Vaulting World Article
Jun. 30th, 2008 12:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beth_leonardHere's my first draft. Feel free to suggest new wordings, or new ideas entirely. This is basically a shameless plug for people to buy my professional videos that I'll be taking at Nationals, so I want to appear as professional as possible while still giving Mom & Dad useful advice for recording their own kids. I want recording vaulting to seem complex enough that while people could work on improving their own skills, it's certainly easier to leave it to a professional.
This will go in the magazine that is mailed out to all vaulters. I generally read Vaulting World cover to cover, but not everyone does. I want the kids who read this (ok, skim the first paragraph) to come away with "I want videos of myself" and let their parents know. The editor of Vaulting World is desperate for new material and has to beg people to write articles each month. (Thus why I'm doing this.)
Taking Great Vaulting Videos
Why take video?
Vaulting is an amazing sport to watch, from the earliest beginner to the elite competitor. The Tiny Tot of today could be tomorrow's world champion. 20 years from now it will be fun to show off those old videos of "remember when" and look back at what you could do. Your scores tell you one story, seeing yourself improve in video over the years can be much more inspiring.
Video can be a tool to analyze performances and come to the "Ah Ha!" moment when you understand what your coach means when they say "Keep your head down during the mount!" Hearing it is one thing, seeing yourself is quite another.
At the upper levels, it can be quite instructional to record the other vaulters' freestyles and technical tests. Viewing them later can help you make improvements to your own performances.
Equipment
Filming vaulting obviously starts with the video camera. Many fine consumer video cameras cost in the $300 and under range.
When making a choice, consider the recording medium. Recording directly to DVD may sound nice, but generally the resolution isn't as good and it is much harder to edit your videos. Recording to mini-DV tape gives you better quality and more flexibility, at the expense of needing to do an extra step once you get home to transfer your footage from the camera to be viewed on your TV with a DVD player.
3 CCD cameras are the first big step up from consumer camcorders towards more professional gear. The difference in quality is most noticeable in poor lighting conditions, especially indoors or for a covered arena.
HD is a popular buzz word these days, but for the average consumer the picture quality doesn't justify the expense and effort. Editing HD footage is more complex.
Beyond the camera, what do you buy next? As a professional at competitions, I've had parents walk by and comment, "nice camera" when they should really be saying, "nice tripod." A good fluid head on a solid tripod can make a world of difference for filming vaulting. A fluid-head will allow you to pan the camera smoothly (no stuttering) and will help keep the vaulter in focus. If you already own a camera, upgrade the tripod before the camera to improve your vaulting videos.
What to record
When the vaulter lifts his or her hand to begin the music is a great time to begin recording if you haven't already. If you will be recording multiple vaulters, a close up of their face and arm-band will help in identifying them later. After that, zoom out to show the vaulter approaching the horse.
Try to zoom in as much as possible while leaving some head space in front of the horse and above the vaulter. At the trot and Tiny-tot level, it's easy to zoom in on the vaulter, but the bouncing can make the viewer motion sick unless you also include the horse's head, and preferably some space under the horse's barrel as well.
Leave some head room
If you are filming to give a copy to the coach or lounger, include the entire horse.
In freestyle competitions, try to anticipate when the vaulter will do a standing move or jump and leave some extra space in the frame.
Except in team competition, as the vaulter dismounts, follow the vaulter not the horse. It's nice for the vaulter to know if they touched a hand or knee to the ground.
Difficult lighting situations
In an uncovered arena in bright sunlight, you can get away with using your camera's "Easy" mode. Try to position yourself so that the sun is not shining directly at the camera, which may mean moving during the day. If you are having problems keeping the vaulter in focus, zoom out more and avoid having strong horizontal lines (like bleachers) in the background.
A covered arena where the vaulter is in shadow but the background is in sunlight is one of the most challenging situations to record. You will see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your video if you take the time to read the manual and learn how to set your camera's exposure.
AE stands for "Auto Exposure". Some cameras will allow you to lock the exposure. First zoom in to the ground near the lounger's feet, then lock the exposure or set the spot meter. Next zoom out to film the vaulter.
This will frequently cause your background to seem too bright, but if you don't do it, your vaulter will be too dark.
Putting it all together
Be a vaulting evangelist! Share your videos with your friends who might not have had a chance to see you in person. If you edit your videos before showing them to friends, cut to show just the vaulting. Your run-in may be spectacular, but 3 months later at a slumber party it's less exciting to watch than your actual time on the horse.
Every new Macintosh comes with software called iMovie that is very easy to use. iDVD for the Mac lets you burn your movies to DVD. For the PC world, sometimes your camera will come with some basic editing software or you can purchase an editing suite. This is an area where if you have access to a Mac, use it.
If you are dissatisfied with your own footage, I will be recording the entire main arena at Nationals and videos will be available at LeonardFamilyVideos.com after the competition.
Vault On!
--Beth Leonard
Leonard Family Videos
This will go in the magazine that is mailed out to all vaulters. I generally read Vaulting World cover to cover, but not everyone does. I want the kids who read this (ok, skim the first paragraph) to come away with "I want videos of myself" and let their parents know. The editor of Vaulting World is desperate for new material and has to beg people to write articles each month. (Thus why I'm doing this.)
Taking Great Vaulting Videos
Why take video?
Vaulting is an amazing sport to watch, from the earliest beginner to the elite competitor. The Tiny Tot of today could be tomorrow's world champion. 20 years from now it will be fun to show off those old videos of "remember when" and look back at what you could do. Your scores tell you one story, seeing yourself improve in video over the years can be much more inspiring.
