Shooting highlights for DMVStream

The following training module describes the complete process for shooting, editing, converting and uploading video at DMVSTREAM.COM.

STOP HERE AND READ BELOW

Before attempting to take any of the following training courses, please email [email protected] and request access to our shared drive by supplying your GMAIL address. It MUST be a GMAIL address. If you do not have one, please create one. Much of what we do and how we communicate is predicated on the use of Google Drive. You will be unable to move forward with the information below without it.

How to shoot and upload highlights for DMVStream

Below is a brief introduction to the Canon Vixia.

STEP 1: THE ASSIGNMENT PROCESS

Assignment:

Your assignments will be given to you on a weekly basis with the time, date and location of your game. Every week, your supervisor will send you an email informing you that your game assignment has been posted. Once you receive this email from your supervisor, you can view your assignments in the Synthesis Multimedia Productions Game Assignments Spreadsheet, which you’ve been given access to:

ACCESS THE SPREADSHEET

Confirmation:

Each time you receive an assignment, you must confirm that you’ve received it and that you will be at your assigned game. To confirm, email your supervisor the time, date, location and two teams you’ll be covering. You must always confirm your assignment within 24 hours.

Preparation:

Each time you receive an assignment you should verify your time, date and location with someone associated with the teams/game.
The best way to confirm a game/time/location is by calling someone at the school, someone associated with the team or athletic department.
Be advised that team’s schedules are often incorrectly posted on the internet. Call the hosting school’s athletic office in order to be absolutely sure about your game time/location. Twitter and Facebook are not acceptable ways of confirming game times/locations.
Confirming your game time, date and location is your responsibility. Showing up for a game at the wrong location or on the wrong date/time is inexcusable.

Inclement Weather:

Games are often cancelled or postponed due to inclement weather. If there is a threat of weather, make sure to verify that your game has not been moved or postponed.
If your game has been cancelled or postponed, you must contact your supervisor in order to inform them of the change.
Always keep a plastic bag (i.e. grocery bag) inside of your camera bag so you are prepared for shooting games in inclement weather.
If you are shooting in the rain, be sure to wrap your camera in a plastic to protect it from the elements.
Remember: as long as a game is going on, you are expected to cover it.

Research:

While you will be provided with a few names of coaches and players to get B-ROLL footage of, it will be up to you to research the game you are attending.
Sift through online sources – AllMetSports.com, MaxPreps.com, local newspaper websites, recruiting websites, etc. — to gather pertinent information about players and coaches that will help you to find the best storylines, angles and players and coaches to film.
Schools are responsible for providing rosters, however they often – VERY OFTEN – do not have them available. Make sure to print out a roster for each team before arriving to your shoot. The roster will help you identify the players you have researched.

STEP 2: THE SHOOT

Arrival:

Always arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of your game.
If you’re not early, you are late.

Entry:

High school games are ticketed events, which means you’ll be asked to pay at the front door.
MEDIA ARE NOT REQUIRED to pay to enter games. Anyone that tells you differently is misinformed. If you encounter a problem entering the game, please politely show your media credential. If you are still being asked to pay, please politely ask to speak to the school’s athletic director. If the athletic director refuses you free entrance, please call B.J. Koubaroulis at 703-231-8805.
Important Note: It is not within your rank to argue with a school official. You WILL be courteous and polite at all times. Again, if you are being refused free entrance, call B.J. Koubaroulis.

Set up:

Upon your arrival, you should introduce yourself to the head coach from both teams. You should identify yourself as a producer for DMVStream.
When speaking with the head coach, please ask him what your permissions are to shoot. Some coaches DO NOT want you near their team, but will allow you to shoot from the sidelines. Please let the coach know that you’ll also be requiring an interview with the winning team following the game.

Location:

Find a comfortable location to shoot that enables you to have flexibility, mobility, and as little interference as possible. Below are some tips on how to position yourself for the various sports that we cover:

Football:
- A good rule of thumb is to shoot from the 25-yard line to the end zone on either side of the field. Athletic directors, coaches, and referees typically do not allow media to get inside of the 25-yard line.
- Do not set up directly behind the goal line. This is a dangerous location and officials will not let you shoot from there.
- You can shoot from the corner of the end zone. This is the best angle to capture red zone touchdowns.
Basketball:
- Set up along the baseline. The best spot is typically a few steps in from the corner of the basketball court.
- Be conscious of referees running across your shots. Referees obstruct your view of the game most frequently in basketball. Be strategic in choosing your location, adjust if a referee runs in your line of sight too frequently, and politely move if the referee asks you to.
Lacrosse:
- In lacrosse, both teams line up on the same sideline. If possible, shoot from the opposite sideline in order to have more range of motion.
- If an athletic director, coach, or referee prohibits this, operate the way you would at a football game, working from the 25-yard line to the end zone on either side of the field.
Additional notes:
- Please keep your distance from the players and please respect all game officials, some of which might ask you to move your shooting location. If asked to move, then DO SO.
- As alluded to above, try to set up in a location from which you will not have people walking in front of your shot.
- Try to rotate across the sidelines/baselines of your game between quarters. You always want to be on the side of the winning team (meaning that the winning team is moving towards you) in the fourth quarter.

Equipment:

Your equipment is your lifeline. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR EQUIPMENT out of your line of sight. See “internship agreement” and “equipment release” for what happens if you lose your equipment.

Shooting the game:

Do not shoot the game as one continuous video clip. Break the game down into sections. Below are specific tips on how to shoot the various sports that we cover:

Football:
- Shoot each individual play as its own clip.
- Start with a close zoom on the quarterback, pan out as the play commences, and follow the ball once you see where the play is going.
- Sometimes you will lose sight of the ball as a result of lineman obstructing your view of the play, or misdirection, so shoot conservatively with a wide pan until you establish a rhythm and comfort level.
- Zoom in on players after a big play or a touchdown to capture their celebration before pausing to start the next clip.

