Shooting Your Sports Movie

Shooting sports is all about location, location, locationbeing in the right spot to capture the action. When the game begins, you may be able to move around on a field, for instance, but if you're in the stands, you may not be able to grab your gear to get to where the action is. You should find the best spot or spots where you'll be able to get an overall view of the action. Over time, because fields are pretty similar, you'll get a feeling for the best positions.

When you're in a good spot, you may be able to stay there for the entire event. Or you may choose to roam around during the action, to get great shots from a number of locations and angles.

The big win in sports movies is having your camera pointed at the action when it happens. That sounds easy, but in some sports (such as baseball), it can be a little tricky because you may find yourself waiting, waiting, waiting and then bingo! The big play happens! It takes patience and stamina to wait for that big moment and act at the right time. This is one situation where you may need to zoom in (or out) fast!

How much you plan the shots you would like to have depends on how casual or important the event is. If it's a Little League baseball game, you can probably be pretty casual in your approach. If it's a big college swim meet and your daughter is contending for a spot on the Olympic team, you may want to prepare more.

For major events, one option is to shoot a meet before the one you're really interested in to figure out the best angles and locations, where the audio will be coming from, where to connect to power outlets in the building, and other details that can increase your chances of shooting the best footage. When the big event comes, you can rewind your tape and reuse it (or don't actually record the rehearsal). With your personal dress rehearsal behind you, you'll be able to focus more on shooting the action and less on technical details.

In sports, it's always a good idea to be able to quickly and easily switch back and forth between shooting on a tripod and shooting handheld footage. You should practice getting your camera on and off the tripod so this motion starts to come naturally to you. And don't forget that you can run around the field with your camera still mounted on your tripod, too. (Just try not to hit anyone with it accidentally!)

Remember to vary your shots, to get wide, medium, and close-up shots, as shown in Figures 7.3 and 7.4.

Figure 7.3. Wide shot of a golfer.

Figure 7.4. Medium shot of the subject.

You should also think about camera movement. Because sports events are full of motion, you need to follow the action with your camera, while maintaining stable shots and controlled zooms and pans. There's that word againcontrolled. Remember not to pan and zoom too fast or too often, and you'll be fine.

ESPN crews have cameras in many different spots throughout a location. (For fun, try watching a sports show and counting the number of camera views.) Do you have this luxury? No. Can your movie be just as entertaining? Yes. How? Because you can run around and get the same human interest interviews the pros dowith coaches, athletes, fans, and anyone else who might have something interesting to say about the game, the sport, or a player.

So pay attention to the following shot list and go for the gold! Your goal is to put yourself in situations that maximize your chances of scooping up the best of what's there.

Shots to Get Before the Event

Starting to shoot your sports movie before the event begins will help you tell more of the whole story about the event (and not just the action on the field) and build a sense of anticipation.

Shooting Scenes of Getting Ready to Go to the Event

You could shoot your athlete waking up in the morning, getting dressed, putting on his uniform, eating, gathering his equipment, and getting packed to go to the event. You can ask your star what he's thinking about this game his hopes and fears. What technique is he hoping to improve? What are his physical and mental preparation? This type of shot will add a lot of human interest.

Shooting Traveling to the Event

There's a lot of camaraderie and team spirit on the rides to and from sporting events. If you ride on the bus (maybe you're even on the team), you can shoot interviews with the coach, the team, and supporters. What's going to be the biggest challenge the team faces with these particular opponents? What has the team been working on in practice that it hopes to execute during the game?

The advantage of shooting en route is that your interviewees are held captive in a confined space of a vehicle and may be more accessible than when they get to the event. The disadvantage is that the bus may be very noisy (and bumpy). Do the best you can. (Sometimes you have to politely ask people to be quiet for a minute or two while you get a quick comment.)

Shooting the Location

When you arrive at the event, you can shoot some of the local color. Is there a sign announcing the name of the town or the name of the high school? You can shoot the empty field or the exterior of the building. You only need a few seconds, but having these shots will help make your movie more interesting and set the stage for the action to come.

Shooting Scenes in the Locker Room or Outside

Ask the coach and team whether you can shoot some locker room prep scenes (if you are the same sex as the athletes). It's best to shoot from the chest up (so as to avoid showing overly personal body parts) unless everyone is clothed. If you've cleared it ahead of time with the coach and the team, you might want to shoot the coach's pregame pep talk or instructions (inside or outside the locker room). Later you can edit out anything that's not appropriate to include.

