Creating vs Capturing Content
The Theory
This is an interesting dynamic to consider: Which is more important, creating content or capturing content? On the one hand, creating content uses the medium as a canvas for artistic expression. On the other, capturing content provides a uniquely authentic way of documenting human experience.
Our Strategy
As the role of a producer for a content creator, I see it as my job to find a way to create spaces for self-expression while combining ‘captured’ moments to add supporting authenticity to the topic at hand.
Currently, our channel is focused on growing the sport of lacrosse. We use many different strategies within our content to do this. Our most consistent form of content is 20-minute documentaries on college, club, and high school lacrosse programs. These do a great job of displaying the time, effort, and resources that top programs are pouring into the sport. Nevertheless, they don’t offer much intrigue to people who aren’t already fans of the sport.
Unfortunately, and rightfully so, the stereotypes of lacrosse players are overwhelmingly negative, so it has been hard for creators to capture the off-the-field personalities of the sport. Thus, authenticity has been a challenge for creators to capture without the use of satire.
How it Played Out
The following video is an attempt to blend content creation and capturing content. To focus on capturing content, we wanted to find a way to assemble a broad range of never-before-seen lacrosse personalities. The format we landed on was ‘Hiring a lacrosse player from the internet’. Our overarching narrative was to train a complete stranger who’s never played lacrosse goalie and ultimately have them compete against a D1 athlete.
To do this, we put out a Google form to 80k Instagram followers and selected 6 strangers to conduct interviews with. The interview portion created a great opportunity to capture authenticity. From a production perspective, the most valuable thing we did for these interviews was to send a series of unusual questions to the interviewees.
Pre-Interview Questions
What is the largest meal you’ve ever eaten?
What is your strangest habit or fixation?
What is no one else in the world better at than you?
Describe the best night out you’ve ever had?
Who is the BEST goalie of all time? WHY?
When was the last time you cried?
If you were a frog, what kind of frog would you be and why?
What is your best middle school memory?
Describe your approach to academics.
There was a wild range of answers to these questions. My favorite answer that didn’t make the final cut of the YouTube video is the following:
Question: When was the last time you cried?
Answer: “I was watching Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and the flashback scenes with the baby raccoon caught me off guard. I will say that I was watching with a friend who had the waterworks flowing and I was doing okay, but I could only keep it together for so long.” The deeply personal nature of this question, combined with vague instructions, led the participants to share a lot of unexpected information.
Check out the full version: “I Turned a Stranger to a D1 Goalie!”
