How to make cool videos with Cam Sleeper
Sleeper, a Northeastern University videographer, has been making videos for as long as he can remember.
Cam Sleeper, a Northeastern University videographer, has been making videos for as long as he can remember.
A child of the late ’90s, he started filming on an early recording device that he says maxed out at 12 seconds of film at a time.
Exactly which device remains a mystery.
“I still remember it,” Sleeper says.
He would play around with the footage in an early version of Kid Pix, a bitmap art program designed for children, before moving to develop some basic editing skills in iMovie.
Eventually, he’d acquired one of those consumer-grade camcorders familiar to many of the early millennium.
“I spent my summers doing that with my friends,” he says. “Just making movies and showing them to our parents.” But earlier versions of iMovie, Sleeper says, offered a limited experience. It wasn’t until he convinced his parents to invest in Final Cut Pro — a software program that allowed him to edit multiple layers simultaneously — that he began to take his craft seriously.
“It definitely allowed me to level up in editing ability,” Sleeper says.
Now, he’s a consummate pro, helping to steer the Northeastern University brand through compelling digital storytelling.
How does Sleeper do it? We asked him for some practical tips for anyone looking to get started in the world of visual narrative.
1. The basics and a story
It’s never been easier to get started on making videos: all you need is a smartphone and some basic video-editing software. Sleeper recommends CapCut because it’s free and easy to use.
From there, let your intuition be your guide. Making videos requires a sense of play, Sleeper says.
“It is fun to just mess around in these softwares — at least it was fun for me,” Sleeper says. “If it isn’t fun for you, then maybe video-making isn’t for you.”
For Sleeper, making a good video is less about technical proficiency than it is about storytelling. In other words, the content matters more than flashy edits.
How can you cultivate your sense of narrative? That part is harder to teach.
But as with any art form, Sleeper endorses a watch-and-learn approach. Find videographers and editors you like and study their techniques.
“I think a big part of art is just listening to and observing other artists,” he says. “I think all art is self-referential, and referential to the works that came before it.”
2. Pacing
Whether you’re talking about cinematic films or short-form TikTok videos, pacing is key, Sleeper says. It’s how you sustain a viewer’s attention in a world filled with distractions.
And when it comes to editing for pace — the speed with which video elements and information are packaged and presented — an amateur videographer may want to keep to a quicker tempo.
“When we’re talking about making content that is successful and performs well, it works to make things fast-paced,” Sleeper says. “Like a complex narrative, the viewer may feel as though they missed stuff and want to watch again.”
But, he adds, “you tow a fine line between making things too frenetic, too crazy, and alienating the viewer.”
3. Sync with a soundtrack
Art might imitate life, but music enriches both.
“Editing to music is always something I would recommend,” Sleeper says. “When I was learning in high school or middle school, most of what I would make were skate videos.”
“So I would find some song that fit the mood and edit my friends skating to the beat,” he says.
Very few content creators and videographers don’t make use of music. It’s just part of the gig.
4. Upgrading your equipment
If you’re comfortable capturing video on your smartphone and want to upgrade your tech, Sleeper recommends a Sony Alpha a6000 mirrorless camera or a Canon PowerShot compact camera.