Basketball:
- Try to shoot each individual play as its own clip. Hit the record button as the team walks the ball up the court and hit the pause button after a basket is scored or after a player’s celebration.
- The only exception to this is if a team is on the fast break. At that point in time, the priority becomes to capture the play, as some of the best highlights come on the fast break, then find a natural stopping point to reset once play slows down.
- Follow the ball with a medium zoom as it swings across the court. Zoom out once a shot is released in order to follow the ball through the net. If the action is coming towards you, zoom out and pan up. After a made shot, zoom in to capture a player’s celebration.

Lacrosse:
- Lacrosse is the hardest sport to shoot because the ball is smallest and goals are fired quickly.
- Shoot each possession as its own clip. Use saves, inbound plays, and timeouts as opportunities to pause and start a new clip.
- Follow the ball with a conservative zoom. As the ball approaches either goal, try to make sure that the goal is at least partially in all of your shots. Zoom in after a big goal or save to capture the player’s celebration.
Additional notes:
- Every time you get sent out to cover a game, you will be asked shoot a few things for the Synthesis Multimedia video library:
  - B-ROLL of the head coaches from each team. This should be about 30 seconds to a minute of real action, as opposed to the coach just standing around. You can usually shoot this during warm-ups.
  - The scoreboard with the final score of the game.
  - As many players in action on each team as possible.
  - Interviews from at least 3 players on the winning team.
- Make sure to shoot the scoreboard as a separate clip after each quarter. This is an important reference tool for when you have to label clips after the game.
- Also make sure to shoot the scoreboard after a major play in order to know at what point in the game that play happened.
- Feel free to shoot anything that might be interesting. This could include starting lineups, fan reactions, postgame celebrations, etc.

STEP 3: THE INTERVIEW

If a player has a major game, ask the coach if you can get an interview with the player. Interviews are allotted to the press AFTER the game, usually after the coach has finished talking to the team on the field. Wait by the huddle or outside of the locker room and then ask the player for an interview. NEVER try to get an interview at halftime. Make sure to ask questions that are easy for these kids to answer. Questions like “how do you feel about your performance tonight?” “what was working so well for you?” “Can you tell me about your game-winning play?”

NOTE: We only interview the winning team.

Interview Look:

An interview shot should have the interview subject in a close enough position in which your camera can both pick up his/her audio and also show his her entire face.
Please try to avoid “group” interviews as media often huddle around coaches after the game. Try to get a one-on-one interview to ensure you don’t pick up other audio from other media personnel and to ensure that the coach/player is giving you and your camera the full attention.
Where to look? Interview subjects often ask you “Where should I look? At you or the camera? Subjects should look at you, NOT into the camera.

AUDIO:

Use shotgun attachment.

STEP 4: CONVERTING YOUR CLIPS TO H264

- You must convert your clips to H264 before uploading to the cloud.
- Use iSkysoft Media Converter to complete this step
- Create a custom M4V format with the following specs:
  - Video:
    - Codec: H.264
    - Resolution: Smart Fit
    - Frame Rate: Smart Fit
    - Bit Rate: 2000 kbps
  - Audio:
    - Codec: AAC
    - Channel: Smart Fit
    - Sample Rate: Smart Fit
    - Bit Rate: Smart Fit
- Simply drag your clips into the converter, select your custom M4V, and convert those clips.

STEP 5: THE UPLOAD

This video shows how to upload the files from your SD card to Google Drive.

Log into Google Drive with BJ Koubaroulis’ login information. You will be emailed this login information.
Once you are logged in you will go to MAIN FRAME SYNTHESIS > High School Sports > ARCHIVE_HIGHLIGHTS & MELTS_ > CURRENT YEAR > CURRENT SEASON > CURRENT MONTH
You will create a folder for the game you were at. Folders must be labeled in the following format:
Date – Winning team vs. Losing team Sport
Example: 9/09/16 – Westfield vs. South County football
You will upload the best plays from the game you were at into that folder. There should be a minimum of 10 plays uploaded to your folder. Please note what must be included for each sport:
- Football:
  - Every touchdown
  - Any other significant play that happened in the game you were at, including sacks, interceptions, one-handed catches, fumbles, trick plays, etc.
- Basketball:
  - As many highlight-worthy baskets, dunks, three-pointers, dimes, steals, blocks, etc. as possible.
  - Prioritize plays that occurred when the game was most competitive.
- Lacrosse:
  - Every goal
  - Any other significant play that happened in the game you were at, including saves, big hits, etc.
After you have uploaded the plays from the game you were at, you must clearly label each clip to indicate what happened in the clip. These descriptions should be brief, but short, and should include the team, the name and number of the player, what happened, the quarter the play happened in, and the score. For example:
In a football game between Westfield and South County
W Tyler Scanlon #10 TD catch, Q3, 28-10
Deadline for uploading your plays from each game you shoot is be uploaded by 11 p.m. the night of the game.

STEP 6: FILING TO THE WASHINGTON POST

After all your plays have been uploaded and labeled correctly, you must send a notification through our filing system.
After sending the notification, you must fill out this form nominating at least one of your plays for our Weekly Top 10 show.

TAKE THE EXAM

Now that you have completed the training material, please take the next step and take the exam. The exam is an “open-book” test, meaning that you can refer to the training material to find the best answer. The exam is a way to help our team learn more about your aptitude for the material that has been presented to you. You will not be permitted to move forward with this role without successfully completing the exam. TAKE THE EXAM