Video and Animation

Video is a powerful marketing tool. It enables us to engage and inform our various audiences whilst encouraging an emotional response and instilling a sense of pride and enthusiasm for the University. The following guidelines have been prepared to help you maintain a consistent brand identity when producing a variety of compelling video content.

Once you have decided that a video is the best requirement for your needs and have approval to create it from your college or department marketing team, decide whether you will be the one making the video, or if you need to seek assistance in having one made. If the latter, consider whether the type of video you wish to make could be produced by a creator in your college or department or whether you need to approach our internal video production team in Creative Media as a client.

If you are making or producing a video you must adhere to the guidelines below. All videos must be checked against these requirements before they are published. For further guidance, please contact the University Brand Team.

Good planning should be at the heart of every video you produce. Before you even pick up your filming equipment you should establish the key messages and objectives of the video, and whether you have the resource to produce it within your college or department or whether you need to seek Creative Media’s assistance.

This can be achieved by completing a brief and a storyboard. Contact your relevant College / Department or Creative Media for further enquiries. By completing these items before filming you can confirm the following:

• Length of video – It is important to consider what platforms your video will be featured on. Different social media platforms have varying video length restriction, and varying trends of consumption. Consider all of these factors and research the above before filming.
• Variations – Your content may require multiple versions to be used on different social media platforms. Consider if you need to film multiple bits of content to support the story i.e. you may wish to film a more polished video in landscape but do you also need to record a tiktok video in portrait using a phone or tablet to support the content?”
• Timescale – can you realistically achieve your desired results in the time frame given? It is important to consider how long a video can take to produce, film, edit, caption and even export and distribute before filming.
• Budget – will your video require a budget to create it?
• Approvals – will elements of your video require approval from departments and individuals?
• Location scouting – will you need to look at the location of filming before the shoot?
• Ensure your video meets web accessibility guidelines.

When creating video content, we must consider the purpose of the video, for example; is it for an external-facing recruitment tool (tier one), or an internal-facing staff update / external-facing online lecture (that needs topped and tailed.)(tier two).

For an example of this, please see brand video below.

To help categorise video content we recommend adopting this tiered system, in order to differentiate.

The cinematography and editing should reflect the characteristics that are inherent to UoB.

The following are video techniques identified as the UoB video style:

Disarming yet understated ‘active’ and functional imagery of factual university people and events without overly ‘staging’ scenes.  An interpretation of Birmingham as a practical and unassuming but also proactive and enterprising.

There are many transitions to choose from, but as a general rule transitions should elevate your video by drawing the viewer through the narrative without drawing attention to itself as a transitional device. However, a transition can elevate the aesthetic of a uniquely crafted film, but whichever technique is employed should be especially considered so as to not date the project or be inconsistent with the creative. If a project requires a cutom transition, make sure to seek the advice of the agency or Creative Media team involved in the project or campaign, as this device would need to work cooperatively with all the deliverables associated with the campaign/project creative. For Tier 2 projects, please see our recommendation below. Seek approval from the University of Birmingham brand team when creating Tier 1 content.

In most cases minimalism should be the preferred transitional technique, the more invisible the cut is the more the viewer will remain engaged. We recommend using a hard-cut for Tier 2 projects as this allows for efficient and effective storytelling which doesn’t distract from the narrative. The hard-cut has been the preferred transition for over 100 years and we as viewers have grown up with it, and to be presented with a new transition (such as a swipe or masked-cut) will naturally draw attention to itself and force the viewer to question why it was used – this isn’t inherently bad, but would require especially considered rationale when it is employed – see Tier 1.

When footage features our ‘lines of intent,’ it must be composed with camera movement, shot duration, and colour grade in mind. Footage captured that isn’t required to feature the lines can mirror these shots and take inspiration from the surrounding environment; architectural elements, naturally occurring ‘leading lines’ and positional or layered details. Here are some examples of how they can directly and indirectly feature. From the examples below, the lines of intent are a flexible and responsive brand device and can be housed in various ways, but some elements need to be considered prior to implementation.

From a general composition point of view, the most important aspect is how positive and negative space is utilised. There is deliberate framing to allow placement of the device. This means the device can be in front of or behind people, sitting symmetrically to reflect the shape and design of a space, or how something moves within the frame (references in the ‘Lines of Intent’ section above).

We recommend using the rule-of-thirds for framing an interview as it is a universally accepted functional and aesthetically-pleasing method for achieving a professional interview setup. Try to place the interviewee on top left or right of the frame where the imaginary line of thirds interceed. Try to keep the camera at eye level and avoid exaggerated perspectives (high or low-angle framing). Subject can be positioned either to the left or the right of the screen.

One of the key distinctions in Birmingham’s visual style is how shots have a sense of movement and flow. These intentional movements keep the video active and engaging. This sense of flow also allows greater expression of the Lines of Intent, as they move through more than a static space, they can move in 3D. Even small amounts of motion make for more engaging content.

Links to videos showing camera movement here:

• Camera movement 1
• Camera movement 2
• Footage mirroring lines of intent

Further videos showing the Lines of Intent in action are in the Visual Identity section in Animation.

Largely dependent on the brief for tier one. As a general rule for tier two projects we should employ bold, accurate, colourful tones that feed into the personality of UoB.

See photography guidelines for more information.

Music choice errs on contemporary with classical characteristics to convey a modern university with a depth in heritage. There is flex here given the specific requirements and context of ad hoc briefs.

