When most sports fans watch a game, all they see is the final score. For Brayden Sloss, the magic of sports isn’t just a score, but rather the little moments within a game.  

As a videographer for Penn State athletics, the Penn State junior has made it his mission to capture those little moments we hope never to forget. Whether it’s a sideline celebration or a last-minute touchdown, Sloss is capturing it all with one goal in mind: to make fans feel the game over and over again.  

“I started filmmaking when I was younger,” Sloss said. “I was always that guy in elementary and middle school who was making YouTube videos for fun. Once I got toward high school, I dropped that, so filming sports games kind of filled that gap for me.”  

It wasn’t until his freshman year of high school that Sloss decided to pick up the camera again. When COVID-19 hit and high school stadiums were left empty, Sloss took it upon himself to make sure that parents and fans could still watch their favorite teams.  

“My friends and their parents were upset that family and friends couldn’t watch their kids play. So, I decided to make a sports page and start filming the games,” Sloss said.  

It didn’t take long for him to rediscover his love for being behind the camera. By his sophomore year, Sloss decided to take his talents to the next level and use his footage to tell a story.  

“My high school football team was going to the district championship, and I made a hype video to play on the jumbotron before the game,” Sloss said. “That was when I realized I wanted to do more than just hold the camera.”  

After taking that next step, Sloss was certain that this passion was something he wanted to turn into a career. Like many students, Sloss started at a Penn State branch campus, which ultimately shaped his creativity in unexpected ways.  

“I like that I started at Altoona because it gave me those two years to get better and just shoot sports constantly with no guardrails,” Sloss explained. “It also gave me the freedom to just edit and see what I like so that I was more ready to come into a professional role at main campus.”   

Sloss’s Penn State fandom was never a choice; it was a legacy. Coming from generations of Penn State alumni, Sloss has been a fan for as long as he can remember.  

“There wasn’t even a second for me to process a team other than Penn State. It was just ingrained. The first ever Penn State football game I was in attendance for was in October of 2008,” Sloss said. 

For Sloss, attending the games today is surreal, and getting to film them is a dream come true.   

“The first Penn State touchdown I got against FIU, it wasn’t necessarily the best clip I have shot, but just the fact that it was a 70-yard touchdown of the team I have been watching for 20 years; it was special,” Sloss explained.  

While his passion for filming and creating runs deep, he won’t deny that in an industry like film production, it can be difficult to stay inspired.  

“There have been many times when I think I don’t really need to be making videos, and I question why I am even doing this. When you post so much content and it just gets likes, it feels like everything you produce is just getting lost in the sea,” Sloss explained.  

Although it can be tough to find meaning behind his creations, it is the little moments of recognition that keep him going.  

“The athletic director at Altoona came up to me one day and told me that when he watches my videos, he feels like he is at the games and like he is ‘ready to run through a wall’. That really stuck with me because that is always my goal,” Sloss said. “No matter what the emotion is, to get people to feel something from your videos and not just watch them is great.”  

While validation isn’t the end goal, it is a powerful reminder to Sloss that what he is creating matters. But his motivation certainly runs deeper than recognition.  

“Going to the games and seeing the production of everything, that is what really brought me into this field in the first place. That is what gets me hype and gets my heart racing,” Sloss said. “Just being in a great atmosphere with the fans made me realize that this is what I need to be doing.”  

To view any of Sloss’s current or future work, you can follow him on Instagram or TikTok @slossgraphics.