On the 1st and 2nd of February, I was approached to film a disc golf competition (Southern Smash 2020) held in Queen's Park for The DGS (Disc Golf South) Facebook Page.
Following in the steps of SIT Graduate Matthew Butler, I not only got offered the job through his connections in the disc golf community and his involvement in the competition itself, but I also asked him to show me what he produced for the last year and what kind of settings he used on the FS5 (the camera that I got hired out for the event from SIT Pro).
I also had to meet with the leader of the Disc Golf South institute, Jonny Ferrari. I met with him some days before the filming to talk to him about what he wanted with the video: he told me what Matthew did the last year was fine and that I could just do whatever I wanted.
The assessment boiled down to just roughly documenting the tournament and editing together a montage of sorts showing the players doing their thing.
Southern Smash 2019 Video: https://www.facebook.com/DiscGolfSouth/videos/416607595817345/
Filming the competition was a long process, having four rounds in total of three hours each, I only filmed one and a bit of another round being unable to attend on the first day due to a two-shift day at Subway.
I have just finished filming, the next step is editing (for which I am waiting for course to open so that I once again have access to the Adobe suite). I intend to include some B-Roll footage filmed at a later date as well, to make the whole thing a bit more flashy.
I want my final video to be a bit different to what was produced for Southern Smash 2019, I want the 2020 version to be a bit darker (replicating the weather condition in which it was filmed) and a bit more stylized, taking inspiration from some B-Roll tutorials I've seen online:
I will have a separate session for filming some close-up shots of discs flying, being taken out of the bag and hitting the basket and try and frame/shoot these using these mad B-roll techniques.
The biggest challenge filming was not being in the way of the players, they had to focus, but every time I arrived at a new hole, with a new group, I informed them that I was filming for the DGS Facebook, I didn't like not telling them as it felt like a violation of privacy, but I also didn't like putting the extra pressure on them just before they played. This seemed like a hazard of the position though. In general, people were more friendly and open after I introduced myself.
If I had to grade my own performance for just the filming I wouldn't be very kind, I think that I could have done a better job and stayed for longer at the end. Originally I wanted to get some interviews as well and provide a voice for my subjects, but this was difficult to achieve mid-competition and I didn't stay to mingle with the lads. This is a shortcoming of my own making and something that I could have done differently, I blame the lack of sleep (between working until 1 and waking up at 8 for the competition), but in reality, I was just not disciplined enough.
I enjoyed the experience though, even if it was a lonely one. The people were all very nice, but most of my time was spent solo. This wasn't a bad thing though since I found it to be a very relaxing activity, being able to listen to music or even talk to people on the phone as I filmed.
I would not be opposed to doing it again next year, unlike Matthew from last year I have no intention to compete myself, and the experience was very zen. Queen's Park is a very pleasant place to hang out for a day or two and I would definitely try and improve my performance if I had the chance to do it again.
The job was not paid, I did it for them as a favor as well as a chance at the experience and hopefully learning by making something for a social media platform outside of our own (as I have done in the past with Neon Shrimp and Think and Create 2019).
I value the experience because it fits in with the general direction my career seems to be heading in (that being marketing and social media).
Excluding the camera hire and set-up the whole thing only ate about 6 hours of my time, the B-Roll and editing will surely take up more, my estimation is that by the end I would have sunk 12-15 hours into this one video.
These things take time, that's for sure, as I learnt last year with my other work. That being said I notice I am getting faster as time goes by and videos become much easier to produce with more experience. I think this one will be quite short and probably not worth the amount of time I gave it, but I also reason that it's probably due to me being out of practice.
The camera department is not somewhere I belong, I think that will serve as a detriment to this project, however, I very much look forward to the other departments that I will be involved in going forward into finishing the Southern Smash 2020 video - that specifically being editing, an area which I feel I am much more adept.
_____________________________________
I contacted the Southern Pro Wrestling team to ask about camera opping for their events, at the moment I am not able to do it yet because I have work on Saturday nights, I am hoping that will change in the future though and I look forward to having a position as camera operator for these events.
