Cheerleading Competition Highlights Video!

[Guest]

Hey everyone!

I've been reading this forum for quite a while now but never bothered to actually register. Anyhow, here I am today with an account and I'm sure I will be writing quite often now!

If you have time, please check out one of my latest productions for the 2003 Newfoundland & Labrador Cheerleading Provincial Competition. It was shot using an a DVX100 and an XL1s.

http://www.q-productions.net/provintro.mov (High-res)
http://www.q-productions.net/provintro2.mov (Low-res)

This video segment is only the high-impact highlights section of the full 1hr17min video. Check it out! (Who can turn down a bunch of cheerleaders anyway?! ;D)

Norm Li
Q Productions
http://www.q-productions.net

[Zoomforce]

Wow.. very nice! Did you shoot over exposed or did you do that in post?

Also what shutter speed did you use? your slow mo looks great!

And, what did you use for titling? Looks like a Vegas glow at the end?

Great editing/sound selection!

[Guest]

Hi Zoomforce,

Thanks! It was shot normally exposed and then in post, I overexposed by doing the normal boosting of contrast and brightness. I didn't want the highlights intro video to look like the "normal" video shot for the main event section of the video so in editing, I used the overexposure and boosted saturation (along with the fast cuts, flash transitions, slow and fast-motions, and visuals hitting the beats of the music, etc) to derive a different "look".

It was shot in 30P and a shutterspeed of approx. 1/250 from what I remember? I only used Premiere 6.5 and AfterEffects 5.5 to edit the video. The titles were created in Photoshop 7.0.

How did you like the "Matrix" Bullet-time effect I created? That was a rough version but in the future, I will be able to make it a lot better and smoother. When I was filming that day, I saw the guy doing backflips and something hit me out of nowhere to try to something. I shot it, and edited it and worked! But I shot it rough, so it looks more rough. Anyhow, I basically re-created the effect! lol

Norm

[Zoomforce]

eyes.. did you use that Kid's software to do that matrix thing? or did you just stitch it? very cool. very cool indeed.

And please let me know how you did your titles.. I am looking hard for a good titling program.

[Guest]

What kid's software?

I shot him doing the backflip 10-12 different times from a half circle and then later stitched it in post using the single frame where he looked basically suspended in the air in the same place.

The titles were created in Photoshop 7.0 and later edited in AfterEffects and Premiere to give it the motion/animation!

[Zoomforce]

there is some kid that made software that does that all automatically, with stills, but i think your way (the hard way) is way better and more accurate.

[Guest]

What filter did you use to increase brightness only on bright areas? Also, what did you use for the white glowing effect?

[aaronkid]

Vegas has both those settings, not sure about premier?

[Norm_Li]

Oh cool! I didn't know there was any type of software for this effect but just from hearing that it's using still images to mend together, I can already imagine how cheesy the effect may be? (Not that mine is any better but I will do some more accurate tests in the near future).

Not sure if you are referring to lens or Premiere filters but I will discuss both anyway! I did not use any lens filters so that leaves us with Premiere filters. I basically adjusted the regular "Brightness/Contrast" Filter in Premiere until I achieved an image I was satisfied with. By doing this, it did not blow the details out too much on the subjects but the white backgrounds (the walls) and the gym doors open (in the back) became overexposed greatly. In a way, that is good because if too much wall and door detail was revealed, the framed video images would be too cluttered and my audiences' eyes wouldn't be focused on the main subjects as much. It also created more of a 2-D effects which is sort of what I was also aiming for for this Intro Demo Video.

I haven't used Vegas yet, but I am planning to pretty soon with all this talk about it. I just ordered the Cobra Crane and a new Bogen Tripod & Head. The crane arrived but I am waiting for the new tripod/head first before I utilize the crane.

My next investments are probably the PowerMac G5, Mini35 Adaptor for the DVX, Century Optics anamorphic adaptor, Century Optics DV mattebox and a bunch of different film-effect 4x4 filters for it! (Obviously I can't get all of this right away but in time my friends, I will eventually have them all! Muahaha!)

As for the white glowing effect, do you mean around the titles or in the actual video itself?

[booggerg]

Not to be a jerk or anything but this is just my thoughts on this piece. I'm not such a big fan of this highlight reel. It givse the impression that the entire video is made up of shots of the stage viewed from a few repetitive angels. *Where's the behind the scene drama? preparations? reactions to scores? coaches encoragements? I've been involved with highschool competitions before(not cheerleading) and I know that as far as the experience as a whole goes, the stuff that goes on offstage is almost as big of a part as what takes place on the stage. *If this video is just of teams after teams performing on stage, then it would make for a boring video that only the participants themselves would watch and most likely fast-ffwd thru parts not of themselves. Also, the audio could be improved, maybe you can fade in here and there audio recorded on location? *Right now, you just have one random song after another which really disconnects from the imagery. It would definitely help if you can apply tighter mixed soundtrack for the entire piece and maybe some appropriate sfx in the transitions between songs. On the plus note, you did make good use of the music and applied good edits during the crystal method song in the beginning... Just some suggestions..

