How to make your Sport Videos more CINEMATIC | 3 Tips for Sports Videography

let's get this show on the road all

right if i don't shoot this i'm never

gonna shoot this so let's just get it

going

hey guys juan back here today with a

brand new video i hope everyone's doing

well and as always very excited to be

back here again with you guys to talk

about more sports creative content

recently i've completed my final video

project for the ryerson ram since i

graduated and it was a motivational

style video kind of hyping up the return

of university athletics at the school

since the covet pandemic began this was

probably the longest video project i've

ever been a part of in terms of the

moment we started developing and

thinking of the idea to the moment we

ended up actually posting it on social

media we started developing the project

in may of 2020 assuming that we were

going to be kind of back to normal in

that fall but obviously with the

pandemic we all know what happened and

here we are in 2021 with the video just

releasing a few weeks ago here in

september and this video is very near

and dear to me and kind of a milestone

piece as well because it's the last

video i ever made for this athletic

department that opened its arms to me

and gave me my in into the sports

creation world so for that reason this

video is something i poured my heart and

soul into what i'm very proud of if you

guys want to check it out i'll leave a

link in the description below it's on my

instagram i just don't want to take up

two minutes ish of this video so i'll

just link it down below but i'm also

going to be pulling some examples so

you'll see exactly what i'm talking

about anyways the entire reason why i'm

bringing up this video is because it you

know kind of showcased to me my growth

and evolution as a filmmaker and i

didn't even notice that until the video

was edited and published so the first

half of the video showcases you know

life before the pandemic and highlights

from before kovid so 2019 and 2018 and

the second half of the video showcases

these athletes coming back and getting

ready for their first season since the

pandemic began and all the footage in

that part of the video is the latter

half of 2020 and 2021 so far and i just

noticed a huge contrast and difference

in the way i shoot sports now and the

way i frame things composition the way i

you know capture action on the court or

on the field and it was a huge surprise

to me to see how different my style has

evolved and i think that growth came

from having to create content and try

different types of filmmaking apart from

sports when they weren't happening and

that inspired me to make this video

right now so right now i'm going to be

giving you guys three tips that you can

use to make your sport videos more

cinematic now i know the word cinematic

is thrown around and overused a lot but

this is just me kind of talking about

some methods and things that i've

adopted during the pandemic to make my

sport videos a little bit more impactful

and visually appealing and just things

that i've noticed that i do differently

versus when i started shooting sports

anyways i'm gonna stop rambling on here

we're gonna get straight into tip number

one which is to shoot from a low angle

shooting from a lower angle has been the

biggest difference i think i've noticed

in my filmmaking style and my shooting

style right now compared to how i was

shooting sports a couple of years ago

shooting from a lower angle gives the

perspective to your audience that your

subject is a lot larger than it appears

giving it more of a larger than life

look or more of a powerful look on

screen one thing i notice a lot of

people do including myself is that

they'll shoot sports kind of from eye

level so you'll kind of be holding their

camera chest level kind of at the same

elevation as the athletes on the field

or court but if you're able to shoot a

little lower say you get your camera a

little closer down to your hip or even

if you're able to sit on the ground

completely you'll notice a drastically

different image just because of the

change in perspective and even shooting

sports like basketball or anything along

those lines can kind of replicate that

low angle look if you're just sitting

down or have a little hi-hat set up just

shooting up and towards the action of

the athletes will really improve just

the overall look versus just shooting

from the chest and being at the same

elevation believe me it'll set your

footage apart from other people who

aren't getting low to the ground tip

number two is utilizing the lighting in

your environment now i know this is very

venue or environment dependent where

you're shooting but if you're able to

shoot into a light or into various

sources of light you're gonna notice

very distinct looks that you can get

that are just gonna up the quality of

your shots by shooting into a light

source you're just gonna give yourself a

lot more possibilities to get more

dynamic footage whether it's being able

to capture light flares and leaks behind

an athlete or even completely

