The Electric Potential in Schools
What happens when you take good energy to a school? The energy multiplies and bounces back.
What happens when you take good energy to a school and bring a camera? The energy multiplies, bounces back, and you get to capture it.
In the last few years, I’ve had the privilege of making films for several independent schools around the east coast of the United States with The Film Guys. These films are each written and filmed within two weeks. Those two weeks are intense and the projects are all consuming. They are also really fun.
A screenshot of The Film Guys’ website, some of the films that we’ve made.
Of course, and as you can see from each film’s cover photo, each school has it’s own personality, it’s own way of expressing itself. Each school has a different admissions process that attracts a different set of students. It is our job to help express it visually in a crazy two week frenzy of getting the energy out of them.
Getting the energy out is pretty easy. There is an abundant amount of youthful energy at these schools. Imagine having hundreds of curious students who want to learn about themselves and the world, who want to interact and who want to experience new things. All we had to do is allow that energy to come out and to facilitate it into the production of a film.
That is the creative potential that you have at schools.
I entered into the world of The Film Guys a few years after they started. At the beginning, it was difficult for people to remember my name. Suhayb? How is that spelled? What does it mean? Who is this guy?
But then, after some thinking, my friend and colleague Rob had the brilliant idea.
Suhayb —> So hype.
Sohype!
Who doesn’t want to know a guy called Sohype?
And within the same day, everyone knew my name.
As a guy with great energy, a big smile, and a natural willingness to see everyone and hype them up, coupled with the experience of working at schools around the world, Sohype was born and destined to become great.
It works because my name is so close to the nickname. Kids have yelled at me: “Sohype I’m your biggest fan!”, minutes after introducing myself. Everywhere I walked I made sure to say hi to everyone. I had a kid ask for my autograph.
The character, who is just my best self with a different name, formed, and now we had an incredible tool to garner everyone’s energy to capture with a camera.
We’ve developed a couple tricks and techniques during school meetings or large gatherings to hype the students up and get them excited as a crowd. The rest of the week is always saying hi to everyone, have meaningful energetic conversations with everyone, and listen to the character of the school to be able to capture it beautifully.
For me, at the end of the day, school is about sharing good vibes with each other in the spirit of learning and growing together.
That is why the character of “Sohype” works so well at schools.
Sohype’s Instagram
When you have a strong character that can bring the best out of people and have a camera to capture it, you’ve created the perfect storm. When an outsider provides the perspective to tell the story of your school in its strengths, you are able to visually communicate the culture of your school to the rest of the world and attract the right students to you. That is the tangible value that I hope to bring to schools.
When I was a student at King’s Academy, a boarding school in Jordan, we would always have artists come along and spend time on campus. They would give talks and workshops, and curate classes during the day. Whether they came from Japan, South Africa, Ireland, or Australia, they carried a different energy and brought it to campus. Their presence enriched my experience and pushed my awareness forward. To this day, 15 years later, I still remember them, and they continue to inspire me.
That is the true value that I hope to provide for schools. I wear many many wonderful and fun hats. I am a photographer, a filmmaker, a hypeman, a mover, an athlete, an educator, a man interested in language, history, culture, and many other subjects. I love to listen to kids and give them the confidence to move with their ideas and their expressions. I love sharing my knowledge to those who would like to listen. All that along with a high quality product for their communications and admissions purposes, with stunning videos and photos, or anything that we agree to make!
To get in touch, you can email me at info@suhayb.net. You can see more on www.therealsohype.net.