NEW YEAR DAWNS AT TU DUBLIN
Now firmly established as Ireland’s first technological university, TU Dublin marked its first birthday this week with the launch of a new 30-second television ad. Beginning with a beautiful image of dawn rising over Dublin, the ad was filmed on campus in Grangegorman, Blanchardstown and Tallaght.
The ad is stylish and different, but it also has an interesting back-story. During the making of the ad the professionals involved in its development, direction, lighting, filming and editing discovered they had something in common – they are all graduates of what is now TU Dublin! So, staying with the ‘made by TU Dublin’ theme, current music student Lucas O’Callaghan was commissioned to play the soundtrack on piano. The final piece of the jigsaw was the voiceover, and many people will recognise the rich and distinctive voice of actor Liam Cunningham - also a TU Dublin graduate!
Credits don’t roll at the end of an ad, but we would like to thank all of the following TU Dublin graduates of many different disciplines who contributed their creativity and expertise:
The idea:
Our ad agency, Bloom, conceived the ad. Among the Bloom staff who worked on the ad were Michael Walsh and Gerry Kennedy, both of whom have lectured on the Masters in Advertising programme in the School of Marketing, Aungier Street. They were ably assisted by two recent graduates of that programme, Laura O’Carroll and Lucy Mortell.
The production:
Rocket Science Productions were selected to film the ad. Des Mullen, who directed the shoot, graduated from what was then the College of Marketing and Design, Mountjoy Square. Producer Eoghan Ryan studied Communications in the former College of Commerce in Rathmines; and Helen Barry Duke, who managed the complicated logistics, graduated from the former College of Catering in Cathal Brugha Street. Electricians William Doyle and Frank Moore who worked on the shoot are also graduates, having done their apprenticeship in what was then College of Technology Kevin Street.
The edit:
Two days of footage on three campuses had to be edited down to a 30-second ad for TV and a 40-second ad for cinema. This was done in Element Studios by Amy O’Connell, a graduate of Media Arts in the School of Media, Aungier Street.
The soundtrack:
Raygun Studios mixed the soundtrack but unfortunately, we can’t claim Steve Maher, the sound engineer! The music chosen for the soundtrack was Clair de Lune, and it was performed on piano by Lucas O’Callaghan, a 3rd Year B.Mus student in the Conservatoire and recorded by Ben Rawlins, sound engineer in the Conservatoire at TU Dublin.
The voice-over:
The final piece of this wonderful TU Dublin jigsaw was the voice-over. When he heard that nearly all the other contributors were also TU Dublin graduates, Liam Cunningham agreed to voice the ad! Now a star of stage and screen, most recently on Game of Thrones, Liam originally qualified as an electrician and completed his studies on block release in Kevin Street. In 2018 he was invited back to his alma mater by Student Societies to accept the Brendan Behan Award* in recognition of his contribution to the arts. His voice has gravitas, empathy and authority, and he gets the last word:
“Ireland’s first Technological University – TU Dublin. Infinite Possibilities.”
*TU Dublin is proud that Brendan Behan also attended Bolton Street as an apprentice and our Student Societies inaugurated the Brendan Behan Award in 2016, with the blessing of Brendan’s daughter Blanaid Walker. The first recipients have been Glen Hansard and Liam Cunningham.