IQA Update

IQA Launches Highlight Reel Program

by Daniel Shapiro | November 29, 2013

Hello, IQA Teams!

If you don’t know me, my name is Daniel Shapiro. I’m part of the IQA video team, and we’re in need of your help.

We’re a rapidly growing sport in a rapidly growing technological world. We’ve all become consumers of multimedia – we use Twitter to gather updates on events and contact athletes, we browse photo albums to look for those iconic moments that define sports, and we devour video footage for purposes of scouting, learning, and to bring those iconic moments to life.

As the video team, one of our primary jobs is to gather footage, edit it, and consolidate it into one easily accessible location for the entire quidditch world to enjoy. As a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization, our main obstacle is the fact that we don’t have the necessary resources to be on-site to record every event, so that's where you come in.

I’ve been involved in creating two quidditch related highlight reels; Mizzou’s Spring Breakout and our brand new 2012-2013 IQA Highlight Reel.

If you like either of those two videos, we’re offering to make similar videos for teams out there in return for providing us with match footage that meets the following standards.

1. Make sure your footage is high-definition. 720p or better footage turns out very nicely in highlight reels, while lesser quality diminishes the effect that the footage has.

2. Multiple angles are another must for a high quality highlight reel. At Mizzou, we accomplished this by having a “broadcast camera” that was raised on a tripod in the back of a truck and a “highlight camera” which was level with the field and moved up and down the field for the best shots. This camera also followed the snitch when it returned. Another good camera angle is a behind the hoops camera, if you can support a three camera set up.

3. If you can, capture B-roll! Get footage of the crowd, of pre-game rituals, celebrations, team benches, announcers, everything!

Then, after writing down in your video the times of specific highlights, you submit all raw footage to the IQA and we will create a highlight reel for your team to use for whatever you please.

Now, as the person who coordinated Mizzou’s highlight reel last year, I can say that it is indeed worth having a highlight reel made. Almost all of our new players this year that stuck around decided to join after watching the highlight reel and the results are clear; we went from an 0-3 regional performance last year to an Elite 8 regional finish this year.

The team did not have the proper equipment last year to make this happen on our own. While I have an HD camcorder, it simply wouldn’t be enough for great footage. So my advice is that if you don’t have the proper personnel to film the games for you, considering reaching out to a video service and adding the cost to your tournament fees helps a lot and will get you professional quality video. The costs for filming Spring Breakout ended up in the $170 range, which we had worked into our tournament fee.

If you’re interested in having these types of videos made for your team in the future, send an email to Kris Alicea, IQA Video Manager, at . Thanks, and we're excited to work with you!