Is there anyone that has had experience making a  little league football highligt video.  Are there any tips and tricks you have?  I've got a lot of footage but I do not want to bore everyone.  Is there a recommended length?  I would be greatful for any help/suggestions you guys could give.  This is my first attempt.  I am using Version 12 Plus.  Thanks alot.

My first suggestion would be to always use a tripod or unipod. Your pictures will be much more professional looking. Keep the pan and zooms down to a minimum. A seat a few feet up in the bleachers might be an effective shot.

I would think that the entire movie shouldn't be more than 15 minutes after editing. When editing use only simple transitions such as fades and dissolves, perhaps something else once in a while.

If you can get individual shots of the players, prior to the game, these would make nice cutaways to edit into the video.

I'm sure you will get more ideas from others. Make your first movie, learn and go from there.

Don

I want to echo what Don said, and also differ with him a bit.

In general, simple transitions are the best, as Don said.  They don't distract from the subject.  Consider movies and TV shows - 99.9% cuts, some dissolves, a few fades.  Rarely anything more "fancy" than that.

In this case - a "little league" show - it might be appropriate to bend the rules.  Certainly the intro can be a bit of fun.  If you have some "family pack" or "sports" menus and transitions, a FEW of those can be fun.  You still want to be careful not to overdo it.  Maybe a cute transition when you change subject, but not all the time.  You want it to be fun for both the kids and the parents, without it being a kiddie show.

You will also want to keep it short (and simple) for your first project.  Even if it's 5-minutes long, consider it a practice project.  You can always make a longer one after you get some feedback.

Warning - the hardest thing to do is to cut.  Especially when you know (and are emotionally connect to) some of the kids.  You want to show every cool thing, but then you'll have a 15-HOUR video instead of a watchable 15-minute video.  Remember your audience.  Also remind yourself that only you will know what was not included.  People will see the wonderful clips you used, not the 700 clips you could have used.

It's always better to leave them wishing it was 5-minutes longer that 5-minutes shorter.

One other tip - Don't underestimate the value of sound in your videos.  Some background music.  Ambient sound effects.  You can add crowd sounds, tackle or kick sound effects, etc.  If might feel artificial to you, but when done even reasonably well the audience doesn't think of them as special effects, they simply enhance and highlight the video.

If you can post your result, please share it with us when your done... to show off, to share, and to solicit feedback if you wish.

 

And... HAVE FUN ! 

justaviking makes good suggestions.

I don't think you differ, I think you just enhance.

What he says about sound is especially important. If it's possible, get as close to the action as possible and record some of the hitting and grunting. You can then edit this into your finished video at the proper place to enhance your natural sound.

Don

cuartetto:

I don't think you differ, I think you just enhance.

Don

That was very gracious of you.  Thanks for understanding the spirit of the comments.

I'm hoping to see some football clips in the near future. 

One more possible suggestion, I have not tried this with a football team but I have with basketball teams, take one day, and film a short 5 to 10 second shot of each player, it could be during a practice session, then you can then play some games with this video on the intro or the credits, putting there nicknames with the shot, or use it as a backdrop during a credit roll. In one case, during a robotics competition right before a meat, I had the kids jump into the camera shot (Use a tripod), and then 5 seconds later, move quickly off camera, this gave me time to display there name, and then I mixed it with some green screen shots of robots chasing them off the camera field of view. It made for a great credit roll.

Thanks for all your suggestions!  I guess I need to just dive in and see what happens.  I appreciate your input and will try to post when I am done.

15 minutes might be the max I would go, and that might be pushing it for a highlight film. Depending on how much footage you have, I would start out only selecting the absolute best hits, tackles, runs, scores, etc. Then add more material if you need to stretch the time out a little more. Here's a sample of what I did for my kids middle school football team at the end of last year...I also did all their youth league videos for about 5 years before that. If the link doesn't work for some reason, just go to youtube and search for jrf0195. The only 3 that show up will be mine. Good Luck! It's lots of fun and Studio is the only product I've had any luck with doing these videos...in spite of it's many quirks.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhc0Tv_MvzE

 

I agree with jfrost that for his type of highlight video, 15 minutes would be far too much. For a longer version you would want to include additional footage such as interviews or statements from players and coaches, half time ceremonies, as well as other interesting facts, particularly about your own child.

What would really be a nice touch would be to do a two camera shoot. Start both cameras at the same time and keep them running like until the end of the quarter, then start again. The wide shot could be smooth pans and only slight zooms. Don't worry about the junk footage between plays, you can edit this out later. Have the second camera zoomed in on the player with the ball and follow that person, or if it is a pass, follow the ball. In edit you can put one camera on the primary track and the other on the overlay track. You can cut and do transitions between the two tracks, and cut out the junk scenes. I would suggest that both cameras be side by side so the viewing angle doesn't change when you cut from one to the other.

Most important is that the cameras are never stopped except at the end of a quarter and then started together at the beginning of the next quarter. If you don't have a second camera, perhaps you could have a friend supply the second camera. Choose the best operator and camera for the close-up. Be certain that both cameras are shooting in the same format and the same type of scene setup. If it's a day game, try to be on the side of the field where the sun is at your back. I would suggest starting with a day game if possible. Night games present much more difficult situations.

Use a tripod for each camera if possible, or a unipod if a tripod won't work.

