Esports Commentary Reel

Project Overview

Connell's goals for his commentary reel was to emphasize his comedic commentary stylings, but also show his flexibility by including segments that demonstrated his ability to analyze gameplay and provide insights for the audience.

Tools Used: Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop

Collecting Content: We collaborated on the first step of this project; Connell collected timestamps from recordings of his commentary footage that he wanted featured, and I clipped them down into bite-sized portions, organizing them into folders. The folders were categorized by name of event, and then subcategorized by the type of commentary featured (comedic, or analytic).

Choosing Music: Once all clips were collected, Connell and I worked together to find an appropriate instrumental track to set the video to. We went with a funk beat instrumental with a heavy bass and fun piano melody to match the lighthearted mood of the reel.

Intro Process: Next, I used Adobe After Effects to create an intro and outro for the reel. The intro was created with a combination of techniques, most notably using the rotoscoping tool to isolate Connell as the intro swirled to life around him, and having his gamertag, "G$," bounce to the beat of the background track. I chose to encircle Connell in the intro animation to make it clear who the subject of the video is, considering much of his commentary content features him as a voice over.

Outro Process & Copy: The outro displays Connell's gamertag, a slogan reading, "Analysis. Hype. Kicks.", and his Twitter handle for contact. The slogan was chosen to be brief and focus on three points. It leads with, "analysis," to reinforce Connell's professionalism, continues with, "hype," as in, "hype commentary," a common descriptor for his comedic styling, and ends with, "kicks," a catchphrase of my client's that those familiar to him will recognize and appreciate.

Editing: Now able to begin piecing the video together, my primary focuses on organizing the reel were:

• Keeping the video under 5 minutes
• Maintaining a balanced ratio of comedic commentary to analytic commentary
• Timing the video to the audio track as much as possible
• Making sure context of each clip is kept clear

This process took about one week to complete, as a side project actively worked on for about four hours per day.

Results

Connell was very satisfied with the commentary reel, and has received positive feedback on it from employers and peers. He's been able to gain employment for larger scale video game tournament events and continues to grow as a successful commentator.