ESPN College Football Anthem: Something Real
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Short-Form Video
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
A cinematic experience to unveil ESPN's musical anthem for the 2023-24 college football season with GRAMMY® Award-nominated artist Post Malone. The promotional video introduces "Something Real" as the backdrop for ESPN’s college football coverage and drives excitement for the new season.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
I humbly believe this work establishes a new benchmark by transcending traditional boundaries to create a dynamic, emotive, and authentic experience that goes beyond promotion. It is also a testament to the professional cinematographers and sports creative staff members across the industry. Each composition represents the dedication, creativity, and passion of numerous individuals who contributed to ESPN and football programs nationwide. The video's dual success—praised contextually for its editing and quantitatively amassing over 6 million social media engagements—speaks volumes. But more importantly, I believe it has the ability to inspire the industry to reimagine the possibilities at the nexus of sports, music, and storytelling. Urging a collective push towards unprecedented heights in fan connectivity and engagement.
Objective
The objective was clear: to transcend the conventional hype video and deliver a captivating cinematic experience that resonates with the audience. Not only does the video need to highlight and celebrate a partership with a critically acclaimed artist, but it needs to have an impact that is strong enough to flagplant as the arrival of the football season. The musical anthem unveiling has recently become a pivotal cultural moment, not only for ESPN but for sports fans nationwide. The announcement is featured annually in music and sporting news outlets across the media landscape. My objective was to build a connection to the audience, to evoke their emotions and excitement for the sport of college football, from die-hards to casual fans. Simply put, my objective was to answer the plea echoed in the song's chorous, "Give me something I can feel."
Strategy & Execution
The strategy began with a deep understanding of the song's musical structure. It involved a thoughtful integration in creating a harmonious marriage between sound and sight. The powerful choir introduction of "Something Real" became the focal point of the cinematic experience. Extracting the choir acapella from the song stems allowed for building a custom musical arrangement using sound design to help pace the visual flash cut sequences while using sound bites used to help set the stage. The introduction establishes a gospel-like tone that heightens the emotional impact of the video. Mirrored with visual choices that evoke genuine emotion (dark tunnels, pregame prayers, reflective moments) mixed with high energy visuals to contrast (packed stadiums, fan screams, passion) all synchronized with the raw, unfiltered essence of the song. Throughout the song, I discovered more opportunties to build more connections, both strong ("Its a Miracle" with Hail Mary/Crowd Rush) and light hearted ("Louie V" accompanying a Louisville player.) The video is meticulously crafted, using a blend of mixed media and immersive effects to keep the energy high for 81 seconds. The newspaper typeface and graphic elements are intentionally used to draw a parallel to ESPN's brand tagline "The Greatest Story Ever Played".
Organizations
- ESPN
Links
Credits
Cameron Good
Director / Editor
Blue Ox Films
John Hewer
Associate Manager Sports Marketing
ESPN
David Dessau
Sports Marketing Manager
ESPN
Maggie Lewin
Director of Sports Marketing
ESPN
Willi Anderson
Sports Marketing
ESPN
Emily Fishman
Marketing Coordinator
ESPN
Curtis Friends
Senior Director of Marketing
ESPN
Sean Andersen
Assistant Editor
ESPN
Cameron Gross
Assistant Editor
ESPN
Kimberly McKeever
Production Coordinator
ESPN
Mike Dominguez
Production Coordinator
ESPN
Chelsea Mikell
Production Coordinator
ESPN
David Wimberly
Production Coordinator
ESPN
Kassandra Wentland
Production Coordinator
ESPN
Mika Altskan
DP (Post Malone Music Video)
Austin Richard Post
Talent
Mercury / Republic Records
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