You could have fun with this.

Don

cuartetto:

...I would suggest that both cameras be side by side so the viewing angle doesn't change when you cut from one to the other....

 
There are times when this might be appropriate, but there are also times when a different angle might be better -- depends on the shot and action. But keep the action going in the same direction on the screen (left to right, or towards the camera, for example); that is very important in order for the viewer to remain oriented.

Lots of great ideas above. One other item, though -- avoid bobbing head closeups, such as you see on the "professionally shot" videos (NFL/college on major networks), as those make people like me have to look away from the screen to avoid getting seasick, if there's much of it.

Thorn,

I've been doing sports videos for a few years.  If you go to www.youtube.com/user/JoeDiamonds

you'll see some of my videos.  These are high school videos.  Mostly they are field level shots.  For some of the college recruiting dvds I make I'll also include a press box view which the coaching staff will provide to me.  The kids enjoy the field level shots.  The coaches like the press box shots.  I'm just a volunteer and these aren't professional, but the kids enjoy them.

Joe

Joe,

Very good job.  If I can do half as good as that I would be happy.  Thanks for giving me something to shoot for.

 

 

Nice job, Joe.

I was thinking again about the "proper" duration for a highlight film, and one important aspect is the scope of the highlight.  Are you highlighting one person (possibly for a college recruiter)?  One game?  Or a whole season?

For the first two, I expect 5 or so minutes would be very good.  If it's an entire season you want to recap for the parents and players, then 15-20 minutes, or even more, might be much more appropriate.

justaviking,

You are correct.  The scope of the highlight is very important.  For an individual player I keep it 5 to 10 minutes, and 10 minutes is pushing it.

For the end of the season dvd that is shown at our banquet, its kept to 30 minutes, and this will include season highlights as well as a cheerleader chapter.

The entire dvd might be 2 hours long, but that would include highlights of individual games, car wash fund raising video, season highlights etc.  But this is broken down into chapters so parents can watch what they want when they want.

Joe

 

Thorn,

One other thing.  Shooting from the stands or the press box, a tripod is usually used.  Shooting from the sidelines, its all hand held.  It takes practice to keep the camera steady, but I couldn't follow the action with a tripod.

Joe

JoeDiamonds:

Thorn,

One other thing.  Shooting from the stands or the press box, a tripod is usually used.  Shooting from the sidelines, its all hand held.  It takes practice to keep the camera steady, but I couldn't follow the action with a tripod.

Joe

I'm mentioned this several other times; I recommend tying a monopod.  Because it rests on the ground and remove the majority of shakiness.  It doesn't take much space in crowded situations, and you get quickly relocate to another position.  You can even use the camera in a hand-held mode without removing it from the monopod.  I highly recommend giving it a try.  It could be the best $30 accessory you buy.

Here's a link for monopods at Best Buy.

Justaviking,

You're right.  I actually have a monopod in my camera bag and use it sometimes.  On windy days I attach it, but leave it retracted, it seems to make the camera more stable.  And if I want to take a shot of the coach talking to the kids, I'll use the monopod to hold the camera high so I get a good view.  But I don't use it for most of the plays.  I found when I was trying to track a pass in the air, I felt I had to lean backwards and it was awkward.  If all the plays were running plays I would always use my monopod.  But it does come in handy.  I use a Velbon up4000.

Joe

I just did a football video for my son's banquet (10 year olds). I suggest adding game footage in slow motion and panned and zoomed to give an "NFL" look.  Briefly, use a good action clip, let the clip run at normal speed to an interesting spot. Use the razor to divide the clip into three sections: beginning (normal speed), middle (slow motion), and end (normal speed again). Mute the sound on the slow motion part. Then use the pan/zoom setting with keyframes to zoom in on the action. Do several clips this way, intercut with photos and other videos, use a fast rocking song as background (something like AC/DC, etc.).

Here's a small clip as an example(probably not the best action clips I had, but typical). It does appear that I've violated several other member's precepts, as I shot handheld, and used lots of varied transitions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mUGfBdlJRs

Joe Schmoo:

Here's a small clip as an example(probably not the best action clips I had, but typical). It does appear that I've violated several other member's precepts, as I shot handheld, and used lots of varied transitions.

Joe,

Cool video.    I liked it, and I don't even know the kids.

My favorite shots were the slow-mo running tackle at the half-way point (starts around 0:33).  I also thought you did a great job with the spot light at 1:07.  Nice touch, well done.

The music was good too, at least in terms of mood and style.  I didn't pay attention to the lyrics though.

 As for the transitions, I didn't have a problem with the variety of them.  Even though most people here, including myself, tend to promote simple cuts/dissovles for most situations. that's only a guideline.  On something like this especially, where there isn't a "story" being told, some eye candy is fine.  In terms of personal opinion, since we're on the topic, I'll share two comments:

• The only transition that felt visually out of place to me was the puzzle piece transition (0:18).
• The concentric rings (0:27) and the horizontal spikes (1:04) did bother me a bit,  though.  They felt like they were in the way - I was trying to see through them, sort of like looking through blinds.  But even that is probably a testament to the video capturing my interest - I wanted to see!

I thought the footage was fine, too.

Bottom line ---  GREAT VIDEO, JOE.    Thanks for sharing.