silhouetting somebody to get a really

cool pregame or a middle of the game

look for b-roll you're just giving

yourself a lot of different options

that'll make your videos stand out this

isn't just limited to indoor and outdoor

venues like arenas or stadiums because

if you're shooting something like soccer

or lacrosse or football something

outdoor you can just use the sun during

the day or at night if you have

floodlights at your venue just shoot

against those believe me though some of

my favorite frames have come recently

from shooting outdoors at golden hour

against the sun you know just having

that warm glow and

everything looking nice and warm it just

it hits different if you have the

opportunity to shoot around seven or

eight o'clock depending on when the sun

is going down do so and you will not

regret it i know not everyone has access

to really well-lit venues or something

like a stadium or an arena to shoot at

but if you're able to combine my first

tip by getting low to the ground and

getting that upwards angle sometimes you

can actually shoot into the ceiling

lights and get a really similar effect

before i move on to tip number three i'm

gonna throw in a little bonus here if

you're able to get a diffusion filter on

your lens i have a black promise filter

by tiffin but really any kind of

diffusion or mist filter will do it'll

only amplify this little effect i

literally never leave home and i don't

think i ever shoot without my black

promise filter and it's just the cherry

on top for utilizing lighting in your

environment just gives you that little

bit more of that cinematic look and it

just makes the lights look a lot cooler

and more dynamic and last but certainly

not least tip number three is do not be

afraid of changing your lenses during a

game to use different focal lengths i

think this is the most important tip in

this video and if one i would probably

give to everyone shooting sports is to

not be afraid to change your focal

length in the middle of a game if you

have the opportunity because it'll just

really diversify your shot selection and

coverage and you're going to have a lot

of options and cool different looks in

post-production and i've noticed a huge

difference when i started to do that

myself now this isn't to criticize

anyone because i know i do this too but

i think the most frequent thing i see on

social media in sports content is a

really tight shot of an athlete getting

a dunk or a touchdown and don't get me

wrong i love shooting with my 70-200 as

much as the next guy or girl but i do

think it's a shame because you don't

really get to see what happens you know

around the play if you're just to shoot

a little wider whether it's you know

someone sending a screen for a pick and

roll or you know someone blocking for a

running back about to get a touchdown

you don't really see that when you're

really close up and tight on one subject

i use my 70 to 200 and my 28 to 75 when

i'm shooting sports i'd say i use the 70

to 260 to 70 of the time probably more

if i'm shooting something like soccer or

football but i'm also not afraid to bust

down my 28 to 75 to get very different

looks by shooting at a wider angle so i

think by mixing that variety of focal

lengths from a wide shot to medium and

really tight close-ups you're able to

make your final videos way more dynamic

and engaging because you have different

perspectives of similar actions or when

you're telling a story of a game you're

able to showcase what happens in so many

different ways and i think that lends

itself to having really good shot

coverage at the end of a game or an

event because if i have several dunks if

i'm shooting basketball from a y to a

tight and they're very similar you're

able to match cut them or just have

different perspectives some of my

favorite moments are shot wide versus

really tight just because you're able to

see around the athlete and the

environment and the situation and

reactions as well and when it comes to

shooting b-roll whether it's of a venue

or of a fan or an athlete i love opening

up on a medium wide shot of you know an

athlete or something and then punching

in later with a 70-200 really close for

those facial expressions reactions and

little details if you guys made it to

this point in the video thank you so

much for watching if you enjoyed it if

you learned something if you took

something away from this video make sure

to smash that like button down below to

satisfy the youtube algorithm gods and

as always if you're not subscribed yet

and you enjoy this kind of content make

sure to hit the red button down below as

it'll help me and the channel grow and i

would really really appreciate it if you

guys try these tips and it goes well let

me know down in the comments how it went

if you guys have any tips of your own

for myself or for other sports shooters

leave them down in the comments i would

love to hear what you guys are doing

different to shoot your sports content

thank you so much for watching and as

always i will catch you guys in the next

video peace

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