Learning Minds come alive in our London Met TV ad

From Sussex to SOAS, Cardiff to Keele, and many, many more besides, Spectrecom is a video production company with towering experience in the higher education sector. However our new project for London Metropolitan University signals genuinely new territory.

That’s because said project is our first full-scale TV ad for a university client, bringing with it all the excitement and demands which that format entails.

It was all the way back in spring of this year that Oliver Knight, one of our account managers for universities, got in touch with the marketing team at London Met. The result was us being asked to respond to a new brief they were putting together.

That brief was a wide-ranging one, encompassing not just a TV ad (across a variety of durations no less) but also an eight-part series of online videos showcasing the university’s four different faculties and its core values.

More on those online videos over the next few days; for the moment let’s focus on the main event, that all-singing, all-dancing London Met TV commercial.

Film Concept

The chosen concept for the ad originated with Spectrecom producer Clemence Bartram, who found inspiration in the endlessly elegant words of American poet Robert Frost.

Developed further by Clem and other members of the creative team here, her idea evolved into an uplifting yet honest chronicle of three students’ personal journeys taking them through the triumphs and challenges of university life.

With director Matt Farman joining the project team, our trio of star students really began to take shape:

• Thomas (played by Pierre Marku), recently out of school and deciding on his next step
• Louise (played by Tash Holway), the young mum uncertain whether to pursue her artistic aspirations
• And Fatema (played by Patsy Prince), looking to advance to the next stage of her career

In addition to garlanding the project with his abilities as one of Spectrecom’s leading filmmakers, Matt also channelled his inner poet to pen the ad’s lyrical narration, entitled ‘Life’s Learning Mind’.

Filming took place across London, visiting Rowans bowling alley in Finsbury Park, as well as shooting extensively at London Met itself.

Congratulations to Clem, Matt and all the myriad other Spectrecommers who lent their considerable talents to this project. And be sure to check back in with the blog over the coming week or so to inspect the new series of online films.

Behind the Scenes