Following in Family Footsteps: A Journey to Videography – Article #4 FINAL
It’s not everyday that you get caught in the midst of national news story. Even more unlikely when tragedy strikes 1,000 miles away from home.
Ryan Schmidt travels with the University of Northern Iowa athletic teams and films their games. On Monday, Schmidt was traveling and preparing to film the Panther’s Men’s basketball team in their game against University of Virginia. The Panthers were in their hotel rooms, getting mentally ready for the evening game against the Cavaliers, when tragedy struck Virginia’s campus.
Schmidt recalled, “Something happened on [Virginia’s] campus, and all we were told was that we had to stay in our hotel rooms.”
Shortly later, Schmidt and the rest of UNI members learned that it was an active shooter. The team was staying at Holiday Inn, just a couple of minutes away from campus. They were close enough that the hotel had to lockdown until the shooter was apprehended.
On that cruel Monday evening in Virginia, Schmidt found himself sitting in his hotel room, patiently waiting for what was next for the UNI mens basketball team, and reminiscing on what got him there.
Schmidt is a college graduate who is continually perfecting this craft. Currently he is an Athletic Video Creative at the University of Northern Iowa. As mentioned previously, he travels with all the sports teams at the university and creates recap videos or hype up videos. He uses this gift to capture a moment and showcase the emotions displayed.
Schmidt said he hasn’t always been interested in videography. He said he really got into it when his cousin, who is a lead compositor for an animation studio in Toronto, showed him the ropes. “I thought it was cool, but I didn’t fully enjoy editing frame by frame,” Schmidt told me, “I made little videos here and there with friends, church, school, and I really enjoyed it.”
Getting into videography can be a daunting task to many, but for Schmidt, he took it head on and embraced the rumbles. “The worst part is the late nights, right as projects are coming due,” Schmidt said, “but I know these videos last and people look back on them, ideally with happy emotions.”
Last week, Schmidt experienced embracing the rumbles in a whole new manner. Schmidt said, “My cousin always told me to be ready for what happens next. I guess today showed that you never really know.”
Schmidt’s athletic creative colleague, Andy Saigh, was also in attendance and commented on the situation, “It was weird because in the moment we didn’t fully understand, but we also weren’t too shook up. We assumed the game was still going to happen.” Andy said he was chatting with Schmidt during the whole ordeal, and he said that Schmidt’s excitement to film the game never wavered. Only later would they find out the game was canceled.
After the cancelation, the team packed up and was able to travel back to Iowa safely. These players and staff will be able to tell this story for a lifetime. “Every day is precious. We all have seen that. I am just happy to be where I’m at,” Schmidt concluded with passion filled eyes.
Schmidt said he’s open to where his ship steers next. He sees himself spending time at other colleges, creating video creatives, and continuing to refine all life skills.