The following guidelines have been created to inform how footage should be captured, with the intention of creating a consistent visual. These are foundational video elements that all filmmakers and content creators should be aware of and adhere to, ensuring the correct capture of video for all productions.

The dynamic range of a video file refers to two key elements of your image; 1. The latitude of data captured in the video file and 2. The exposure range of your video image. Ideally, a well-exposed image will not clip the highlights or crush the shadows – allowing for a greater level of post-production control in the grading phase of a video project. Here are some references of a well-exposed shot vs a poorly-exposed shot. Using the waveform function in-camera can avoid any loss of image data/quality.

One of the key distinctions in Birmingham’s visual style is how shots have a sense of movement and flow. These intentional movements keep the video active and engaging. This sense of flow also allows greater expression of the Lines of Intent, as they move through more than a static space, they can move in 3D. Even small amounts of motion make for more engaging content.

There are various options when it comes to video resolutions but it is widely accepted that shooting in 4k (or 3840×2160) is the modern standard. Any hosting platforms (Youtube, Vimeo, etc.) recompress the file to suit their specifications for optimising video, but uploading the highest quality possible on our end maintains a relatively high-quality video file.

Resolution should not be confused with aspect ratio; which refers to the shape of the video frame which is an important consideration for different platforms and deliverables. Here are some examples of various aspect ratios and how it informs resolution sizes:

The design brand guidelines go hand-in-hand with the motion guidelines. So, we must respect those when applying graphics in motion.

In this section we will cover:

• The introduction and tier system for animation
• The use of the Lines of Intent and their use
• The implementation of Intros & Outros
• The use of Lower Thirds and placement

Much like with the video and overall agency guidelines, the animation guidelines will change as the brand evolves. As experimentation continues with animation, the more we can demonstrate the flexibility of the device and the animation collateral. The key purpose of the animated content is that it is purposeful and impactful.

One of the key distinctions in Birmingham’s visual style is how shots have a sense of movement and flow. These intentional movements keep the video active and engaging. This sense of flow also allows greater expression of the Lines of Intent, as they move through more than a static space, they can move in 3D. Even small amounts of motion make for more engaging content.

The tier system, as established in the video guidelines explains the two ways we look at content that will be created. For the use of animation, the templates that treatments that are carried out will depend on the video’s tier system.

The use of animation is centred around our animated device, the lines of intent.

This device can be animated in various ways, moving in either a 2D or 3D space with lines being as short or as long as required. Here are some examples of how the device can be used;

As named, the device must have purpose when used within footage. Whether it is demonstrating the Lines of Intent in architecture or in a more abstract way such as mimicking motion or camera movements. Examples shown below: (Video 1&2)

The device can also be put behind subjects to add complexity to a scene (using an animation technique called rotoscoping). This can avoid the device becoming cluttered or interfering with peoples’ faces (fig. 3).

One of the key distinctions in Birmingham’s visual style is how shots have a sense of movement and flow. These intentional movements keep the video active and engaging. This sense of flow also allows greater expression of the Lines of Intent, as they move through more than a static space, they can move in 3D. Even small amounts of motion make for more engaging content.

Text graphics can be used to pull out certain points and sections in addition to the use of lower thirds. (A template has been provided.)

Listed below are two examples of text animation that can be implemented into day to day content. One Method plays with the use of a scrolling method that plays with position and opacity.

The other is just using opacity to animate text.

As text graphics is implemented into Tier 1, there’s room to elevate text animation, becoming more bespoke. Seek approval from the University of Birmingham brand team (brand@contacts.bham.ac.uk) if bespoke transitions are going to be used.

When using our assets, it’s important to use the right formats for each social media platform. Below is a guide of each format and their intended use for socials:

The videos supplied as reuseable assets will either come as either an .AE file (Adobe After Effects) or as an .MOV file.

.AE File

These will be the animation files. It is required to have Adobe After Effects for them to be used. With these working files you can edit templates such as URLs on Endframes or Lower Thirds. For these assets a tutorial will accompany the asset so the execution of your social assets will be consistent across all daily use content.

.MOV File

This is a type of video file that is higher quality and contains an alpha channel (transparency). These videos will contain transitions with transparency; meaning the files can be added on top of a video timeline and should blend well with your video content.

For all templates and animated content, there will versions in the following formats 16.9,9.16 & 1.1*

The usage of the intro will be on primarily tier 2 content, as the intro isn’t a necessity but can be a good way of starting content (if applicable). The intro will be supplied as an .MOV file and can be placed on top of video content.

The usage of the intro will be on primarily tier 2 content, as the intro isn’t a necessity but can be a good way of starting content (if applicable). For all video content, an outro is a requirement. There are two outros, one for daily use content and the other for our hero video style content.

This will be dedicated to our hero videos where impactful and more flexible content is created. As this content will have an internal and external audience, the outro will not have an editable CTA or URL. This video will be supplied as an .MOV file.

This will be dedicated to daily use videos, where a less cinematic outro is needed which will include a URL and CTA. The outro will be provided as an AE. File so that the URL and CTA can be customised.

A link to the tutorials on each video is available, this will advise on how the animation files work as well as how to export the final video as an .MOV file

For any piece to camera content, especially when interviewing members of staff and professionals, lower thirds are essential. The lower thirds will cover both tiers and for consistency will remain the same in design. There will be a static version of the lower thirds available as well as options that accommodate different name and title lengths. For this, the deliverables will be an .AE file.

Call-to-actions and URLs should use the Manrope typeface, and Arial should be used for captions and subtitles. Visit our guidance on typography for more information on this.

There should be no creator/film-maker credits at the end of any video.