Event videography for student societies and clubs

Student organisers often have a good event plan and a short window to find a videographer. A clear brief helps you get comparable quotes, stay within your university’s rules and spend a small budget on the right moments.

What should you settle with your university first?

Your first questions are usually not about video. They are about who must say yes.

Ask your faculty advisor or student affairs office:

• Can the society hire an outside supplier, and who signs off?
• How is payment made, and is a formal quotation needed?
• Does the venue have its own rules for filming or for outside crews?
• Are there rules about filming students or guests, and publishing the video?

Write the answers down. If an answer is “we need to check”, note who is checking.

Our video decisions and approvals planner gives you a table to record who decides what. If your university has a central communications team, it may also have views on how event video is used. See videography for university event and communications teams.

What do you write in the brief?

Keep it to one page. A good student-society brief covers:

1. The event: name, type, date, venue and start and end times.
2. The crowd: roughly how many people, and who they are.
3. The purpose: for example, a recap for members, a sponsor report or promotion for next year’s intake.
4. The moments that matter: a keynote, a performance, a prize-giving, a committee speech.
5. What you want to receive: a short highlight, a full recording of one segment, clips for social media.
6. Who approves the result: and by when you need to see it.

If you are unsure what to ask for, the video brief builder turns your answers into a readable brief. Sending that brief is an enquiry, not a booking.

How do you rank moments when the budget is small?

You do not have to film everything. Sort the programme into three groups: must keep, nice to have and can skip.

For example, a one-day society conference might have an opening keynote, two workshop sessions, a networking lunch and a closing award segment. You could rank the keynote and awards as “must keep”, one workshop as “nice to have”, and the lunch as “short clips only”. That gives a clear scope and a fairer comparison between quotes.

The must-capture moments checklist helps you agree this with your committee. The budget worksheet shows which factors move the cost, and our guide to pricing explains them in plain words.

What are the limits to plan for?

Some limits sit outside the videographer’s control:

• Venue rules. Halls, auditoriums and sports facilities can have rules on crew access, cables and camera positions. Our venue filming questions checklist lists what to ask.
• People who do not want to be filmed. Say so at registration or entry, and tell the videographer. Our guide on permissions and responsible publication explains how to handle this.
• Schedule changes. Student events often change at the last minute. Name one person who can tell the crew about changes on the day.
• Orientation and welcome events. These have their own concerns about showing students. See planning video for orientation and welcome events.

What we confirm for your event

When you send your brief, we confirm these points with you:

• What the quote covers: hours, crew, films and review rounds.
• What we need from you before the day, such as the programme and one contact on site.
• How we follow the venue’s and campus filming rules, once you tell us what they are.
• Which outputs are extra.
• How the files reach you, and who can access them.

If you are comparing quotes, put the same questions to every supplier. Our quote comparison worksheet lets you compare answers side by side. For this kind of event, see our event videography service. A livestream, a same-day edit or a second camera are available on request, and we confirm them for your date.