I recently had the opportunity to film and edit a video for SUNY Oswego through this internship. The video was a one-minute short about what White Out Weekend looked like from a student’s perspective. It was a crazy experience that I feel I should share with you all! In my experience as a filmmaker and editor, I find this process to be quite common. Therefore it is good to prepare yourself for what you may expect! For those of you who may not have seen the video, you can watch it here:
The first step in making any video, especially one for another entity outside of yourself, is planning. You have to plan your video or else it will be easy to tell that you did not. With that said, I spent the week before the video planning what kind of shots I wanted to get. A single minute can fly by really quickly, so taking the time beforehand to plan out the entire story is crucial. Storyboarding is a really helpful tool to help you plan the composition of your shots before you even take out the camera! Finding your song before filming is also super helpful because that can be a time-consuming process. Also, knowing what to film in the beat of the music can create an awesome film. I cannot stress enough how much planning before filming makes the process so much easier.
After planning, it’s all about execution. Though it may seem simple to just grab your camera and film what may look good, it’s not that easy. With an event like White Out, the crowds make filming process quite tricky. Often times you will have to ask permission to film someone doing something interesting. In some scenarios it can be a little intimidating, especially in a crowd that can get as rowdy as the one in line for the White Out game. But to be honest, having a camera in your hand usually gives you credibility to a crowd. And when you tell them, “Hey, I have the SUNY Oswego Instagram Account,” they will jump at the opportunity to be filmed.
Finally, filming is a process that will take a long time. You will not capture all of your shots in the first hour of the event. You have to be determined and prepared to film a few hours before and after the event. That means being supplied with enough battery power, storage space, and energy to film this entire time. In addition, be sure you are filming content that is appropriate to be shown on the school’s page. Certain chants, gestures, and expressions are simply not appropriate to be shown on a college’s digital profile. Keep that in mind, and film content that you know you would want to see!
Like I mentioned earlier, this was an amazing experience that I hope to gain more of while this internship of mine lasts. Filmmaking is a very tedious and often times frustrating pastime. But when your edit comes together, and you are able to share it with a receptive audience, there truly is nothing better in my opinion. If filmmaking or creating digital content for SUNY Oswego is something that interests you, reach out to me! I love talking tech and filmmaking. Shoot me an email at gbruce@oswego.edu or comment on this post!
– Griffin