Everyone has a piece of film that they keep close to their hearts, once in a lifetime videos that leave a lasting impression on the viewer. People remember the story of the video, and how it related to them, but rarely notice the small details. This doesn’t apply to junior Stephen Song. He focuses on all of the details, the careful angle and timing of every shot and makes sure their culmination leaves an impression on the viewer. Videographers like Song are the reason these films are so impactful, building a mountain of small details working together to create a masterpiece.

From helping his boss at The Caramel House, a small-batch sweets shop, record a TikTok to creating a videography business and earning an income, Song has worked hard on his craft of filming. When he was younger, he knew he had a deep-rooted connection with creativity, but he couldn’t figure out his niche. 

“Ever since I was a kid, I really enjoyed art,” Song said. “This is a creative outlet for me. I really enjoy filming. [The] iMovie trailers really got me started. I used to mess around with [iMovie] as a kid, so that’s where I really discovered videography. Since I was a young kid, I’ve always been inspired by art, and I always felt like I had to express myself in one way or another.”

In the summer after his freshman year, Song’s passion began at Restoration Community Church, located in Maryland Heights.

“I got a camera from my church,” Song said. “I decided to start messing around with it.” 

At first, he focused solely on photography but didn’t find it to be an enjoyable task for himself, so he began to explore videography. As he started working, he slowly but surely gained skills and experience. Song spent all of his time filming. Each project takes around a day to finish. For sports, the filming process takes around two hours, and the editing takes anywhere from three to five hours.

“You only get better by practicing and getting those reps in,” Song said. “It’s really important to not give up easily and to not take it so seriously. Just picking up the camera and every day shooting [a video]. It doesn’t have to be anything big. Just shoot [a video] and you will get better.” 

During the beginning stages of filming, a friend of Song’s asked if he was interested in filming a sport for him. Song agreed, developing his enthusiasm for shooting football and basketball. 

“I have a friend named Ben Manlin who runs a basketball page on Instagram,” Song said. “He saw my films and asked me if I wanted to come with him to a basketball game. Ever since then, I’ve filmed basketball a lot. That translated into football this fall, so now I’m filming a bunch of football players across the St. Louis area. It’s just been fun.”

As Song began shooting sports, Manlin assisted him in anything that he needed. He took Song to basketball games in buildings that Song couldn’t enter by himself, and answered any questions that Song had about videography or anything sports related.

“Stephen probably is the most [detailed videographer],” Manlin said. “I feel like I’ve [been] taking him under my wing a little bit over the past few years. It’s my duty to really help out Stephen cause he’s really good at what he does. He has very big potential in the whole St. Louis videography game.”

Song has covered a wide variety of themes in filming such as sports, music and business promotion, but this time he took on a new challenge, helping Manlin film a personal project. 

“He helped me out with my college video of me explaining what I do,” Manlin said. “I didn’t really publicize it, but I sent it to colleges and everything.”

Song has been taking commissions for videos for his business, and created a football practice montage for junior Grisham Ravindranath. 

“He’s amazing,” Ravindranath said. “He knows what he’s doing angle-wise, the type of music [and] stuff like that. I was really surprised, I was excited and I was shocked. [The video] was crazy.”

Song’s business has been up and running for about a year and can be found online at stesongfilms.com. He charges about $100 per video. 

“I’ve only filmed three music videos,” Song said. “That was just with a friend. But I’ve done the most sports mixtapes. I’ve probably filmed around 30 or 40 since last year, so it’s been a lot, but it’s been fun.”

Song believes that film is the best path for him, and it’s one that he enjoys enough to pursue in the future.

“In a couple of years, I hope to see myself really making an income off of this and hopefully finding a stable job,” Song said. “There’s a lot of possibilities, [like] going into college and majoring in film, [or] finding some media program to better my skills.”

As a videographer, Song often has a lot to do, including running his videography business and balancing school. He always remembers who’s counting on him. 

“A lot of my friends and people around me have been really encouraging,” Song said. “[People have] seen my stuff, and that’s motivated me to try to get better. [It’s] really fun for me to do.”

Gallery • 1 Photos

Junior Stephen Song films a video for Ladue’s varsity football team. He's been filming for about two years. He started filming on his phone, but transitioned into a professional camera. He believes that anyone can start videography, or anything else they want to do. “It's less about your equipment but more about what you can do and maximizing with what you have,” Song said.