“I Can Take My Home Videos and Make Them Into a College Recruiting Video”
Sure, you can shoot your own college recruiting video and, with the types of editing software out right now, it is easy to make a quality video. What you don’t want to do is take just any video you have at home and try and make it into a quality video.
Before shooting your video footage, you need to ask yourself, “Am I shooting this to make a recruiting video or to make memories?”
When shooting footage there are several steps you will to take and rules you will need to follow.
Be Dedicated to the Job
You can’t be running the camera and be a cheerleader at the same time. Make sure that when you pick games that you want to film you are there just to film. It’s hard for a parent not to get wrapped up in the cheering and the crowd.
You will need to watch the game through the view finder or the screen, chances are if you try to watch the game over the viewfinder you will not get the best shots. Stay committed to filming, you may miss some of the action while there, but you your video will be better for it.
Separate Yourself From the Crowd
Literally! You will want to find the best vantage point to set up your camera so you can see the entire competition. It is also a good idea to remove yourself from the crowd so you don’t have people standing in front of your camera, people cheering in the background, or unnecessary commentary throughout the game.
Leave the Gimmicks on the Cutting Room Floor
While editing you will want to add extras like spot shadowing or pause in play to point out the player you want watched–gimmicks like music only distract from the video. Coaches get tons of videos and if you don’t make it easy for them to watch they won’t waste their time. Put all your best plays first because you only have a few seconds to impress the coach and encourage them to watch more.
You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars getting a professional video made, but you do have to treat the job in a professional manner. You will have to invest in a quality camera, good editing software and time, but you can do it yourself. Remember you will not get recruited based on an outstanding video but you can get knocked off a recruiting board with a bad video.
Is cheerleading the next Olympic sport?
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