parts that you can find above and below.

The programme outline relied on the core structure of previous years’ events, but was developed and scripted further to accomodate the new format. Professors from different departments of Aalto ARTS visited the studio to present, as did representatives of Aalto Design Factory, Aalto Student Union AYY and student tutors, to name a few.

Vegetation provided a cozy feel to the simple and stylish studio space, with bypassers in the background keeping the scene lively and the gigantic A! neon sign visually anchoring the scene to the Aalto University brand. The in-between slide graphics showcased various views from Väre, the flagship building of Aalto ARTS.

We employed a classic three-camera setup with a front wide view and one camera for each side of the stage. One of them was often manually operated, picking up closeups of interviewees and other detail shots. Using both shotgun and lavalier microphones ensured that we had the best audio possible available at any given moment.

I was in charge of editing multiple insert videos, taking photos for and editing together studio graphics and slides, live image mixing on-set and afterwards editing the full show together. All of this was quite hectic and challenging to do, and I’m proud of what we accomplished.

Huge thanks to each and every one involved in the production before, during and after the studio day!

The official info page can be found here: ARTS Joint Orientation Day 31.8.2020.

Orientation to Student Services and Wellbeing

A similar-size production done right after the ARTS Orientation was the Orientation to Student Services and Wellbeing, which was intended for new students in all six schools of Aalto University. It relied heavily on recently produced insert videos, with the in-studio sections providing an easy-to-follow outline for the whole.

I was again responsible for live image mixing on-set and editing together the final product. This time around for me, editing was a quicker job of assembling longer blocks on the timeline. It was still challenging due to the sheer amount of content and quick turnaround time involved.

The official info pages can be found here:

Orientation to Student Services and Wellbeing

Orientaatio opiskelijan palveluihin ja hyvinvointiin

Thanks for watching!