Teams are catching on to the new age, I’m not talking schemes or plays. The new age of technology, social media and even recruiting. Here’s an obvious statement, social media is HUGE! That’s where you cameramen come in.
Look at any lacrosse team, whether it’s professional, NJCAA, NCAA, MCLA, high school or club, they all have every form of social. Coaches are tweeting, watching viral clips and researching. A lot of time is spent on social whether some people want to admit to it or not. What’s the result of this? Content, baby! Teams are jumping at the bit for high quality content created for their team! Quick, take a look at Ohio State, Chapman and the Jacksonville women ‘s lacrosse Twitter pages. You’ll find great pieces of content across the board. This provides opportunities for people, or students to work with teams and further their creative resume by being the team “videographer.” You see it with more and more teams everyday and my guess is it will only continue to grow as the game does.
So, let’s look at 5 tips for every team cameraman:
5 Tips For Cameramen
- Have the right gear. Uh, duh! But really, teams want quality. If I watch a blurry, low-resolution video of a top Division I lacrosse team, my immediate thought would be, “These guys stink!” Look good, play good. Also, think about young 17-18 year olds scrolling through Twitter feed and seeing a bad quality video of a team playing. They think, “Do I want to go to this school or look like that?” If you are looking for some starter gear that get’s the job done, I would go for Sony or Canon.
- Be alert. If you are at a practice or a game, you have to always be on. Think about how fast the game of lacrosse is. You could miss a huge hit, goal, or momentum swinging play and that does not bode well for highlights. Look alive! Not to mention, getting hit by a lacrosse ball hurts. As a retired collegiate goalie, I know that for a fact.
- Get to know the staff. Introduce yourself to everybody on staff, including the trainers. The more they know you, the more access you’ll have to the team — think of pregame speeches or great locker room moments. I was lucky enough to film some NLL games last year and after becoming close with management, I was invited to come listen to the pregame speeches in the locker room.
- Plan out your content. Highlight reels are awesome, but even they get boring and repetitive. Be thinking week to week about what you want to put out. Big rivalry game coming up? Yes, hype reel! After a bad loss, weight room and extra reps montage.
- Buy a music subscription. All content creators will get this one. It’s difficult to find good, consistent royalty-free music. If you are churning out 1-2 edits a week or biweekly then having a subscription will save you a ton of time. Most sites are fairly cheap (and if you want to further your career in content, you’ll need this anyway) and have a variety of genres for every style of video. If you are looking for a place to start, try artlist.io.
