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Hi everyone! As people have probably guessed from my last few posts, I am from Rochester, NY, and here in Rochester there's a Foam Dart League that hosts regular Nerf wars. But I'm not here to advertise them - I just want to get a potential head count of how many people on these forums live in or near Rochester, NY. If anyone does, perhaps we could help each other out...not sure how yet but we can figure out ways.

So, raise your hand if you're a Rochesterian. (And I don't mean Rochester, MN. Sorry.  )

Hey all! Yes, I'm a new face on these forums...please don't shoot me unless it's with a Nerf gun.  I'm looking into filming Nerf wars on a regular basis for YouTube (and no, I'm not advertising myself here - if I were I'd be posting links to my channel, which I won't here because I don't have Nerf-related content yet), mainly because there's a significant Nerf presence in my hometown of Rochester, NY, or at least significant enough to hold regular Nerf events. So yeah, I guess you could say I'm the "Cameraman" stereotype from Coop772's videos.

Although I'm a first timer in this regard, I want to both give advice and ask for advice. Before you ask, yes I did search these forums for topics on filming Nerf wars, and while I did find one, it was a few months old and I didn't want to risk the wrath of the mods for performing forum necromancy. And you're probably wondering what advice a first timer could give? Well, read on...

I want to give advice on how to achieve that good balance between low-budget and high-quality. I know having yet to film a Nerf battle I might not be the best qualified, but I have done some research on this and plan on running such a setup to my first Nerf war that I film. First off, Nerf does sell - or at least used to sell - a rail mount that can fit smartphones or cameras that are the size of an iPhone 4 or 5. One such place to get the attachment is Newegg; I'd post a direct buy link but it's ridiculously long. Just search "Nerf N-Strike Elite Battle App Tactical Rail Mount Accessory" on Newegg and you should find one. Most people on here probably knew this, but I'm bringing it up for reasons I'll list below.

Now why a rail mount camera instead of a GoPro head mounted camera? Well, a couple reasons:

• You might not always want to wear a head mount. They can slip off and/or feel uncomfortable.
• You can get an iPod Touch 5th generation to act as the "camera" (just be sure to buy the version that actually has a camera) for redonk cheap off of eBay or similar. I got one for less than $120 (not including shipping) recently for this purpose and it records in 1080p just fine - note that this is for less money than I can get a brand new quality digital camera.
• Shaky camera from being on a rail mount can be edited out in post if you have the right software.

Now this is the part where I want to ask advice...

I hope this doesn't sound like a silly question, but...how would one make a Nerf war video watchable and popular? Obviously editing is one key aspect...maybe applying some effects or whatnot...but along what lines should I apply editing and effects? I want to avoid the Velveeta Factor as much as possible while still having things interesting. Again, I hope it's not a silly question.

Please don't chase me with torches and pitchforks off the forums...I did read the rules and I'm trying my best to follow them.