[Norm_Li]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Actually, the video clip you just seen is the only the event competition highlights video. In the full feature video DVD, there is a tightly edited section of "behind the scenes" of all the teams in their classrooms getting ready and cheering, as well as each coach from each team giving special shout-outs to their teams. Along with this, there are group shots. The DVD is divided into the different sections via menu/chapters for them to choose between the intro video (the one you saw), the main event video, the awards ceremony, the classroom team and group footage, and the coach shout-outs. All dragged out footage has been eliminated so most people who have purchased and watched the video won't want to fast-forward.

As you have only seen one small fraction of the video, it is understandable that you did not know of this and it may be a great idea in the future for me to include different classroom, award, and group footage within the intro highlights video as well.

The audio recorded on location was all horrible. Their stereo system was terrible and the on-board cameras did not pick up good sound at all so I used TOTALLY different music selections than what the teams used but I adjusted the visuals so that it would match almost each beat within the different songs I used to integrate into the video. (ONLY in the highlights video). The music was selected based on typical cheerleading songs but I mixed it using SoundForge 6.0. I personally thought the music transitions were quite smooth along with the video and many people also thought so but everyone is definitely entitled to their own opinions. For the rest of the actual competition section of the video, I used the onboard camera sound picked-up. It wasn't as nice as it could be but you sure hear a lot of cheerleaders screaming constantly and the treble-heavy bass-light music blaring in the background.

Thanks,

Norm

P.S> Also, if you have seen other cheerleading videos or event videos produced here in Newfoundland, you will notice the HUGE difference in creativity and skill level between my productions and the rest. Most other companies would just shoot the competition and dubb off raw footage copies for their customers. I used 550+ hours of editing throughout the whole video.

[booggerg]

No doubt that you put time into this video, i know my share of ppl who just go to an event and sit down next to their betacams and give their clients the tape at the end of the day. Anyways.. yeah maybe for the highlights reel, arrange the music so it changes pace, it'd be like.. show some on stage stuff and then music slows down and reaction shots.. girls crying after messing up, teammates hugging, then music picks up and the show goes on....

[Guest]

I was referring to the brightness 'pumps' in your video. For instance, during a wideshot of the cheerleaders it looks like the florescents pump more light, while the rest of the footage stays the same. I've seen this trick in skater/biker videos. The skateboard ramp, the skater and the fans will look the same through and entire clips, but the overhead lighting looks as though it gets brighter and then darker (quickly). Almost like you've added amps to the lights. I'm not talking about the overall overexposure. Just the 'pumps.' Lemme know how you did that. Thanks!

[ScreechingHalt]

I suspect what you are seeing is a slight timing difference between the flourescent light flicker and the normal video exposure frame rate. This is only a guess, but sometimes the frame will expose the peak of the flicker, sometimes the minimum.

Best regards,
ScreechingHalt Productions.

[booggerg]

And a lot of the flashes you saw on the ceiling seems to be actually camera flashes at the event.

[Zoomforce]

I must say at 1:41 in the video when you have the slow to Method Man beat, the sync is almost perfect for those precious few seconds. Don't know if that was luck or not, but was beautiful to see.

I think the pumps may be a combination Flashes and FX, there is an auto program that likes to boost the brighness a few thousand times for a fraction of a second every once in awhile to sync the music.

[Norm_Li]

Thanks!

Actually, those aren't camera flashes. :) All of those quick flashes are all created by me manually in editing to give it more 'impact'! To create the flashes I used VERY QUICK additive dissolve on overlapping clips of the same section in the video). I also made sure that each of the flashes I created hit the beats of the music tracks I used to give it more 'oomph!'. I thought it would give a nice effect as if people are taking pictures and more eye-candy while watching it. *:D

I paid very careful attention to every visual I could use flash fxs effectively. Believe it or not, every second, well, almost every frame of this video, I carefully analyzed and synced it up as much as I could with the music. If it wasn't insync, I would flow or speed up the video to fit the music. From the way they flip, jump, fall, fly, to even the way they flung their hair, I made sure it hit the beats. It adds so much more to a fast-paced video the visuals follow the music instead of vice-versa! :)

Norm

[Zoomforce]

wow.. you definately spent some time. I guess at 1 minute 41 seconds wasn't luck after all :)

That is pretty good, the fake flashes fit into the content and worked well.

Is the DVD for sale?

[Norm_Li]

Yep, in that 1 minute 45 seconds, there weren't many coincidences! :D

Yep! The DVDs are for sale. This was the first year I took on this project and I received about 160 orders and every day or two, there are still cheques/money orders dripping in here and there! In previous years, I heard other production companies could hardly get 30 orders.

[Zoomforce]

How much is that DVD?

Oh the 1:41 seconds I keep yamming on and on about is excactly at 1:41 to about 1:45 seconds, that is where I saw magic.

[Norm_Li]

The DVD is $35 and the VHS is $30 :)

[Gregi_23]

The program you all talk about for the “Bullet effect” is WinMorph. It’s about the coolest thing I have ever seen to do a transformation……… check it out. Best of all. It’s free.

http://www.debugmode.com/winmorph