Producing better looking sports highlight videos (Part 1)
For this blog post I am going off the assumption that if you're reading this, you have shot sports before.
My first recommendation regarding improvement is to head into the season with new goals in mind. This is something I've done for several years and still do to this day. My goals for the 2022 season were: develop a method for producing HDR videos, continue to work on shot selection and framing, and to buy a wide angle lens. These goals were generally easy to complete and I was able to do so. The first goal was geared around post production and distribution, the second was shooting/general production, and the last was simply a purchase.
Prior to the beginning of the season you should rewatch all or most of your work if possible, and jot down specifically what you did well and what you need to work on. You can also ask friends and colleagues that work within the same creative medium for constructive criticism. Do you have trouble with framing shots, tracking the ball, getting enticing b-roll, is your exposure all over the place, is your video pacing off, are your shots shaky? These are just a few things to look for when checking your work in regards to bad habits or occurring themes that may be hurting your work. I recommend selecting two to three items and spending the season honing on those specific areas that need work.
Before moving on to advanced techniques I would make sure you have the basics on an absolute lock. Things such as making sure your exposure is perfect if not very close to perfect is essential for efficiency. Your subject should be properly exposed with zero highlights clipping on your talent. When correctly exposed the skin tones look both correct and natural. Your camera should be set up in full manual mode and you should have the correct combination of settings to ensure you have the best digital negative that your camera can produce given your shooting format. Setting a manual white balance is crucial unless you’re working in a 16/12 bit linear log/raw workflow (you know who you are). Whether you are using manual focus or auto focus, your subjects should be in sharp focus, not wavering in and out focus. Manual focus in itself is an art and it takes time to master. For those using autofocus you need to practice various combinations of settings and possibly lenses to ensure the best possible autofocus performance. Getting the absolute most of an autofocus system is also a skill. These are just a handful of the cogs that are required to make a decent video. There are others that should also be noted such as framing, sound, and stabilization. For the sake of time I won’t be diving into these today.
In the next post I will highlight gear and equipment to help with adding polish onto your videos.
