Video provides a unique opportunity for storytelling — from multiple perspectives — in an efficient, engaging and emotive way.
No other medium can paint such a compelling, immediate picture of the people, ideas, events and places across the Carnegie Mellon University community. Using the resources compiled here and looking through your own creative lens, you can shape a visual narrative that excites your audience and helps advance the reputation of the university.
Available Resources
CMU Selects
Special collections of campus, lifestyle, classroom and research imagery available for use by the CMU community without a login.
For external use, please email marketing-info.andrew@cmu.edu.
DAM - Digital Asset Management
A collaborative, self-service library of digital assets exclusively for staff members with communications and marketing job responsibilities. A user account is required.
Media Services
Media Services is CMU’s in-house video service provider. Contact Media Services if you are looking to capture an activity or create a professional quality video for your unit.
Graphic Elements
We recommend using the standard CMU lower-third of the screen for identifying subjects in your video. You can find an approved animated template in our Brand Center. We also recommend using our branded end-tag. This is a great way to close your video and ensures consistency across all videos produced by and for CMU. You can also find this in our Brand Center.
Request a Waiver
We provide an online waiver collection platform for CMU photography and videography shoots or university events where participants’ images may be captured for marketing purposes. Request a waiver for your shoot or event by completing this form.
Commercial Use
All commercial filming and photography must be coordinated and approved through University Communications & Marketing. All requests for commercial filming on campus must be accompanied by an Access Use Agreement. Applications must be submitted to UCM a minimum of 10 business days prior to the requested film date.
All filming requests will receive a timely response via email. Please note that business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekend and holiday requests will not be addressed until the next business day. CMU reserves the right to decline any request. Questions regarding commercial filming and photography should be directed to marketing-info@andrew.cmu.edu.
News Media
News media who plan to film or photograph on CMU’s campus are asked to notify the University Communications & Marketing Media Team in advance by emailing media-relations@andrew.cmu.edu.
The UCM Media team will work with news and commercial media to determine available filming locations on campus. To respect the privacy of our community members, filming or photography inside residence halls, the health center and other private spaces is prohibited.
Capture Your Own Video
If you are considering creating your own videos for marketing or storytelling to represent CMU, follow these best practices to ensure your video projects meet our brand standards, both in brand alignment and quality. If you have any questions or would like additional guidance, please reach out to marketing-info@andrew.cmu.edu.
Recommended Video Specifications
We recommend the following basic video specs when filming:
- 4K resolution (3840x2160) is ideal, but Full HD (1920x1080) is also acceptable.
- For filming real-time footage (not slow motion), we recommend 23.976 frames per second (24fps). This is the standard frame rate for capturing natural-looking movement on camera.
- For filming in slow motion, the following frame rates are recommended (Note: the higher the frame rate, the slower the movement): 48fps, 60fps, 120fps, 240fps.
Your speed should be adjusted in accordance with the frame rate. Generally speaking, a good rule of thumb is to double your shutter speed based on your frame rate. For example, if you are filming at 24fps, your shutter speed should be at or close to 1/48 or, if filming at 120fps, your shutter speed should be 1/240.
Ensure the camera’s color temperature is set to the proper degrees (represented in Kelvin) based on your environment. If your camera’s color temperature is not set to reflect your filming environment, this will result in the color of the footage looking unnatural; usually either too “cold” or too “warm.”
For example, daylight burns at around 5600 degrees Kelvin. Thus, to ensure natural-looking footage, your camera should be set to around the same color temperature.
Color temperature can widely vary depending on your environment (especially indoors). If you are unsure what temperature to set your camera to, most cameras have an auto white balance feature.
There are many other settings in your camera that can be adjusted based on your preferences/filming situation, but the above mentioned are the basics. We also highly recommend using a professional video camera for capturing footage for video projects. While the cameras in our smartphones are constantly improving, they are often not sufficient for meeting the needs of the university’s visual brand standards. Smartphone cameras can be a great tool for short-form videos created specifically for social media, but for more polished video content, a professional video camera is preferred. If you need any guidance regarding video camera options, please reach out to UCM. We can provide information about solutions that meet both your needs and your budget.
Best Practices for Filming Interviews
Location/Background
When setting up/choosing your interview location, factor in the subject and storyline you are trying to visually convey. This may also require some art direction — use the elements of the location to help tell your story. Think of your background as a blank canvas: “Paint” the background with elements, props, machinery, etc. that reflect the narrative. However, avoid unintentional clutter or something distracting in the background that could divert the viewer’s attention. Avoid placing the subject directly in front of a window or wall.
Capturing and Using B-Roll
Relevance
Keep B-roll relevant to the narrative. The B-roll is meant to better illustrate and amplify your story, not detract from it.
