Knowledge is power. Perhaps no one knows this better than @ChemicalKim, @anp_professor, and @juliustheprofessor: three standout teachers (with a combined following of over 2.2 million followers) who have taken it upon themselves to further education in unlikely places, like TikTok. These educators consistently package learning into bite-sized pieces, helping kids and curious learners eat their proverbial vegetables while scrolling through social media.
So, when TikTok contacted us about putting together a formal interview with these superstar smarties, we couldn’t help but say yes– even if it meant securing an entire shoot from preproduction to wrap within a week.
We got the chance to film at the beautiful Fordham University, working our way through gorgeous cathedral halls and classic lecture theaters to scout out the perfect location for our teachers:
Walking through the dazzling campus was enough inspiration to send us back to class, but it was clear we had a big job to do. For one thing, the shoot consisted of over 30 crew members and was shot in a public space, with vastly different lighting conditions from one space to the next. The scope of these interviews came with the need for extensive insurance and collaboration with an international agency in order to successfully capture each teacher’s spirit.
Considering the scale of this project coupled with its tight turnaround, our crew had our work cut out for us. Fortunately, we thrive under pressure. All of our team members are trained to use our equipment, making it easy for us to set up the perfect lighting conditions across several locations throughout the course of a day:
We’re not ones to stray away from a challenge, and it was exciting to create versatile content that could be used for social, ad campaigns, educational purposes, and beyond. Packaging storytelling into multi-channel media is what we do best, and all of our preparation paid off the minute we let the teachers do the talking:
We cultivated a unique setup for each teacher to bring out the best in their personality and background in their respective interviews. Partnering with an organization as big as TikTok comes with its own set of expectations, but we did our best to help each teacher’s story shine through.
Establishing a connection quickly with short-form content is crucial, and luckily our team comes from a wide range of backgrounds to provide the perspective needed to capture gold on set. After all, small details matter that much more when it comes to capturing polished videos for social media.
Bringing these teachers together at the stunning Fordham University couldn’t have been a more rewarding experience, and we’re delighted to use our team’s talents to put a spotlight on these everyday heroes.
