University recruitment videos tend to follow a similar formula—but Leeds Beckett University had other ideas. In 2022, the institution took a different, cinematic approach to capture arts students and alumni performing original pieces in a newly opened arts facility on the U.K. university’s campus.

This entirely in-house production used seamless transitions and drone shots inspired by the 2014 film Birdman, in which the cinematography is styled to achieve the appearance of one continuous shot, explains Head of Creative Dee Grismond, the director of the film.

“You feel like you’re on a journey with all these students through the building, seeing it through their eyes and what makes it special for them,” says Grismond.

The video was designed to build the Leeds School of Arts’ brand and promote the school to compete with other arts schools and specialist institutions.

“If you study at a university that’s got an art school within it [like Leeds Beckett], you’ve got so many opportunities to work across a broad range of subject areas, where if you go to a specialty university, you might not have the breadth to work collaboratively with students across different subject areas,” says Sarah Stone, Head of University Marketing Services.

This breadth-of-opportunity theme was captured in the video through the pairing of musicians and dancers, acting and film students, and others.