Please, no more aerial camera shots! | Golden Skate

Please, no more aerial camera shots!

viennaskater

Medalist
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Whose idea was it, to have aerial camera shots during the Rostelecom Cup?

What's the point? None of us watch figure skating from a bird's eye view, so it is a ridiculous idea. It completely spoils the look of a spin, and does nothing much for any other elements.

Of course, if anyone here has a different view on this, I would be interested to hear it.

Otherwise - please, if the powers that be read this: NO MORE AERIAL SHOTS!

Thank you.
 

Roast Toast

Medalist
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
For the sake of the ice dancers, I hope no other comp pulls a CoC and decides to film the twizzles from above :laugh2: I shouldn't laugh but it was very disillusioning.
 

pesto

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
My view is, they can be a useful extra in the highlights we are shown as we wait for scores - they can highlight a spin's travel, or lack thereof.

But cutting into them in the middle of the routine, and then away again, is very jarring. Nobody seems to like it, as far as I can tell.

Many other tournaments have done it, but it's very disappointing from Rostelecom Cup - previously, their camerawork has been excellent. This year, it was substandard.
 

fishing

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
Thank you for bringing this up. I echo your wish. It's very jarring to the viewer to suddenly be thrust out of a well designed program onto the roof of the arena for a few seconds then back down to the ice. The judges at the rink are at ice level for a reason: they judge many things that are done by skaters entire bodies. Not a single point is given by what is observed from the roof. We judges at home also want to appreciate the fine qualities in a program by actually seeing them from the view in which they were designed. Adding a roof view/ dandruff view/ cleavage view during a program does the opposite. My plea to all future camera crews- Keep it simple: keep the skater(s) in the center or the screen from ice level from beginning to end.
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
It's all in the picture to make the broadcast 'more interesting' to the general audience that aren't FS fans per se.

In Moscow the ceiling cam was fixed, in China is was suspended on wires and moved around. When a host broadcaster uses a ceiling cam, keep its pictures in a small window-in-window, or only during the second repeat of a spinning element, for it has some added value is pairs with sync jumps, death spirals and such.
 

Mishaminion

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
It's okay occasionally, for purely "artsy visual" shots. It's annoying when it's used instead or way too much.
 

cohen-esque

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Full donut spins are okay, but otherwise I actually only like to watch catchfoot camel spins from the overhead view. And about 75% of other camel spins, actually.

I don’t like it too much in the live broadcast/stream of the skate otherwise, but I wish they would use the aerial cam more during the replays. I think it gives a better sense of speed and ice coverage in steps and jumps, and of centering in spins, than you usually get on video.
 

ancientpeas

The Notorious SEW
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Honestly thought I was going to hurl at one point (and no that is not me being a drama queen.. although I can be a drama queen don't doubt it :drama:) during the ID because whichever team it was was doing a really fast spin and it was nausea inducing.

Sometimes overhead shots can work to show speed and ice coverage though. Just not during spins and footwork please.
 
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Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
I didn't see it annoying. It's OK to try different angles and techniques to enhance our viewing experience. As long as it's not too much of it.

What I sometimes find annoying, however, is extreme closeups of skaters before they start their routines. Yes, I love to see facial expressions, plus it's always pleasing for the eyes to see a beauty of a person up close, however, I am not interested to see detailed skin texture, including acne spots, and doing my own dental evaluation of skaters.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
OMG - Thank you. I was so ticked off everytime they'd do the overhead shot - all you see is a leg sticking out. It did NOT enhance my viewing pleasure. I think it's sad when whoever is directing the program doesn't know anything about figure skating and starts getting creative. I want to see more than a leg spinning around from the rafters. And I realize this is old news but I also am still totally disgusted with the close-up of poor Shoma crying in the kiss and cry. This is not the stuff of tabloids people - these are young people trying to do their best.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
OMG - Thank you. I was so ticked off everytime they'd do the overhead shot - all you see is a leg sticking out. It did NOT enhance my viewing pleasure. I think it's sad when whoever is directing the program doesn't know anything about figure skating and starts getting creative. I want to see more than a leg spinning around from the rafters. And I realize this is old news but I also am still totally disgusted with the close-up of poor Shoma crying in the kiss and cry. This is not the stuff of tabloids people - these are young people trying to do their best.

I'm reminding everyone that TV coverage do not address technical judges or FS elites, which is mostly this forum too, but casual people. They try to sell it to as many people as possible. It's a popular TV for common people, not a technical documentation. People on this forum keep forgetting this fact.
I don't know if the aerial view sells or not, but getting out of the technical stiff bubble and trying different angles is something the popular TV SHOULD DO.
And showing emotions up close always sell.
 

pesto

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
I don't think any casual viewers are watching this. I think they only watch once every four years.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
I don't think any casual viewers are watching this. I think they only watch once every four years.

In the US it's on cable TV too. With a delay, but it's there. I'm not sure about Canada, but probably in Russia and Japan they show it on a regular TV too. In Poland they show it on Polsat Sports, which is a paid sports channel on network TV. So it's not only paid internet service for FS geeks, but it's supposed to address whoever bothers to watch.
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
They can be very revealing about two things: to clearly show spins and twizzles that have little to no coverage or travel so much they need a passport.
 

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
I agree that aerial shots are okay when used in replays, but during the performance they're infuriating. Sometimes even the commentators are annoyed because they see a low spin level but are unable to say why it was so as practically nothing is seen from above. And some of them are skating experts, not just casual commentators.

Out of curiosity, have any who claim aerial cameras make it more interesting to casual viewers, done any actual research on this? Because whoever among them I asked, was annoyed like me. Not only have they 'no idea what the quickly changing numbers up there' are supposed to stand for, but seeing some shapeless bundle twirling around, is all but exciting for them. In my experience, the casual viewer is more likely to go wow when watching a spectacular spin or another element that's actually visible and you can see how close to the ice they're hydroblading/death spiraling etc. Ice coverage and moving during spins tells a non-fan nothing. Of course your own experience may vary, but this is mine. Anyhow, having aerial stuff in replays only, can be expected to satisfy both those who want it, and those who don't.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
I don't have any emotional investments into those shots, so maybe you are correct they are OK for replays. But even in live coverage if they show it for a two-three seconds during the entire performance it doesn't bother me. But to be honest - I don't really care.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I don't remember them doing this in the past and I have some casual viewers in this house and the comment was "hey - let us see the spin!
"
 

NaVi

Medalist
Joined
Oct 30, 2014
I wish there was an archive where you could watch from the aerial position(like Zagitova's Olympic SP that I saw a while back)... and from the judges view... and then a coaches view.. and then a kind of fancam view.

TBH, I wish the major events like the GPF and Worlds had two edits... one that's live and one that's ideal for taped broadcasts.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
I wish there was an archive where you could watch from the aerial position(like Zagitova's Olympic SP that I saw a while back)... and from the judges view... and then a coaches view.. and then a kind of fancam view.

TBH, I wish the major events like the GPF and Worlds had two edits... one that's live and one that's ideal for taped broadcasts.

On many major events, and that would be a potential great addition to FS, there are those "flying" cameras that follow the action on the field. I think they are called skycams or something like that. They look like spiders running on a web. I am not sure how they would be safely used on the rink without the skater suddenly running into them, but that would be a great addition to the drama on the ice.

P.S. It's really creepy now. A while after I wrote the post about skycams and saved it, all of a sudden the ads on the forum window's edge started showing skycams. How did they know?? The world is becoming a scary place... :scard8:
 
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