Before the start of every fourth quarter at Clemson Football home games in 2014, a 90-second video titled “Why We Work” brought Tiger fans to their feet as they watched the feature on the videoboard at Memorial Stadium. (See “Why We Work” here)
During the spring of 2015, the idea was discussed to create another gameday video — similar in production style and tone to “Why We Work” — that would play before the game when the team left the locker room, boarded the buses, rode to the east stadium entrance and prepared to rub Howard’s Rock and run down The Hill for the “most exciting 25 seconds in college football.”
A new Hill/Rock video.
A brainstorming session in the basement level of Clemson’s Cooper Library led to the storyline of a boy who sees Clemson’s dramatic stadium entrance on television and makes it his life’s goal to experience it for himself — “The Dream.”
The production of the short film lasted three months. It was the first time Clemson Athletic Communications had created an entirely fictional story using only staged shots, an uncommon concept in college athletics.
Two versions were edited using Adobe Premiere Pro: 1) 75-second cut intended for the original purpose of playing in-stadium before the Hill Run 2) Extended cut intended for digital distribution to fans and recruits.
The 75-second version can only be seen on the videoboard before games at Memorial Stadium, exclusive to the people in attendance. The extended version was held strategically until the biggest moment of Clemson Football’s still-young 2015 season — the week of the Notre Dame game with the Tigers under the spotlight of ESPN College Gameday and a primetime national audience on ABC.
CLICK HERE to see behind-the-scenes photos from the production and listen to a podcast with the crew: https://clemsontigers.exposure.co/making-the-dream
Credits:
Actors playing “The Kid”: Marcus Edmond (college / high school), Kimari Wright (middle school), Colin and Noah Carpenter (elementary school)
Other actors: Artavis Scott, Mike Williams, T.J. Green, Buddy Ponder
Music: “Time“ by Hans Zimmer from the ‘Inception‘ Soundtrack (2010)
Production Team: Nik Conklin, D.J. Gordon, Max Huggins, Jordan Roper, Austin Koon, Jeff Kallin, Brian Hennessy, Jonathan Gantt
Thank You: Reggie and Tameka Carpenter, Shernee Goodine and Christopher Wright, Jill Wilkes Daryl Oliver, Stephanie Gordon, Young Bus, Brett Key, Gary Wade, Robbie Philips, ESPN, Thad Turnipseed, Jordan Sorrells Dabo Swinney, Joe Galbraith, Tim Match, Dan Radakovich and Mike Money.
April 23, 2024
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