10 Tips for Shooting a College Recruiting Video
By Brandon June 1, 2011--> · Comments Off College Soccer from soccerloco blog
WHY IS VIDEO HELPFUL FOR COLLEGE RECRUITING?
Video has radically changed how the college recruiting process works today. Many college coaches are now requiring players to send them game or highlight video. College coaches do not have the time, budget, nor recruiting days available based on NCAA limitations to personally evaluate many players. This is why videotaping your son or daughter is a critical part of the recruiting process.
VIDEO TIP #1: GET A TRIPOD:
In terms of how to videotape your son or daughter, if you’re going to do it yourself; get a tripod. You can get an inexpensive tripod at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or almost any electronic store. Make sure you purchase a decent tripod; prices can range anywhere between $30-$50. The better the tripod, the easier videotaping will be. For example, a tripod that has a fluid head costs between $100-$200 but, will make a huge difference in the quality of video recorded.
VIDEO TIP #2: HARD DRIVE CAMERA:
Another key component with recording your own video is to get a video camera where files are shot straight to a chip or hard drive. This will greatly simplify the process because you can now simply shoot video, come home, and directly load it onto your computer where it can be reviewed and burned to disk.
VIDEO TIP #3: IMPORTANCE OF PROPER EDITING
Often it is easy for families to shoot video and get it onto a DVD. Many times the most difficult part is taking that game video or workout and actually editing it. There are many editing programs out there such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. Programs such as these are very expensive and take either a class or a professional to properly utilize them. Here is a link a tutorial video we produced summarizing our video editing process.
VIDEO TIP #4: PROPER VIDEO ANGLES
Another big thing to keep in mind when you’re videotaping your son or daughter is to make sure you are getting the right angles. Whether it’s football, baseball, soccer, softball or lacrosse, take note of the different angles. For example, if it’s a field sport like lacrosse, football, or soccer, the goal is to get as elevated as high as you possibly can in the stands. Try to get near the middle of the field, in other words, for football, the 50-yard line and for lacrosse and soccer, the mid-field line. Use the mid point of the field as your center and try to get as high as you can in order to shoot from an elevated angle.
VIDEO TIP #5: GET ELEVATED
If you’re not able to shoot from an elevated angle and are at ground level, make sure that you’re focused tight enough on your son or daughter but wide enough to show the sequence of plays happening else where on the field.
VIDEO TIP #6: DON’T ISOLATE
Often what we hear from college coaches is that their biggest pet peeve is when a parent sends them a game or highlight video that is completely isolated on an individual player. This leaves the coach with no idea of what else is happening on the field and they will not be able to understand the flow of the game.
VIDEO TIP #7: KEEP UNDER 5 MINUTES IDEALLY
Remember you do not have much time. In three to five minutes your highlight video needs to show a coach your son or daughter’s all around ability. Ideally the highlight video needs to capture their capabilities and skill set in the first 30 seconds so that a coach will review the rest of the video and know if they are interested in your son or daughter and likely want to request a full game video.
VIDEO TIP #8: BE QUIET WHEN VIDEO TAPING
Another key thing to keep in mind when recording game video is to be quiet. We often get videos that are submitted to us by parents who are continuously loud and yelling in the background. We recommend that if you are filming you should try to find a relatively quiet location. But in the worst-case scenario, you should always get video from the best visual location and worry about the audio last. Quality video is always priority number one.
VIDEO TIP #9: LEVEL SHOT
In order to record the highest quality video don’t forget your tripod. When setting up your tripod make sure that it is level and you’re getting a good overall frame of what you’re filming. Also, make sure that you have the tripod loose enough where you can pan from left to right and follow the game effectively. Your tripod should also be placed on a flat surface. But, if you happen to be in a stadium where there are stairs or surfaces that are uneven, try to adjust the legs to make sure that you’re able to position the camera at a level angle.
VIDEO TIP #10: SHOW THE GAME
One last key component in filming game video is to try and make sure you zoom as you follow the play. For example, in a basketball game the point guard is bringing the ball up, you want to make sure that the point guard is positioned on the far left or far right of your camera framing so that you’re able to see the rest of the open court in front of the player. In other words, the point guard is in the back side of the frame and you’re leading majority of it toward where the rest of the players are and where the next play’s going to develop.
