Athletic Recruitment Videos/Highlight/Scouting Reels: Not All Are Created Equal

See sample highlight reel with all HD footage
Highlight video with animated graphics
Highlight video with basic graphics

Highlight Reel Sample

Not all highlight footage is equally created.  Pawpro produces high quality video footage of athletic teams or individual athletes which may be used as a coaching tool, or to highlight team and personal skills/strengths.  Be aware, this is more than just generic game footage which most highlight and recruiting reel companies are mass peddling to schools and parents.  Many companies produce footage that is grainy and out of focus.   Pawpro videotapes a game with HD cameras, so the footage is crystal clear.  See the difference between HD footage and standard definition (SD) footage in the two stills below.  These stills are both captured from one frame of video footage.  Notice that the field of view is larger with the HD footage, but also the details are sharper.  The difference is even more dramatic when the camera focuses on an individual player.

Standard definition (SD) still from video.
Pawpro (HD) still from video.
Pawpro HD still from video

The great advantage to parents, players and recruiters in today’s multimedia revolution is that your footage can be viewed readily and instantly via a link.  No need to snail mail endless DVDs and hope that they play for coaches and recruiters.  A highlight reel is an essential tool for serious athletes looking to maximize their college placement potential.

For teams and coaches, we do offer full season or multi-game, team video coverage.  Call or e-mail for pricing.

Pawpro Media will graphically and visually highlight your player by editing-down game footage to the best moments.  Videos may also include any stats or contact information.  ( We will compile footage shot by others.)

Highlight reel pricing depends on the amount of footage to be screened,  editing extras such as special effects, animated graphics, music, voiceover, and the number of finished minutes in the completed video.  Game footage pricing may vary depending on the number of games to be videotaped and the distance of travel to the game location.

Don’t expect to get a highlight reel out of one game’s footage.  That’s too much pressure on the athlete and the videographer.  We shoot what happens, we don’t make it happen.  Our best advice for producing the best highlight reel is to pay for a professional sports media outlet to shoot as many games as possible so that the athlete is given multiple chances to showcase her talent in front of the camera.  One game’s footage isn’t enough even for the best athlete.  A professional should ensure that the quality of the footage is high.

Pawpro Hears and Sees the Whos of Horton’s Kids

What’s that sound? It’s not coming from a dust speck, people! It’s coming from the great efforts of Horton’s Kids, a Capitol Hill based organization which provides tutoring and support to students and families of the lowest-performing schools of Ward 8 in Washington, DC. Pawpro Media will be producing a series of videos for this great organization led by Brenda Chamberlain, and founded by Karin Walser. It’s only fitting that we make this announcement on Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

While filling her car with gas in 1989, Karin had a chance encounter with a group of children from this troubled area of our nation’s capital, and it inspired her to recognize their need as well as their presence in the shadow of her everyday life working on Capitol Hill. It was as if they were calling out, We are here! We are here! We are here! just as the tiny Who’s in Who-ville did in the infamous Dr. Suess book, Horton Hears a Who.

For 20 years Horton’s Kids has advocated, transported, and enriched the lives of these neediest of children with educational tutoring, mentoring as well as the basic necessities of food and clothing when necessary. Horton’s Kids’ work is funded entirely by donations. Please visit hortonskids.org/donate.html if you would like to make a donation.

Pawpro to produce video for Educational Connections tutoring service in the DC Metro Region.

Pawpro is set to produce a video for one of the leading educational tutoring services in the Washington, DC area.  Ann Dolin, a former Fairfax County public school teacher and author of the book, “Homework Made Simple”, started this entrepreneurial business in 1998.  Twelve years later her company, Educational Connections, is on-track to gross $1.45 million this year, and employs 150 tutors serving students all over the DC region.

Dom Bower Photography Blog

Dom Bower Videos

Pawpro loves the photography tutorials by Dom Bower because they’re easy to understand, cover useful topics, and, at moments, a little tongue-in-chic.  That’s right, chic, not cheek.  He doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he does offer hundreds of instructional videos for the casual user, as well as the serious photography hobbyist/pseudo professional.  He has a couple of YouTube channels and Websites, so you’re sure to find help on most any photography topic you desire.

If you plan on taking photos for your own Website, you can’t beat these tips.  Real estate brokers who take their own photos could really benefit from watching of few of these videos. 

