School of Communications students Atikh Bana, Chad Rodgers, Lindsey
VanDenBoom, Joseph Buckenmeyer, Ian Kast, Olga Sarayeva and Richard
Iseppi pose with members of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. Photo
courtesy: GVSU Ford Team - See
Student-produced Ford ad launches online
Mar 10, 2015
A Ford Motor Company ad produced by seven students from Grand Valley
State University’s School of Communications can now be viewed online
by audiences around the globe.
The video is a byproduct of a 2014 competition that pitted Grand
Valley’s team against students from Calvin College and Compass College
for Cinematic Arts. The challenge, presented by Ford’s advertising
agency Team Detroit, was to develop and produce online videos
showcasing inspirational stories about people or organizations in
Michigan. Grand Valley’s team won the competition in December and was
awarded the opportunity to continue working with Team Detroit to
expand and improve their video project.
Grand Valley’s video highlights Archangel Ancient Tree Archive,
an organization dedicated to fighting global warming by cloning the
world’s largest and most iconic trees.
After winning the competition, Ian Kast, the project’s director
of photography and a senior majoring in film and video production,
traveled to California with Team Detroit and Archangel Ancient Tree
Archive founder David Milarch to collect additional footage of
monumental Redwood trees for the video.
“The trip was the most breathtaking, amazing, eye opening trip I
have ever taken,” Kast said. “David showed us his home away from home
in the redwoods and made it clear to us the importance of the message
of his company.”
Throughout January and February, the entire Grand Valley team
assembled in Detroit to finalize the postproduction process with Team Detroit.
Lindsey VanDenBoom, senior advertising and public relations
major, said seeing the team’s final video posted along side a plethora
of other videos spotlighting Ford’s current Go Further campaign
created an extraordinary feeling.
“The time our team dedicated toward research, crafting and
editing shows how much hard work pays off,” VanDenBoom said. “This
final video ultimately captures David Milarch’s humor, spirit and
passion for trees. I hope this video will continue to educate, inspire
and warm the hearts of people around the world.
To watch Grand Valley’s original contest entry, visit http://youtu.be/kfcXRmKr2f8.
For more information, contact Lindsey VanDenBoom at
[email protected].
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