The Big 5 Classic is a one-day basketball tournament featuring six Division I teams from around Philadelphia, with roots going back to 1955. For the 2023 Classic, I covered each game. The following year, in addition to coverage, I created the opening video using my own footage. It was a really cool project to see play on the big screen.
I had this game circled from the moment I saw it on the Wells Fargo Center schedule. I was born and raised in Lexington, KY and went to UK, so getting to shoot this game was a surreal experience I’ll never forget. It took me back to my days shooting for the Kentucky Kernel, the student newspaper at UK. Here’s some of that early work.
Leading up to the 2024 Big 5 Classic, I cut a TV commercial using footage I shot during the previous year’s tournament. The spot aired across Philadelphia for several months and was a great opportunity to create something high-energy and visually sharp that captured the spirit of the event.
This was a fun one to make. Normally, when I covered a Villanova game, I’d turn around a quick edit by the next day. But after finishing the usual recap, I took a few extra days to put together something more intricate and exciting. It gave me a chance to experiment a bit more with pacing, music, and editing style.
After turning around the 2023 Big 5 Classic recap the next day, I still had hours of slow motion footage I knew I wanted to do more with. This ended up being the first video I made in the white squares style I like to use. The idea came from a lot of trial and error, just experimenting and playing around in After Effects.
This piece is more in line with the next-day recaps I’d regularly create for the Wells Fargo Center. Even with the quicker turnarounds, I always try to add a bit of extra flair to keep things interesting.
