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You’ve shot the footage and now you’re ready to tackle the editing process. Here are some suggestions on how to take the images and place them together to make a visually arresting reel.

• Coaches do not watch lengthy reels. You must grab their attention early and fast. The average length of a player reel should not be longer than two minutes.
• Wild graphics and interesting effects can actually be distracting to what you want the coach to focus on…namely the player’s talents. Let their abilities speak for themselves.
• Jpegs and stills should be used minimally. The key word to be used with a Player Reel is “action.”
• Let the action flow. Try to keep a rhythm that gets faster as the reel progresses. The shots should get shorter further into the reel.
• Regarding music: A good piece of music will help propel the action nicely. However, it’s important to note that some user speakers will not be turned on when your reel is played. Instrumental music works far better than a song with words. (The words will actually distract the viewer into focusing on the song instead of the images.) Choose music that accommodates the action. Select songs that will not have an undesired effect on the viewer (example: acid metal or gangsta rap)
• It’s not necessary to begin your reel with a title. The name of the player will be shown right next to the reel on the profile page. If there is important information (such as: State Championship Game, etc.), then create a title that does not distract from the action.
• Try not to use dialogue or ambient sounds (background noise, cheering, applause, etc.) in your reel. Sound is a powerful distraction to the mind, especially when it doesn’t match up to what’s on screen. (Example: Watching a spectator clap their hands and hearing applause – sound matches image, no distraction. Watching a running back break a tackle and hearing cheerleaders cheering/band playing – sound does not match image, distraction possible.) Plus with colorful language prevalent at sporting events, you do not have control of the sounds coming near the microphone.

Okay, so you’ve decided that you wish to test your prowess behind the camera and collect footage of your athlete’s skills. Here are some photography tips to help get you the pictures that will visually enhance their reel.

• Handheld jerky movements can mar a potentially marvelous play, and when the shaky images are loaded into a computer, they blur easily. A tripod is of great assistance in this department.
• Close-ups are valuable for many reasons. The athlete is shown doing what they do best up front and personal. Coaches can identify body movements, key skills, facial determination, and mental focus. Close in on moments such as the swing of a bat, a windup and pitch follow-through, various runs without the ball, free throws, and free kicks/punts.
• Do not always follow the ball. Sometimes follow the player.
• Long shots attempt to show a large visual field, but actions that need to take center stage are lost in the distance. Also, these are the shots that tend to get blurry when the computer tries to digitally render them.
• In sports with a lot of movement, it becomes tempting to go wide focus to get as much surrounding action. But you lose the central focus of your image: the player.
• “Coverage” is a term used in Hollywood productions to represent the many different angles of a scene. If one angle didn’t work, another angle might. It is extremely important to vary the shots of your player. DO NOT simply set up a tripod in one place for the entire game. Move around. Get interesting angles. Get a wide shot. Move to a close-up, but from a different vantage point.
• Use hills, tops of cars, trees, stadium seating, or anything that gives a bird’s-eye view of the game. It’s hard to recreate the shots of televised events, but these are the interesting shots that stand out photographically, mostly because the player is framed by the ground, not the sky.
• Avoid placing the camera behind poles, fences, people, or other visual hurdles. You need a clear path to the subject of your shot. There is a difference between optical zoom and digital zoom. Most digital camcorders use digital zoom, which is not the best zoom for depth of field. This means that if something (a person, an object) is added at the edge of your shot, the camera will not know which object to focus on, and may choose the wrong item, leaving your athlete out of focus for the duration of the play.
• Keep a fresh battery on hand. Games like baseball and softball have quite a lot of “fill time” (time where nothing is happening in the area of your athlete). The temptation will be to stop shooting to save battery. But you never know when your player is going to be called to act, and without shooting, the camera cannot capture the play.