Overview:
I currently serve the Milford High School girls and boys cross country teams as the team photographer and videographer. I provide media for the athletes, parents, coaches, and the Milford Yearbook committee.
In the past two years, near the end of October and at the height of the cross country seasons, I took on quite the creative challenge.
The Challenge:
I had one week to create a video under two minutes highlighting the state qualifying runners and their season with original music to be shows to the entire school at the state pep rally. I also needed to collaborate with the athletes for the filming and production of a humorous skit to be shown at the end of the video, also with an original song.
In my last three years with the girls and boys teams, both have qualified for state every year. The morning of the state competition, a school-wide pep rally is held to celebrate. There, the teams have the chance to show a video highlighting their season, and I have been the solo videographer and editor for the past two videos.
For this case study, I'll be discussing the video project from 2022, the first time I tackled the production of the video and several new softwares.
Audio - Original Musical Composition:
In years prior, the background audio of the videos was the runners' song of choice. The problem with this arose after the production of the video. Parents would request that the video be made public on social media. Due to copyright policies, the videos would always get taken down.
This is where I came in last year. I've always had a passion for music, so while it was a bit ambitious at the time, I decided to create a song myself. This would allow for the video to be shared afterwards.
I composed and produced the song on GarageBand, a free digital audio workstation. While composing the song, I was mentally mapping out what parts of the video would go where. I made several versions of the song until I found the one with the best timing.
Video Production:
While I had a bit of experience using Adobe Premiere Pro, I decided to go with Davinci Resolve instead. My twin brother is a full-time videographer and uses Davinci Resolve for his current position. I knew that if I ran into issues along the way, he would know how to help.
While it took a while to adjust to the new software, I was able to upload my own photos and videos.
(I have since moved the files, which is why the files in the picture appear as missing)
The Skit:
At the end of every state pep rally video in the past, the team has included a brief skit where the runners and coaches act out certain scenarios. It's always a highlight for the runners and their friends and family.
For me, this required a bit more thought and effort. I wasn't available to spend several hours filming each and every runner in their portions of the skit. Therefore, I realized I would need to coach the runners through filming the videos themselves.
The team split into pairs and took to filming their sections of the skit on their phones. I sent out a group message detailing the ideal video orientation, length, and lighting. With the time constraints on the project, the runners had two days or less to film the videos and get them back to me.
The runners did an incredible job, and the parents of the runners loved getting to see the skit at the pep rally. For the 2023 season skit video, I was able to reach out to many upperclassmen on the team that had been a part of the 2022 video. By then, they had actually already filmed the videos and had sent them to me days before the the deadline.
Conclusion:
Overall, the 2022 and 2023 state videos were very well received at the showings during the pep rally. Milford students, parents of the runners, and members of the community were able to attend and learn a bit more about the team, their accomplishment, and their journey to qualifying for state.
I was very grateful to be a part of these projects two years in a row. I learned several new softwares and skills and truly got to experience working towards a solution under pressure. If the team qualifies again in 2024, I would happily product their state pep rally video.
