How to Make Videos

My name is Sa'heed Blackshaw. I've made a lot of videos on campus and I thought it would be helpful to share my process with everyone to help make videos for our school.

Before I even film I usually gather a general idea of what I want the video to look like. This includes the shooting angles, the introduction and beginning of the video, the song (choosing the song is one of the more stressful parts for me because I can’t pick a song that goes too fast or slow or one that would get copyrighted if I put it on YouTube also you want to pick a song people know).

If you’re thinking of putting any cool effects on the video, think of them in this stage. Often, you brainstorm these effects and your vision months in advance. This year, I had ideas for the football video in May when it was not due until October.

Did you think you were the only one making the video?

Wrong.

There are many people involved when you need to film a video. Many of this is out of your control, so you need to be as organized as possible. In many cases, you will also need to film multiple events at a single game. Football gets their own rally in the fall, band gets one in the winter, and cheer gets one in the spring. All of these teams do their thing at the same time, so, again, it's important to be organized.

You can pick up a schedule of all the sports in the ASB office or check out Maxpreps.com. Some games will be away and some will be home. And hey, if you yourself are in a sport or activity yourself, it might be a little tough managing practice with recording every sport on campus for the whole year like me. I am in Track and Field which resulted in a lot of missed practices which isn’t ideal, but I found ways to work both into my schedule.

Anyway, I always introduce myself to coaches because it is rude not to. Some coaches are teachers on campus, such as Mr. Masi, Mr. Kikunaga, and Mr Bissman. But even if I already know the coach as a teacher and knows I film sports, I still state what I am doing there to be courteous. Building relationships with coaches is important if you want to represent the sport well.

Also you might have to go on the bus to record away games because you need, and want, to get the best footage you can. If you aren’t able to ride on the team bus be prepared to find your own mode of transportation to the games depending on your dedication. I’ve never met a coach I didn’t like or gave me problems.

I've Ubered, Lyfted, walked...In addition, every away football game I went to (which was all of them except one) cost me $7 (our ASB card only works at our school), and hey, if you’re hungry, food ain’t free but that’s optional. As you can see, there's a lot more to filming than just pointing the camera where you want it to go.

Filming is the easiest part because everything is set up and in place, now I get to do what I love to do. Despite being a lot of work to schedule, travel, and setup, once you make a commitment to creating, filming and editing a video, you have to do it. It's the only way you will get better.

Now, make sure you know what you’re filming. You can’t be in the bleachers with your friends watching. No, there is way too many people in the way for that, plus there are no good angles.

The way to film is: you gotta get as close to the action as you can.

Whether this is on the field or baseline at basketball games. You need to be there the entire game.

What should you be looking for? It's not all action shots, you know. You will want downtime too. Moments where we get to see the people involved in the sport: players talking, celebrating, timeouts, or close-ups on the players because, in the end, the video is about them: the customer.

The editing process may take weeks. You could take literally all day to edit a ten-second span in order to get it perfect. It's important to take your time.

First, go through all the clips you just recorded and watch them all. Delete the bad clips remember because sometimes the camera doesn’t focus, someone walks in the frame, or you get a bad angle. Sometimes, a player will swing a strike or miss a shot. We don't want these in the video. Delete the bad clips and rename the good clips so you know what they are and it makes it easier to find. It’s tedious, I know, but it helps.

Second, the editing process takes time and most people don't understand that. They will bug you to see the video prematurely and they will offer their own amatuer advice, but don't listen to them or reveal your videos before they are done.

In the end, everybody will be happy with the finished product and it's worth the long process and stress to see a smile on people's faces when they get themselves up on the big screen.