Here at Digistorm, we love fun, creative, and engaging videos and we’d place a safe bet that your school community does too! We also know how difficult it can be to keep coming up with new ideas on how to engage your audience on social media with video. To take the pressure off, we’re sharing five easy video ideas to capture at you school’s next key event.

1. A cross-country time-lapse

The time-lapse is one of the easiest, but most-effect ways to create an engaging video for your audience. Using a GoPro or camera with a time-lapse feature (like your smartphone), record a series of different angles at your next cross country event. If you’re new to creating time-lapse videos, Canon has put together a handy guide.

Here are just a few ideas on the different scenes you might like to capture throughout the event:

  • Capture the first moments of the day: event set-up and students arriving
  • Film students running towards the camera at a particular stage in the track
  • Record all the smiles and emotions as students cross the finish line – get extra creative by asking a student to run with a GoPro attached to them from a runner's point of view.

Edit the time-lapse videos together, add some copyright-free music, and you’ve got yourself one action-packed video for social media.

2. Swimming carnival highlight reel

Creating a highlight video for your school’s next swimming carnival is a great way to build anticipation and promote future events. Your highlight reel should include a variety of shots: action-packed moments like slow-motion diving off the blocks into the water, students together having fun, and underwater shots with a GoPro. 

Of course, you’ll want to add some fun, high-energy music to your clips and compile them into a one to two-minute video. Take a look at this great example from Varsity College below for a little inspiration.

3. Athletics carnival slow motion

Your school’s next athletics carnival is a great opportunity to get a little creative with your video formats. We recommend creating a couple of different videos to capture all of the activities going on throughout the day. For example, you might like to take advantage of the ‘boomerang’ video feature in sports like the high jump, or where there are a lot of big movements. 

You could also slow things down a bit with a few slow-motion clips to showcase complex movements too. Trust us, your audience will love seeing your athletics carnival in a new and creative way.

4. School camp highlights

School camp just might be the highlight of the entire school year for your students, so it’s important to capture all the key moments they can look back on for months to come. Creating a one to three-minute highlight reel will also provide your parents with great insight into their child’s experience and encourage them to keep sending them back.

Be sure to include text and branding elements like your school logo, camp location, and the student year level. 

5. Live stream a school performance

One of the best ways to draw extra engagement to your school’s social media accounts is by going live with your video content. If you have a school production coming up, position your camera or smartphone close to the action and live stream directly to your Facebook or Instagram account.

Going live attracts and engages your school community by notifying followers on your social media channels to watch, so parents and students who couldn’t make it can tune in and be involved. Live streaming is particularly effective for events like; debate night, musical performances, and sporting events.

We hope these five creative ideas help you to capture some new and engaging video content for your school's social media channels!

Published September 6 2020