The New and Creative Media Team has evolved content creation and video production for Gamecock Athletics over the years since its formation. From Battle Armor to fourth quarter hype videos, the team is constantly upping their game with each video they produce for University of South Carolina students, fans, athletes and alumni.
In spring of 2017, Justin King was hired as the associate athletics director of New and Creative Media. When King joined the staff, he was tasked with creating a new and different type of content for Gamecock Athletics. This new content King was hired to create in 2017 has since evolved the video production game and continues to bring new elements to Gamecock Athletics.
“Justin King took the lead with building this team, with full support from the athletic departments and coaches,” project manager for New and Creative Media Mary Paige McLaurin said in an email interview. “He brought on talented video producers immediately who helped laid the foundation for our team before leaving and chasing new dreams and passions across the country.”
The New and Creative Media Team today consists of five full-time video staff members, two full-time graphic designers and a social media manager for all of Gamecock athletics. In addition to this full-time staff, the team includes 15 student interns.
A lot goes into the making of these videos, some taking days before they are ready to be released on social media. Everything from thumbnails to titles to which emojis to use are all normal day-to-day debates at the office.
The average eye may not notice all that must go into making content like this. To the everyday fan, these videos are simple yet creatively made up of highlight clips and effects that spark a fan's attention.
“Videos for football and our other sports tell stories about the team and the players,” McLaurin said. “They are carefully put together to showcase emotion and grit and effort ... The videos are more than just throwing a million cool effects on top of the footage – they are a chance to tell a story.”
The stories of each athletic program that are artistically told through the production of these videos leave a mark on Gamecock students and gives them a new light to view athletics.
“The media team does an excellent job at discerning which emotions they want us as their audience to feel, and their execution of this is phenomenal,” junior Mazen Cotran II said in an email interview.
The New and Creative Media Team gives students and fans something to always be excited for. Not only are they awaiting the athletic event but also the video that will go along with it.
"These videos always seem to make me hype enough to want to run through a brick wall," Cotran II said when describing his thoughts about the videos the team produces.
Gamecock seniors have been able to be a part of this evolution during their time at South Carolina.
“I think ever since my sophomore year, those videos have gotten cooler every time and they just continue to get better and more unique,” senior Katelyn Perry said in an email interview. “Our media department is the best, and will always be the best.”