A year in the life of a Bobcat is now available for the world to see.
Connor Hadley, a sophomore studying video production, created the “Connor’s Life” video after stumbling upon a similar “day-in-the-life” video this past January.
Two days later, Hadley picked up a video camera and began making his own version.
“I’ve been making videos since I was in the sixth grade and I was instantly inspired to (make a year-in-the-life video),” Hadley said. “I thought it was the coolest project.”
The video features a one-second clip from each day of the 2012 calendar year. Scenes depict situations ranging from typical dorm life, study sessions and wild college parties.
Many of the clips in the video showed several different types of alcohol, but Hadley’s intention was solely to “accurately depict” the life of an average college student. He had no intentions of defacing Ohio University.
“It’s just me being honest with everyone,” he said. “It’s really no different than what you could find on an (average college student’s) Facebook page.”
At the beginning of last year, Hadley admitted that he experienced some doubt about making the video, but he continued to press on. More than a year after the first day of shooting, he posted his work at 3 a.m. on Jan. 24.
“I felt so completed,” Hadley said. “I finally did it, it’s over.”
After its release, several national news sites including The Huffington Post published Hadley’s video. Hadley said he couldn’t believe the notoriety the video has since received.
“(When it was posted) it was the most unreal thing,” he said. “I’m still in awe to the fact that they even posted (my video).”
Kristin Schmit, a sophomore studying publication design who has known Hadley since sixth grade and made several appearances in the video, said she believed Hadley had the ability to produce a video that was just as excellent as the video that inspired him in the first place.
“I really liked the whole feel of it. … It’s just a happy video showing how much us students are enjoying our lives right now,” she said.
Jared Wigent, a freshman studying video production, praised Hadley’s work ethic and imagination.
“You can tell what he values as a director, a video production student and as a person because of which one-second clip … he chose for each day,” Wigent said.
Wigent added that he thought the video provides an interesting perspective, displaying a stranger’s experience at OU and his take on college life.
“You get to take a look from a very broad perspective of a stranger’s life over the course of the year,” he said. “It’s very interesting.”
bf051111@ohiou.edu
Connor's Year from Connor Hadley on Vimeo.
