Major Monday: Gieseke Goes Behind the Scenes
11/28/2016 | Baseball
The Arizona baseball team knows a thing or two about the spotlight.
Considering their recent trip to Omaha and being runner-up in the College World Series this past year, the Wildcats know what it's like to have cameras in their faces and the attention on them. But senior infielder Sawyer Gieseke is far more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it.
The senior from Northern California is a Film and Television major, one of the very first student-athletes at the University of Arizona to take on the major.
"It's really hard. It's unchartered territory," Gieseke said. "I have a lot of classes during practice, so I have to measure those and balance them and Coach [Jay Johnson] is really understanding. It is hard being a student-athlete."
Gieseke's interest in the film and television industry began his freshman year at the University of San Francisco, but it became a passion that he nurtured once transferring to Arizona.
"Last spring I started making videos because I bought a nice camera and I was really excited to use it, so I started making videos around the team and during practice," Gieseke said. "And then John[Daly], Carlos [Moreno] and Ryan [Bloom], [from Creative Services], were always around, and saw some of my stuff and built a relationship with me."
Gieseke began an internship with the Creative Services Department this year after the team's trip to Omaha. But he and the baseball team first came on the radar of Wildcat fans and the media, such as the Pac-12 Network, with a 90's sitcom style introduction video called "Clubhouse Matters" based on the TV show, "Family Matters." Since then, Gieseke has produced game highlights, footage from Omaha and the dugout, and even a lip sync cover of Slide, by the Goo Goo Dolls, which garnered the group's praise.
The team and coaching staff has not only been supportive of Gieseke's efforts, but they've urged him to follow his passion.
"(Coach Johnson) has loved it; he's been super supportive. He wants me to do projects all the time," Gieseke said. "Coach (Dave) Lawn always comes at me with idea. John Daly's been awesome in a "go do something" type of way. They all have ideas and they're super into it and want to see projects get made, probably because it helps the program too."
Daley understands Gieseke's talent and has let him have a lot of input and creative say in projects.
"Sawyer came to us as a one-man show, he had great concepts of how to shoot, how to edit, produce, and put together his own feature," Daley said. "We've been really fortunate to be able to integrate him into what we're doing. I don't know how much we've helped him, he's definitely helped our staff. He's great."
Other than the upcoming baseball season ahead of the Wildcats, Gieseke has big plans and ideas for content and ways to highlight the team, both characteristically and talent-wise.
"We have a really big project coming out, a teaser," said Gieseke. "It's going to be released before the season and I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be really fun and it's somewhere along the lines of the sitcom show we did last year."
Considering their recent trip to Omaha and being runner-up in the College World Series this past year, the Wildcats know what it's like to have cameras in their faces and the attention on them. But senior infielder Sawyer Gieseke is far more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it.
The senior from Northern California is a Film and Television major, one of the very first student-athletes at the University of Arizona to take on the major.
"It's really hard. It's unchartered territory," Gieseke said. "I have a lot of classes during practice, so I have to measure those and balance them and Coach [Jay Johnson] is really understanding. It is hard being a student-athlete."
Gieseke's interest in the film and television industry began his freshman year at the University of San Francisco, but it became a passion that he nurtured once transferring to Arizona.
"Last spring I started making videos because I bought a nice camera and I was really excited to use it, so I started making videos around the team and during practice," Gieseke said. "And then John[Daly], Carlos [Moreno] and Ryan [Bloom], [from Creative Services], were always around, and saw some of my stuff and built a relationship with me."
Gieseke began an internship with the Creative Services Department this year after the team's trip to Omaha. But he and the baseball team first came on the radar of Wildcat fans and the media, such as the Pac-12 Network, with a 90's sitcom style introduction video called "Clubhouse Matters" based on the TV show, "Family Matters." Since then, Gieseke has produced game highlights, footage from Omaha and the dugout, and even a lip sync cover of Slide, by the Goo Goo Dolls, which garnered the group's praise.
The team and coaching staff has not only been supportive of Gieseke's efforts, but they've urged him to follow his passion.
"(Coach Johnson) has loved it; he's been super supportive. He wants me to do projects all the time," Gieseke said. "Coach (Dave) Lawn always comes at me with idea. John Daly's been awesome in a "go do something" type of way. They all have ideas and they're super into it and want to see projects get made, probably because it helps the program too."
Daley understands Gieseke's talent and has let him have a lot of input and creative say in projects.
"Sawyer came to us as a one-man show, he had great concepts of how to shoot, how to edit, produce, and put together his own feature," Daley said. "We've been really fortunate to be able to integrate him into what we're doing. I don't know how much we've helped him, he's definitely helped our staff. He's great."
Other than the upcoming baseball season ahead of the Wildcats, Gieseke has big plans and ideas for content and ways to highlight the team, both characteristically and talent-wise.
"We have a really big project coming out, a teaser," said Gieseke. "It's going to be released before the season and I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be really fun and it's somewhere along the lines of the sitcom show we did last year."
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