Following in the steps of SIT Graduate Matthew Butler, I not only got offered the job through his connections in the disc golf community and his involvement in the competition itself, but I also asked him to show me what he produced for the last year and what kind of settings he used on the FS5 (the camera that I got hired out for the event from SIT Pro).
I also had to meet with the leader of the Disc Golf South institute, Jonny Ferrari. I met with him some days before the filming to talk to him about what he wanted with the video: he told me what Matthew did the last year was fine and that I could just do whatever I wanted.
The assessment boiled down to just roughly documenting the tournament and editing together a montage of sorts showing the players doing their thing.
Southern Smash 2019 Video: https://www.facebook.com/DiscGolfSouth/videos/416607595817345/
Filming the competition was a long process, having four rounds in total of three hours each, I only filmed one and a bit of another round being unable to attend on the first day due to a two-shift day at Subway.
I have just finished filming, the next step is editing (for which I am waiting for course to open so that I once again have access to the Adobe suite). I intend to include some B-Roll footage filmed at a later date as well, to make the whole thing a bit more flashy.
I want my final video to be a bit different to what was produced for Southern Smash 2019, I want the 2020 version to be a bit darker (replicating the weather condition in which it was filmed) and a bit more stylized, taking inspiration from some B-Roll tutorials I've seen online:
I will have a separate session for filming some close-up shots of discs flying, being taken out of the bag and hitting the basket and try and frame/shoot these using these mad B-roll techniques.
The biggest challenge filming was not being in the way of the players, they had to focus, but every time I arrived at a new hole, with a new group, I informed them that I was filming for the DGS Facebook, I didn't like not telling them as it felt like a violation of privacy, but I also didn't like putting the extra pressure on them just before they played. This seemed like a hazard of the position though. In general, people were more friendly and open after I introduced myself.
If I had to grade my own performance for just the filming I wouldn't be very kind, I think that I could have done a better job and stayed for longer at the end. Originally I wanted to get some interviews as well and provide a voice for my subjects, but this was difficult to achieve mid-competition and I didn't stay to mingle with the lads. This is a shortcoming of my own making and something that I could have done differently, I blame the lack of sleep (between working until 1 and waking up at 8 for the competition), but in reality, I was just not disciplined enough.
I enjoyed the experience though, even if it was a lonely one. The people were all very nice, but most of my time was spent solo. This wasn't a bad thing though since I found it to be a very relaxing activity, being able to listen to music or even talk to people on the phone as I filmed.
I would not be opposed to doing it again next year, unlike Matthew from last year I have no intention to compete myself, and the experience was very zen. Queen's Park is a very pleasant place to hang out for a day or two and I would definitely try and improve my performance if I had the chance to do it again.
The job was not paid, I did it for them as a favor as well as a chance at the experience and hopefully learning by making something for a social media platform outside of our own (as I have done in the past with Neon Shrimp and Think and Create 2019).
I value the experience because it fits in with the general direction my career seems to be heading in (that being marketing and social media).
Excluding the camera hire and set-up the whole thing only ate about 6 hours of my time, the B-Roll and editing will surely take up more, my estimation is that by the end I would have sunk 12-15 hours into this one video.
These things take time, that's for sure, as I learnt last year with my other work. That being said I notice I am getting faster as time goes by and videos become much easier to produce with more experience. I think this one will be quite short and probably not worth the amount of time I gave it, but I also reason that it's probably due to me being out of practice.
The camera department is not somewhere I belong, I think that will serve as a detriment to this project, however, I very much look forward to the other departments that I will be involved in going forward into finishing the Southern Smash 2020 video - that specifically being editing, an area which I feel I am much more adept.
_____________________________________
I contacted the Southern Pro Wrestling team to ask about camera opping for their events, at the moment I am not able to do it yet because I have work on Saturday nights, I am hoping that will change in the future though and I look forward to having a position as camera operator for these events.
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