Some athletes choose to listen to music while others might do special stretches or have a team cheer to get excited for a sporting event. Thanks to sophomore Nicholas Minkin, there’s a new way for Bexley athletes to get excited about their team and sporting event: hype videos.
Minkin makes hype videos that include the best plays from one of the high school teams’ games or practices, he explained, and so far this year, he has made a hype video for the volleyball, football and boys soccer team.
Minkin began editing videos for fun on Imovie about a year ago. He started working on the team hype videos during the third quarter last school year when Bexleo adviser Mike Nolan allowed him to borrow a camera to film both a girls and boys basketball game, he said.
Minkin’s motivation to create the videos came from his love for sports and watching them.
“I have always enjoyed the excitement of highlight videos and the competitive aspect of sports,” he explained.
This year, Minkin said that he is a member of the high school’s yearbook staff, Bexleo. He explained that being on the Bexleo staff gives him constant access to cameras, so he can film whenever he wants.
Minkin is also a member of the soccer and swim teams, and he said being an athlete helps him determine the content of his videos.
“I know what people like to see,” he said. “I know what gets people excited.”
Minkin explained that the videos take a long time to create. He spends some time attending a practice or game to film a team, but he spends the majority of his time editing the videos on Premiere Pro. The editing process consists of sorting through clips, choosing music, stringing clips together and adding effects. The final videos are uploaded onto Bexleo’s Instagram account.
Since the videos take a long time to create, they are only uploaded a few times a month. Therefore, Nolan said that he hopes Minkin can train other members of the Bexleo staff, so it could be possible to have one hype video uploaded per week.
“If we could get three to four people on the staff making videos regularly, that would be awesome,” Nolan said.
Minkin’s inspiration comes from multiple Instagram accounts, specifically college football accounts, he explained. Additionally, he said that he does not have due dates for his videos, so he has more time to be detailed with his edits.
“Mr. Nolan has given me a lot of leeway to be creative with the videos,” he said.
He said that he plans on creating videos throughout the rest of high school.
“I’d like to do all sports, if it works, but I want to make sure it’s quality over quantity,” he explained.
In addition to the high school team videos, Minkin creates other highlight and hype videos. He posts these videos on his sport videos account, @hypevidz_.
Currently, Minkin said that he is focused on making the videos for fun, but he wants to have the option to make and edit videos more seriously in college.
Many athletes, like junior Isaiah Wilson, enjoy Minkin’s hype videos. Wilson is a member of the soccer team, and he said he especially appreciates the game Minkin chose to film for the soccer hype video.
“I really enjoyed the fact that he made the soccer hype video about the Columbus Academy game because it is such a big rivalry between Bexley and Academy and the video showed it,” Wilson explained.
Senior volleyball player and Bexleo member Hayley Heideman said she is thankful for Minkin’s volleyball hype video.
“I don’t think most people realize how intense and competitive a volleyball game can be, and I appreciate Nicholas for portraying the sport and our team in a positive way to the rest of the school,” Heideman said.
Minkin said that he is grateful for the support from the athletes and students.
“I was overwhelmed by all the support because it takes a lot of hard work and I’m glad everyone enjoys them,” he said.