Video can be a tool to analyze performances and come to the "Ah Ha!" moment when you understand what your coach means when they say "Keep your head down during the mount!" Hearing it is one thing, seeing yourself is quite another.
At the upper levels, it can be quite instructional to record the other vaulters' freestyles and technical tests. Viewing them later can help you make improvements to your own performances.
Equipment
Filming vaulting obviously starts with the video camera. Many fine consumer video cameras cost in the $300 and under range.
When making a choice, consider the recording medium. Recording directly to DVD may sound nice, but generally the resolution isn't as good and it is much harder to edit your videos. Recording to mini-DV tape gives you better quality and more flexibility, at the expense of needing to do an extra step once you get home to transfer your footage from the camera to be viewed on your TV with a DVD player.
3 CCD cameras are the first big step up from consumer camcorders towards more professional gear. The difference in quality is most noticeable in poor lighting conditions, especially indoors or for a covered arena.
HD is a popular buzz word these days, but for the average consumer the picture quality doesn't justify the expense and effort. Editing HD footage is more complex.
Beyond the camera, what do you buy next? As a professional at competitions, I've had parents walk by and comment, "nice camera" when they should really be saying, "nice tripod." A good fluid head on a solid tripod can make a world of difference for filming vaulting. A fluid-head will allow you to pan the camera smoothly (no stuttering) and will help keep the vaulter in focus. If you already own a camera, upgrade the tripod before the camera to improve your vaulting videos.
What to record
When the vaulter lifts his or her hand to begin the music is a great time to begin recording if you haven't already. If you will be recording multiple vaulters, a close up of their face and arm-band will help in identifying them later. After that, zoom out to show the vaulter approaching the horse.
Try to zoom in as much as possible while leaving some head space in front of the horse and above the vaulter. At the trot and Tiny-tot level, it's easy to zoom in on the vaulter, but the bouncing can make the viewer motion sick unless you also include the horse's head, and preferably some space under the horse's barrel as well.
Leave some head roomIf you are filming to give a copy to the coach or lounger, include the entire horse.
In freestyle competitions, try to anticipate when the vaulter will do a standing move or jump and leave some extra space in the frame.
Except in team competition, as the vaulter dismounts, follow the vaulter not the horse. It's nice for the vaulter to know if they touched a hand or knee to the ground.
Difficult lighting situations
In an uncovered arena in bright sunlight, you can get away with using your camera's "Easy" mode. Try to position yourself so that the sun is not shining directly at the camera, which may mean moving during the day. If you are having problems keeping the vaulter in focus, zoom out more and avoid having strong horizontal lines (like bleachers) in the background.
A covered arena where the vaulter is in shadow but the background is in sunlight is one of the most challenging situations to record. You will see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your video if you take the time to read the manual and learn how to set your camera's exposure.
AE stands for "Auto Exposure". Some cameras will allow you to lock the exposure. First zoom in to the ground near the lounger's feet, then lock the exposure or set the spot meter. Next zoom out to film the vaulter.
This will frequently cause your background to seem too bright, but if you don't do it, your vaulter will be too dark.
Putting it all together
Be a vaulting evangelist! Share your videos with your friends who might not have had a chance to see you in person. If you edit your videos before showing them to friends, cut to show just the vaulting. Your run-in may be spectacular, but 3 months later at a slumber party it's less exciting to watch than your actual time on the horse.
Every new Macintosh comes with software called iMovie that is very easy to use. iDVD for the Mac lets you burn your movies to DVD. For the PC world, sometimes your camera will come with some basic editing software or you can purchase an editing suite. This is an area where if you have access to a Mac, use it.
If you are dissatisfied with your own footage, I will be recording the entire main arena at Nationals and videos will be available at LeonardFamilyVideos.com after the competition.
Vault On!
--Beth Leonard
Leonard Family Videos
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-30 02:00 pm (UTC)All in all, I think you did a wonderful job on the article!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-01 05:21 am (UTC)Vaulting is fun. I started when I was 27 because my riding instructor said it would improve my riding. Now I've quit regular riding and just vault. (Although I would do both if I had infinite time and money.)
I used to record competitions for my team, and eventually the fest organizers asked me to be the official videographer, which is how I got started in this business.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-01 04:04 pm (UTC)I agree with the other comment about you placing the ad. Maybe try not to have it directly across the article but have it somewhere in the magazine? I think you would be able to re-emphasize your services this way. But I really like how you explain what you do and how others do it without it being a strictly publicity piece for you (if that makes sense).
no subject
Date: 2008-06-30 09:56 pm (UTC)I'd vote changing this to something that explains why it is more complex, such as :"editing HD footage requires more specialized/expensive equipment". I don't know if that sentence I wrote is actually true, but I think a short descriptive sentence would be more persuasive than a blanket statement.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-01 05:15 am (UTC)--Beth
no subject
Date: 2008-06-30 11:47 pm (UTC)If you can afford it, this would be a wonderful time to splurge on a Leonard Family Videos ad in the same magazine. Preferably in color, on one of the same pages as the article. That will reinforce the message of your availability, if someone doesn't read all the way to the bottom of the article. Maybe they will give you a discount since you are contributing the article.
Especially if you can't do the ad right now, you might want to reiterate your URL and add a phone number under your by-line.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-01 05:18 am (UTC)--Beth
PS. On Thursday we have to be somewhere at 6:30, but would still like to do playgroup if you're up for it.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-01 06:57 am (UTC)I'll talk to Neil about playgroup on Thursday. Maybe he would like to come along, too, or would enjoy a bit of a break to goof off on the computer.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-03 02:30 am (UTC)Mom