Tristan Price

The entrance video for the 2007 WVU football season took on a life of its own. Here’s the story behind that production and the original version that debuted on September 1, 2007. I’ve never seen a higher level of excitement for a season than 2007. The team asked me to create the entrance video following the success of our recruiting videos. There were plenty of ideas on direction, but we ultimately settled on starting with a coal train emerging from the dark. That train was brought to life by Daniel Pauley, an incredibly talented artist who worked with us at Pikewood Creative. He used high-end software to build and animate the train from scratch—a massive technical feat nearly 20 years ago. Before it ever hit the stadium, word spread fast. The night before the home opener, the video leaked to YouTube and skyrocketed toward 40,000 views almost overnight, back when YouTube was still in its infancy. When game day arrived, the atmosphere was electric. We did everything we could to amplify the crowd as the team took the field, even incorporating the band swaying to the music. Throughout the season, I kept it fresh by editing in big plays week by week. That project ended up opening doors beyond Morgantown—Missouri brought me in shortly after to handle their football and basketball entrance videos, too.