From the BYU and BYUNews YouTube channels
5. Fireflies in Utah | 27,000+ views
BYU biology professor Seth Bybee allowed our video team to tag along with him to Goshen Ponds as he did some field research on fireflies. The video became almost instantly popular. Since fireflies are traditionally found in the eastern U.S., a lot of people were interested to know they could be found here in Utah. Additionally, many people contacted us to let us know where they’ve seen these rare species in the Beehive state.
4. Origami in space | 31,000+ views
BYU mechanical engineers are turning to the art of origami to design solar arrays for NASA. Our video team interviewed those involved and used an animation to show how the solar array would possibly be used. Wired and Gizmag showcased the video in their coverage of this unique story from our College of Engineering, drawing thousands of viewers to the piece.
3. BYU’s newest animated short: Estefan | 36,000+ views
The BYU Center for Animation racked up its 12th“student Emmy” in 10 years at the College Television Awards for Estefan. With the full animated short unable to be published online until after its full run of contest submissions, our video was the only place to find snippets of the piece, intertwined with commentary from the creators. Like we’ve seen with all of the other products of the animation program that we feature, this video left viewers begging for more.
2. Ziggy Ansah’s incredible story | 61,000+ views
It was a story that probably merited its own feature-length film. Maybe some day it will get one. But we did our best in four minutes to tell of Ziggy Ansah’s meteoric rise from Ghana to the LDS Church, to BYU, to the game of football and finally to the NFL Draft. It didn’t take much for the video to make its way around the internet, especially right around draft time. Ziggy was selected 5thoverall, by the Detroit Lions, making him the highest-drafted defensive player to ever come out of BYU.
1. BYU’s slowest race car ever | 76,000+ views
The BYU community wasn’t the only place impressed with the latest supermileage vehicle built by BYU engineering students. From Slovenia to Japan, car lovers around the globe were curious to see the story behind how a vehicle could possibly get 1,300 MPG. Unfortunately for eager consumers, the car only travels 15 miles per hour.
Mini campus gets major love | 21,000+ views
For BYU’s latest institutional spot, our video team used tilt shift miniature effect photography to give viewers a unique aerial view of campus. Many responded positively about how the piece captured the distinct feel of being on BYU’s campus. The video was viewed by thousands online, but also served as BYU’s spot on all of the university’s nationally-televised football games on ESPN, reaching possibly millions more.
Make sure you subscribe to BYU and BYU News on YouTube to view more videos like these in 2014.