Shooting Scenes of the Athletes Going onto the Field

A nice shot to get is one of all the players going by you as they run out onto the field. Remember that the camera stays still and the players run by. You can put titles over this footage later when you edit your movie, as they do in pro football games on TV. Have some fun!

Shooting Fan Scenes

Your movie will be much more fun if you interact with people and capture that on camera (instead of staying a safe distance away all the time). Video is a much more engaging way of documenting events than taking still photos. But you need to be sure to be friendly and polite. You should ask people whether it's okay to videotape them, and you need to respect their privacy if they don't want to be involved.

While you're waiting around for the event to begin, you can shoot whatever else is happening. Ask people around you who they are and why they came to this event. Shoot a down-the-line shot of people standing in line. Shoot ticket taking and ticket takers. Ask people what they're hoping to see today. Shoot tailgate picnics and anything else that might be entertaining.

If someone is selling ice cream, you can get a shot of that and ask the seller about today's game. Don't worry if people give you dull comments. They may say something priceless in the very next sentence. This is more common than you think, and it's one of the things that makes shooting (and editing) fun! Dull stuff winds up on the cutting room floor, and cool stuff makes it into your edited movie. Your job while shooting is to scoop it all up because you can sort it out later. Don't feel bad if you only get great stuff from every tenth personthat's par for the course.

Look for people whose appearance suggests a larger-than-life personalitypeople wearing outrageous fan attire or funny hats, carrying signs, and so on. These are visual cues that they have something to express and will make potentially more engaging comments on video in a very quick grab-and-go shooting situation. Of course, this is a generalization, and you may find a wealth of wisdom, knowledge, and humor from anyone you meet, but if you're looking for the low-hanging fruit, scoop up the obvious.

Shots to Get During the Event

The main point of your sports movie is to shoot the event, and here are some shots you need to be sure to include.

Shooting the Opener

You should be sure to shoot the start of the game or eventthe kickoff, the race gun, the opening move. You gotta have it.

Shooting the Game

You should try to get the game from several different angles, and you should reframe throughout the game from wide shots to medium and closer shots and back to wide shots. If there are breaks in the action, you can move from one location to another to vary your views of the game, if you want to. You might want to avoid having the same view from the same location for the whole game, unless you're moving your shot in and out and shooting well. You should make the most of the opportunities you have, as I have done in Figure 7.5.

Figure 7.5. "The game" can be the action in front of your house.

Shooting Brief Half-Time Interviews

If they don't mind, check in with your star, the coach, or the team and tape them during a break. You may want to be more unobtrusive than you were before the game; you need to be sensitive to a player's or a team's concentration and focus as well as their need for downtime during their break.

This is also a good time to shoot fan scenes and commentary. How did your bleacher mates think the team did during the first half? What are their observations about various plays and players?

Tip

Remember the slogan "lock and label" throughout your shoot. When you've finished shooting a tape, press the Record/Save tab to save to protect your valuable footage and be sure to label each tape you use.

Shots to Get After the Event

Whether your team or player won or lost, there will be plenty of emotion to capture after the event. Here are some shots you need to be sure to get.

Shooting Locker Room or Other Shots of the Players

Victory is easy to shoot because no one minds being a winner. Shoot everything! But if your side lost, you need to be more sensitive about shooting. Unless you're shooting a seasoned pro, you need to give defeat some time to sink in; you may get better material after people have a little bit of time to reflect.

If your team lost, there's still a lot you can ask the team members: What did they learn from the challenge of the event? What did they think would happen? What surprised them?

You need to be aware of your own feelings: You should try to be impartial and nonjudgmental and not communicate any feelings of disappointment to your interviewees during interviews, if they lost. On the other hand, if your subjects were victorious, you can share their enthusiasm!

Shooting an Interview with Your Favorite Athlete

The aftermath of a competition is a great time to capture the emotion of the moment. This is a good time to shoot an interview with your favorite still-sweaty athlete.

Shooting Fan Comments and Scenes

You should shoot things that suggest the mood: from waving flags and singing to the team getting back on the bus and driving away. If you're on the bus, you can shoot whatever is naturally happeningsinging, philosophical musings, silence.

Finding the Perfect Music for Your Sports Movie

Adding great music to your sports movies will bring more personality and life to them. Finding the perfect music for your movies is easier than ever, using (legal, of course) free or low-cost music download sources on the Internet.

