Bangor University’s festive short film (2021)
Our short seasonal video was produced to celebrate the city of Bangor and the wonderful and diverse community that our University forms a part of.
We wanted to wish the community a truly magical festive season.
Watch below, and scroll down for more information on how and why we made the film!
WATCH THE 2022 FESTIVE FILM HERE
The concept
In what has been a challenging couple of years, it was our aim to make a feel-good film which shines a light on the hard work of healthcare professionals during the pandemic.
Produced as a gift to the city of Bangor, the story follows a little girl who wants to see her health worker mother at Christmas, and we watch as she chases a magical sparkling orb around some of the most beautiful locations on our campus and around the city.
The short film forms a continuation of our 'Experience Magical' brand campaign, which was launched with a TV advert in November 2021.
The making of the film
The short film was shot over two evenings in December 2021, and we worked alongside production company Lush films to bring some festive joy to the city.
The 2 minute 15 second film was shared on the University’s social media channels and website.
Visual effects
To add magic to the film, a sparkling orb was added to the footage during post-production, using cutting-edge visual effects.
The stars
It was so important to us that we used real members of the Bangor community in our film, rather than actors. We shared a casting call across our social media channels, before conducting auditions via video link, to find the starring family for our film.
The family chosen were alumni Stuart and Lisa Metcalfe, who met while studying at Bangor University. They both now work in health care and have two children, six-year-old Nancy (who appears in the video) and their nine-year-old son, Alfie.
Fun Fact:
By luck (or festive magic!) Bangor Cathedral's choir just so happened to be practicing when we attended the location, and they were more than happy to feature in our festive film!
Recognising our hard-working healthcare staff
Recognising the dedication and hard-work of our health professionals was a key aim of our short festive film. Bangor University has a wide-variety of professional healthcare programmes, and since the early 1990s, the University has contributed a total of more than 2,000 graduates to the healthcare sector.
Going forwards, Bangor University and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) have a vision: the establishment of a new independent, interprofessional Medical School for North Wales.
North Wales NHS Charity Awyr Las / Blue Sky
The production of our festive film coincided with North Wales NHS Charity Awyr Las/Blue Sky’s ‘Light Up Christmas’ campaign, of which the University was one of the major sponsors. The event would see a light display on Garth Pier throughout December, each light representing a tribute to a special person, made in memory or giving thanks.
We were given special permission from the event organisers and the pier committee, to shoot on location in the days leading up to the event. The beautiful light display can be seen in the final heart-warming scenes of our short film, and we were very lucky that the weather was perfect to capture some incredible drone footage of the city’s impressive Garth Pier.