Borshoff client Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Homework Hotline provides free math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6–12. Many of the students who call the Homework Hotline are repeat callers. But for students who have never called, a fear of the unknown is often their biggest obstacle.

To tell the Homework Hotline story, Borshoff needed a medium that would communicate quickly and convey the personality of the organization and its tutors. We recommended video because it has emerged as the medium of choice for sharing information on the Internet.

We conceptualized and produced three web-friendly videos to help students understand the environment of the call center, the process of a typical call and the friendly personalities of the tutors.

You can view the video series at www.facebook.com/HomeworkHotline.

“Any hobbies?”
“Genetics. It started when I was eight years old, and I wanted to genetically alter myself into a mermaid.”

This was just one of the fun facts we learned while interviewing tutors during a video shoot Tuesday for Rose-Hulman’s Homework Hotline, one of Borshoff’s longtime clients. The Homework Hotline provides free math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

A few of my colleagues and I spent the day at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s beautiful campus.  We directed our videographer Brian Wells as he shot B-roll footage for media use and more informal footage for video vignettes to be posted on Homework Hotline’s Facebook page and website.

With not a cloud in the sky and a high near 80 degrees, we spent the afternoon shooting outside. Our “talent” — Homework Hotline tutors — enjoyed their time in front of the camera.

In the evening, we caught the action in their call center. We filmed more than 40 tutors on actual calls and interviewed others to showcase their personalities. Our goal? To make calling the Homework Hotline less intimidating to Indiana students.

With the shoot complete, we now move on to editing, where we’ll turn two hours of raw footage into several two minute – or shorter – videos. And, whatever hits the cutting room floor may later be seen in a “bloopers” video. Stay tuned.