Top Reasons to Add Video to Your Marketing and Web Presence in 2011

Assuming you read Pawpro’s Top Ten Reasons You Need Video on Your Website . . . Seriously post–enough joking around.  The REAL top reasons to add video to your marketing and Website content:

1.  Internet users do watch video–71% of them, to be exact.  It cannot be overstated, on multiple levels video enhances your Web presence to search engines and individuals searching.

2.  Search engines rank sites with video higher than sites without it.  In a first see, first serve world, why would you knowingly place your Website lower in search results?

3.  Substantially cheaper than print marketing.  More and more, consumers seek news, information, and commerce online.

4.  Better bang for the buck.  Video has a far longer shelf-life than print marketing, if produced correctly.

5.  Video transcends the impersonal aspects of the online consumer experience.  A personal touch separates you from the crowd.

6.  Video engages and prompts responses from the viewer at rates 4 to 7 times higher than still imagery.

SOURCES:

(1) HGA Creative Communications via Facebook, Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Top Ten Reasons You Need Video on Your Web Page–Seriously!!

  1. Does not stain your teeth.
  2. Just now coming to terms with the idea that your VHS movie collection is worthless.
  3. You’ve secretly wanted to find a way to get the entire office to do a dance routine on camera.
  4. You’ve got the music in you.
  5. This is the only way you can get Snooki to respond to your tweets.
  6. So you can forget about the Redskins’ latest loss.
  7. Think you might have a shot at the Tonight Show since Jay’s back as host.
  8. Trying to find Candy Mountain.
  9. Need an excuse for all the time you spend on YouTube.
  10. Rejected from Dancing with the Stars, yet again.

Video Content/Video Production Special Offer

Video your business
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Video Production VA, MD, DC
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Pawpro Media is offering a 10% discount for first time clients on their first video project.  Mention this offer when you contact us.

Whether it’s a promotional video for your Website, a video home tour, an athletic recruitment/highlight reel, or a fundraising video, Pawpro Media produces high quality, creative video content.

What’s a tag?

Pawpro posts often mention tags.  A tag can take various forms, but essentially it’s a very quick video segment that can be used over a period of time at the start or end of a video profile, advertisement, or marketing presentation.  Think of it as a label in a shirt or a pair of pants, and every pair of pants you sell has your label sewn on.  Plain and simple a tag serves to help brand a service, an individual or business by making it familiar and giving the consumer something to remember.  It may be visually, verbally or musically memorable.

As an example, a tag can be as simple as a real estate agent saying, “I’m Bob Jones with ABC Realty and please give me a call if I can help you with your home purchase.” and this little segment is attached to every video home tour that Bob puts on the Web.  It makes Bob familiar to anyone who sees one of his video listings, they see his brokerage logo and it shows his contact information.  Bob’s not a stranger anymore, and he’s not just a name, phone number or still photograph on a Web page.

For a retail business, a tag may take the form of a memorable tag-line spoken over a shot of a storefront.  Or, maybe it’s just your logo animated with a tag-line.  It can be as simple as an on-camera thank you with telltale noise or jingle .  Pawpro can help you with ideas that fit your needs.

The most important element of a tag is its length.  Keep it short.  Under 10 seconds is my rule, and preferably under 5 seconds is best.

Pawpro’s Tag

The Value of the Viral Ad World

In this world of buzz words such as viral advertising and YouTube’s top viewed videos that come and go in a couple week’s time, how does a business position itself?  Should a business go viral, or not, is the question?

Sample Viral Ad

The viral advertisement and media arena has a value to almost any business.   Search engines now routinely separate and display multimedia content with text content results in keyword searches.  The test in producing virally is to remain true to the nature of your business and the message you want to send.  It’s easy to get caught-up trying to get noticed online, and lose sight of what is truly effective or appropriate .  Viral ad attempts often lead to poor quality and, or bad production choices that don’t necessarily have a marketing benefit.

The best strategy against these pitfalls is to develop a concept that’s realistic to achieve, fits within your budget, and remains mindful of production quality.  Bad audio and poor quality video are a distraction to a viewer, and can detract from a customer’s impression of your company .  Viewers will accept poor quality in a funny family video clip, but not so much from a company with whom they are considering investing their time and money. Always remember, it takes a customer one click to get to your site, and it just one click to leave it.  Keep it simple.