Add a Little CMU Flare
When possible, incorporate some CMU branding into the b-roll. This could simply be highlighting branded elements in buildings/on campus in your footage. Or it could be the subjects’ wardrobes. Use this tastefully and sparingly, though. Even for pieces that are geared specifically for marketing purposes, you want to make sure the story itself is the visual focal point, not obvious CMU branding/product placement.
Audio
Disruptions
Another important thing to consider when choosing your interview location is sound disruptions.
Avoid common and public areas with high volumes of foot traffic and where the ability to control sound is limited. Consider a private location that gives you the ability to control unwanted sounds.
Avoid rooms with too much echo/reverb. Rooms with too much echo/reverb can result in off-putting dialogue or voiceover capture. Reverb is very difficult to remove in post-production.
Microphone Placement
If you are using a lavalier microphone, do your best to hide any hanging wires/microphones on the subject. The goal with video production is to hide elements of the production unless they are stylistically intentional. A lavalier microphones that is clearly visible on the subject is less than ideal. If possible, an overhead boom microphone is recommended over a lavalier microphone. If using a boom mic, a good rule of thumb is to point the mic at the subject’s sternum. Also, avoid putting the boom mic below/pointing up at the subject. This may result in the subject’s voice sounding too “nasal.”
Composition
If using two cameras, ensure you are not breaking the “30-degree rule.” This is a rule in video production that prevents two shots from looking too similar when edited together (i.e., when the two interview shots are edited back-to-back in a video, the cut feels jarring because there is a lack of visual contrast between the two shots).
Do Have Good Visual Contrast, Even When Cameras Are Side-by-Side
If you have drastically different compositions/focal lengths, placing the cameras side-by-side during an interview may be appropriate since the two shots look much different in composition.
Don't Make Shots Look Too Similar in Composition and Focal Length
If you have two cameras side-by-side that are not starkly different in their compositions/focal lengths, cutting between them may look jarring or like a jump cut.
Do Ensure the Focal Length and Angles Have Enough Difference Between Them
Alternatively, you can place both cameras at different angles of no less than 30 degrees from each other (hence the name of the rule). For example, if you have one camera where the subject’s eye-line is directly to one side of the camera, consider placing the second camera where the subject is seen in more of a profile shot. However, consider ensuring both cameras have a difference in focal length regardless of placement; even angles that are more than 30 degrees from each other but have similar focal lengths can look jarring when cut together.
Don't Let the Subject Look in Two Different Frame Directions
Another rule in video production when filming an interview with two cameras is the “180-degree rule.” This rule ensures a subject’s eye-line is consistent from one angle to the next. From a birds-eye view, think of the entire interview set up as a circle: if the subject is in the middle of that circle, both cameras should be placed on the same half of that circle; the eye-line determines the split between both halves of the circle/where the 180-degree line is. When the 180-degree rule is broken, the subject is looking frame-right in one angle and frame-left in the other, which is visually confusing. The subject should always be looking in the same direction.
Unless it is a stylistic choice that amplifies the narrative, avoid extreme close-ups of the subject (where the subject’s face fills more than 75% of the frame). Give them some breathing room in the frame.
Lighting
When lighting a subject for an interview, we recommend using professional video production lights. You can also use a combination of production lights and natural/ambient light in the location.
A basic/simple lighting setup for an interview could be a three-point lighting system:
- Key Light: Main/brightest source of light on a subject. This should be placed on the opposite side of the camera.
- Fill Light: Secondary light used to fill in shadows from the Key Light. This should be placed at around a 90°-150° angle from the Key Light.
- Rim Light: Tertiary light placed behind the subject to add dimension/contrast between the subject and the background — this may be optional depending on the environment and stylistic choices.
Editing and Post-Production Considerations
Captions are text versions of the audio content, synchronized with the video. Captions should convey all spoken words, make clear who is speaking and inform the reader of any relevant sounds. Captions improve the experience for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, non-native to the language, viewing in a noisy environment, need to view in silence or use the text for reference or a learning aid. It is the responsibility of the content creator to ensure that electronic and information technology, including videos and animations, adhere to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please contact the Digital Accessibility Office for more information about creating compliant content. Different options for including captioning in your videos are available. Typically, an SRT file, which is a file format compatible with most video platforms, is generated. For information regarding how to create captions/SRT files, please contact University Communications & Marketing at marketing-info@andrew.cmu.edu.
We recommend using the standard CMU lower-third for identifying subjects in your video. You can find an approved animated template in our Brand Center.
We also recommend using our branded end-tag. This is a great way to close your video and ensure consistency across all videos produced by and for CMU. You can find this in our Brand Center.
Ensure that you are using royalty-free audio to avoid breaching any copyright laws, or purchase stock audio.
Carnegie Mellon University videography captures the authentic, diverse experiences of our community. Any religious or political expressions in the images are those of the individuals depicted and do not represent the position of the university.