The first draft you receive from Redwolf Sports Media will be exclusively for the purpose of determining the lineup of your clips. This draft is called the “clip shuffler” and will include all the clips you have provided or requested clipped from source game footage, and each clip will have a number in the upper left hand corner (Sample Image below) to be used as a common designation between you and the editor. (Please note no editing has been done yet to these clips so do not panic if they are too long or don’t fit the video window correctly)
I encourage you to prepare a piece of paper with three groups called:
- Great
- Good
- OK
Then watch the video and rate each clip yourself, and be HONEST WITH YOURSELF. The rating you give a clip should consider a few variables. Such as
- Clip Quality – Can the person watching this clip even see what you are trying to show off in this moment? It may have been the best play in your career but of the quality of the video clip is very poor (low resolution) or is very far away, then what’s the point? The same goes for bad videography. If the camera is shaking all over the screen then the quality of your play will not shine through. Some viewers may even stop watching if they are turned off by the clip quality.
- Quality of play – Was it really a great play or was it just a great moment in your career for whatever that reason may have been? Context matters. And average goal that happens to be a game winner is not a highlight. It’s an average goal, unless it happened to also be a buzzer beater.
- Quality of opposition – An offensive player scoring repeatedly on a below average goalie is not a highlight. A defender locking down a below average ball handler is not a highlight.
- Maintain a good blend of clip types as explained in the “Importance of your clip lineup blog post“
Remember you are NOT going to be sitting with a prospective coach explaining the situation of these clips. So the clip needs to be impressive without a narrative.
Once you have decided if a clip is Great, Good or OK, put that clips number into the respective group on your paper. If you feel a clip in your shuffler draft doesn’t qualify for any group, then leave it out
Now, in a new section of your paper, write the desired order of the “great” clips, followed by the desired order of the “good” clips, followed by the desired order of the “ok” clips. And… you’re done. Send that new full lineup back to Redwolf and go on with your day!