For sports movies, some of the best places to find music are on CD, at FreePlay Music (www.freeplaymusic.com; which offers hundreds of MP3 tracks to download for freelegally, of course), and at the Apple iTunes Music Store (www.apple.com/itunes; which offers 99¢ downloads).

Here are some of the best songs to add a special touch to your sports movie:

• Chariots of Fire theme (Vangelis and others)

• Star Wars main theme (John Williams)

• Raiders of the Lost Ark theme (John Williams)

• Mission Impossible theme (Danny Elfman and others)

• Bonanza theme (Billy Strange)

• Batman theme (David McCallum)

You can also use the additional sources in the sidebar "Music Downloads for Movies" in Chapter 3, "Editing Basics: Movie Maker and More" to find the perfect soundtrack for your sports movie.

Another way to go is to ask someone to interview you about shooting that day or about the game, for instance, and have that person ask you the same questions. Or you can have someone shoot you and your interviewer, both on camera.

Using Video Effects to Speed Up, Slow Down, or Flip Shots

Movie Maker's video effects provide powerful ways to edit your footage, allowing you to play with time and motion.

You've seen instant replays on TVthe ones where the action slows way down so you can watch a player's technique or big momentright? Well, envy the ESPN gods no more. With digital editing on your computer, you can achieve those same technological heights when it comes to slowing down or speeding up shots. For sports, what could be more fun?

Got a great play that you want to watch in slow motion? If so, in Movie Maker, select Collections, Video Effects, Slow Down, Half to preview the effect. Like this effect? Drag the icon onto your clip to apply it. You can keep applying the effect (up to six times) to make a 10-second clip into one that lasts up to 10 minutes, 40 seconds.

Got a long, boring part of a game on video but want to have some fun with it? Make it go twice as fast (or more) by selecting Collections, Video Effects, Speed Up, Double to preview it. Drag the icon onto your clip to apply it. If you want your clip to go even faster, you can keep applying the effect (up to six times) to make 10 seconds become 0.15625 seconds.

You should plan to put music over these shots (unless you want your original audio to play at a garbled fast or slow speed).

You can also use cool video effects to flip or rotate your video. You can choose from flipping the image (Mirror, Vertical, or Horizontal) or rotating (Rotate 90, Rotate 180, or Rotate 270) it to make gravity and time get wacky. The effect might express, for example, the way your snowboarding moves make you feel.

You can preview each of these effects by choosing them after you select Collections, Video Effects. You apply a video effect by dragging its icon onto your clip in the Storyboard or Timeline view. For more details on Movie Maker's video effects, see Chapter 3.

Editing Your Sports Movie

After you shoot your footage, you need to edit it into a sports movie. In general, structuring a sports movie is not that complicated because you usually want to follow the chronological order in which you shot the footage to tell the story.

Basic Editing Steps

When you can take time to look at your footage, watch your tapes to see what portions you want to import. It's important to select only the best material so that you can create action-packed movies.

As you work with your material, be ruthless about editing out anything that doesn't work either by trimming and tightening it up or by deleting it. Eventually, your best footage will surface, and you can polish it until it shines. It's all about the content, right? Action, action! Or emotion, emotion!

You should take your time in editing, or you can make an AutoMovie of your footage if you want some instant gratification. If you're making both an AutoMovie and a longer version, you can share a brief highlights movie online and then focus on making a longer version that uses all your best material.

Tip

If you use the AutoMovie Sports Highlights style, Movie Maker will add pans and zooms to your footage, in addition to editing it to a music track.

Here's a quick review of the editing steps outlined in Chapter 3:

1.	Select the best portions of your footage and organize your coverage into sections that are roughly organized as a beginning, a middle, and an end.
2.	Import the video into your computer and create and insert it in a Movie Maker collection.
3.	Select the clips you like best and place them in the order in which you think they should appear in the Timeline view or Storyboard view. Edit your shots into sequences.
4.	Trim your clips.
5.	Edit your clips together and apply video effects. Be adventurous with effects, if you like. Sports movies provide a good opportunity to use varied transitions. Evaluate the transitions you choose. Using too many wacky transitions can become predictable and tiresome.
6.	Add music.
7.	Add titles. Tip In sports movies you can get creative with titles by doing things like having them fly in. You can preview some of the interesting title motions to see what you like best. Movie Maker even has a title option called Sports Scoreboard. Refer to Chapter 3 for more information.
8.	Review your edited rough cut and evaluate it.
9.	Review your edited fine cut and make any final changes.
10.	Save, share, and enjoy your finished movie.