My role: Creative Director, Producer, and Screenwriter
VIDEOGRAPHY: Chuy Guttierez OF BosLabs | Photography: Robert Caplin
The start of every new academic cycle is met with a considerable buzz of excitement, joy, and air of new beginnings.
The School welcomes the new class, introduces them to a few community-building activities, and prepares them for the White Coat Ceremony—a celebration that kicks-off medical students' new careers upon receipt of their white coats.
In the healthcare industry, the white coat has been symbolically synonymous with responsibility, quality care, and even privilege. But that's just half of the story. "What the White Coat Means to Me" was an opportunity to hear the impact the white coat has had on their decision to choose medicine and their hopes for the future of healthcare from the students themselves.
This production was a one-day shoot, filmed in six different locations on- and around-campus.
I selected the students based on their responses to a survey I put out to the incoming class. I storyboarded the concept choosing the locations and deciding on the transitions to relay to the videographer. This video was going to be debuted at the 2022 White Coat Ceremony as part of the event, and would therefore need to be five minutes or less. I collaborated with the students to tailor their responses to fit the timing needed for this production and general flow.
This was an exciting production for me. I generally love the on-the-ground action that comes with being a producer and director for video shoots. And I always enjoy learning more about my subjects in documentary style productions. This one was a bit different for me because of the end result. Most of the content I have produced for the School has been for marketing campaigns and social media. Seeing my work on a larger screen, in front of an audience, and hearing the thunderous applause in between the transitions and at the end, was an unforgettable and empowering experience.
After its debut, the video was posted on social media, blog posts, and the School website for event recap content. In addition, the video also provided content for the Admissions' email outreach to new school applicants.
The above version of "What the White Coat Means to Me" was the second rendition of this piece. The two videos below were created for the 2021 White Coat Ceremony but due to unfavorable outdoor conditions, the videos were unable to be shown on the stage screen as intended, but were again part of the marketing strategy for the event.
These videos were made in partnership with:
Drs. Jacob Appel and Craig Katz, Michael Auten, Uma Balachandran, Cristina Bañuelos, Christopher Cheng, Akiro Duey, Shubham Gulati, Sunjay Letchuman, Mackenzie Mitchell, Abhishek Mogli, Ayman Mohammad, Katrina Nietsch, Tracy Okine, Amare Osei, Brittany Sacks, Salonee Shah, Ikaasa Suri, Tsion Tmariam, Anya Wang, and Catherine Wu.