How to film a take that counts

A take counts when the camera shows everything the rules ask about, from the first second to the last, in one unbroken video. In practice that means a phone propped up at the angle the contest names, your whole body and the equipment in frame, enough light to see the details, and a recording that starts before your first rep and ends after your last. Get those right and the only thing left to judge is your effort.

Why the video matters

On OpenContest, video is the proof, and anyone can watch the take behind a ranked result. The higher you rank, the stricter the check. A clear take gets through every step without a second look. A take where the chin leaves the frame on rep 14 gets one at exactly the wrong moment.

Where to put the phone

Prop the phone up. A shelf, a bench, a water bottle against a wall, a small tripod: anything that keeps it still. A held phone drifts and cuts off feet or hands just when a referee needs to see them.

Some things that help:

• Put it at roughly hip height for most contests. Too low and the bar or your head leaves the top of the frame; too high and you lose your feet.
• Step back far enough that there is space around you on every side, including above your hands at the top of a rep and below your feet at the bottom.
• Check that nothing will walk between you and the lens. In a busy gym, pick a corner or a quiet time.
• Lock the phone in place. If it can slide or tip, it will.

Framing the shot

Before recording, the app shows a framing guide: your whole body in view, at the angle the contest asks for. Use it. Stand in your start position and check that you fit inside it with room to spare.

The rule of thumb is that the camera must see every point the rules talk about. If the rule is “chin over the bar”, the bar and your chin both need to be in frame on every rep. If the rule is “arms fully straight”, your elbows need to be visible at the bottom. If the rule says a hold ends when your knees touch the floor, your knees need to be in shot the whole time.

Wear clothes that let a referee see your joints. A baggy hoodie can hide whether your elbows locked out.

Getting the light right

Face the light, or have it beside you. With a bright window or a lamp behind you, the phone exposes for the light and you turn into a dark shape where nobody can count reps. Overhead gym lights are usually fine. Outdoors, avoid filming straight into a low sun.

If you can, do a five second test clip and play it back before the real take. It costs nothing and tells you more than any checklist.

The right angle for each kind of contest

Every contest page has its own filming list, and the checklist in the app repeats it before you record. Follow that list first. As a general guide:

• Rep contests on a bar or the floor, like the strict pull up contest and the push up contest: film from the side. Side-on shows the depth of each rep, whether your arms lock out, and whether your body swings or sags.
• Holds, like the plank contest and the handstand contest: side-on again, with the whole body in frame, so the line from shoulders to feet is easy to judge and the moment the hold breaks is obvious.
• Lifts, like the deadlift contest: side-on, far enough back to see the bar, the plates and your lockout at the top. The plates should be visible so the weight can be checked.
• Jumps, like the box jump contest: side-on, with the whole box, the floor and your landing in frame. The camera needs to see both feet leave the floor and land on top.
• Timed and distance contests, like the 5K, the 100 m sprint or the 50 m swim: these differ more from one to the next, so read the filming list on the contest page before you set up.

Starting and stopping the take

The start and finish are where takes most often go wrong. This is the sequence that works:

1. Read the rules checklist in the app and set up the phone using the framing guide.
2. Start recording and let the countdown run while you get into your start position.
3. Hold the start position for a moment so it is clearly on video: a dead hang for pull ups, a straight-arm plank for push ups, a still bar on the floor for a deadlift.
4. Do the attempt. The live counter or clock shows your result as you go, and the form check flags any rep that does not count.
5. Finish clearly. Let go of the bar, set the weight down, or step off, and stay in frame for a second.
6. Press stop, then play the take back with the counted result before you keep it.

If something goes wrong, redo it. Discarded takes are not kept, so a false start costs you nothing but the energy.

Common reasons takes are not counted

Most takes that fail do so for reasons unrelated to fitness:

• Something important left the frame. A chin above the top edge, feet below the bottom edge, or a hand behind your body.
• The take is not continuous. Official contests need one unbroken take filmed in the app. Cuts, edits and uploads from the camera roll are only allowed in community contests.
• The first or last rep is missing. Recording started after you were already moving, or stopped before you finished.
• Reps that break the rules. For example, a pull up where the chin only reaches the bar, or a rep that starts with bent arms. The live form check flags these as you go, so watch the counter.
• The phone moved. It slid, fell, or someone picked it up.
• Too dark to judge. The referee cannot rule on what they cannot see.

What happens after you submit

When you submit, you add a caption, tag your gym, choose which boards the take is ranked on and who can see it. Then the take moves through the checks.

First comes the automatic check, right away: is the take unbroken, how many reps or how long, and does the form hold up. While it runs, the take shows as Checking. If it passes, it shows as Counted and goes straight onto the boards.

If your take lands in a top 10 anywhere, or sets a new record, a referee reviews it. They watch frame by frame, recount, and either approve it, reject it with a reason and a timestamp, or ask you to film it again. An approved take shows as Verified. The thank-you screen after you submit tells you when to expect the result, and you get a notification when it is in.

Anyone can also flag a take they think is wrong. A flagged take shows as Needs a look until it is checked.

If a take is not counted, you see the reason and the moment in the video where it happened. You can try again, or appeal by explaining why the ruling is wrong and pointing to the moment in the video. A different referee reviews the appeal, and that result is final. There is more on that process in how referees check takes.

If you are working toward your first rep rather than a record, start with how to do your first pull up, then come back here when you are ready to film it.