Gus Childs

I spent the summer of 2010 producing and editing HD videos that represented and enhanced the Summer Orientation program for the Freshman class of Bradley University.

The work, however, started in the Spring 2010 semester with multiple videos that were to be shown at every Orientation session. The most important of which was the video that opened every session. My partner, Matthew Vroman, and I hauled three cameras around on a 10 hour day of shooting footage around campus and elsewhere in Peoria. We used three cameras in order to create a more engaging video with faster cuts, which is exactly what we did.

The summer was then filled with thirteen three day Orientation sessions. For each one, my partner spent the first two days filming the more exciting events involving students and parents. As he filmed, I was editing each one into a narrative video that allows them to relive their Orientation experience. While Orientation might have started on a Sunday, I would have the entire video compressed and ready to go on Monday night (well, Tuesday morning). These videos were then shown to the attending session as the last part of their trip.

What I Learned

The biggest learning experience from this job was deadlines. There weren't second chances to reshoot events and the video had to be done on the morning of the third day, rain or shine. Needless to say there were a few sleepless nights, but my partner and I were able to produce a summer full of videos that we were proud of and thousands enjoyed.