Video description follows:
[Music plays: “Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This is the only sound in the video.]
The video opens with the camera panning right across a kitchen counter filled with baking supplies and tools, such as pans, spoons, icing sugar and a whisk, with holiday garland in the background.
The next shot shows a variety of baking ingredients, such as butter, eggs, and sugar. A hand reaches toward the egg carton and removes one.
The person cracks the egg shell on the edge of a glass mixing bowl and drops the egg white and yolk into the bowl.
Next, the person picks up a small, white bowl of sugar and pours it into the larger glass mixing bowl. The wider shot reveals that the person is wearing a white lab coat and a Christmas themed tie featuring Looney Tunes characters.
The baker picks up a white bowl of butter and uses a tablespoon to add some to the mixing bowl.
The next shot is a closeup of the baker’s lower face—a bearded man strokes his chin as if thinking carefully about an idea. Next, we see him selecting a chemistry flask filled with a brown liquid that appears to be vanilla extract. He swirls it around, sniffs it, then pours it into the mixing bowl.
The baker then adds salt to the bowl with a flourish, then pours in the contents of a small white bowl of baking soda. A wider shot reveals that the baker is UTM Vice-President & Principal Ulli Krull, at work in the kitchen at Lislehurst.
Krull shakes his head as if the mixture is missing something. Then he nods and puts on safety goggles, and pours in the contents of a large flask of flour. The camera pans right as he uses a wooden spoon to stir the contents.
Then, Krull gestures as if he’s been struck by a brilliant idea. He removes his goggles, puts on headgear with a full-face splashguard and protective gloves, and lifts up a large metal tank. When he pours the contents into the mixing bowl, thick white mist billows out, giving it a magical effect. Krull stirs the contents of the bowl and blows on the mist, then claps and hands and gives a delighted laugh.
Next, we see Krull rolling out the dough with a grey marble rolling pin, then using a metal cookie cutter to cut out “50” shapes. The shapes are the same as the UTM 50th Anniversary logo.
Krull dusts off his hands and reaches for a metal baking pan, then places each cookie on the pan. Wearing an oven mitt, we see a hand place the cookies in an oven. Ulli then places the baked cookies on a white plate with gold trim, and begins to fill in the “5” in “50” with blue icing. Next, he fills in the “0” with yellow icing, then paints each yellow circle with gold glaze.
With the cookies completed, we see Ulli’s hands placing the cookies on another white and gold plate filled with other snowflake and mitten cookies, and decorated with gold garland. He picks up the plate.
The view switches to a different room, panning right past a decorated holiday tree, to reveal 12 people by a fireplace wearing festive sweaters, exchanging gifts, opening Christmas crackers, chatting and laughing. Ulli, now without with lab coat, but wearing a Santa hat, walks into the room carrying the plate of cookies and hands them out to the group. We see people taking cookies from the tray, Ulli laughing with the group, and then they gather to take a selfie in front of the Christmas tree.
The camera shifts to the nutcrackers on the fireplace mantle, then pans right past the decorated tree and dissolves to a left panning shot outside of Lislehurst, coming to a stop in front of the large wooden front door, which is decorated with a holiday wreath. Ulli opens the door and steps out, smiles and waves, then steps back inside. The camera slowly zooms into the wreath, which then turns into the “0” in an animation of the 50th anniversary logo.
The 50th logo disappears, leaving a blue background, then a Polaroid animation appears on the left side of the screen, showing a still image of the people who were gathered together in the video. The words, “Happy Holidays” are written on the bottom of the Polaroid. Snowflakes fall gently down the screen, and to the right, text appears, saying “Best wishes, Vice-President & Principal Ulli Krull”. As the snowflakes pass the bottom of the screen, the image switches to the white U of T Mississauga logo on a blue background, which disappears on the last percussive beat of the song. The video ends.