TV Directors, for Figure Skating
I think the ISU should insist that TV directors pass a basic qualification, or at least are given a "do's and don'ts" briefing before every competition, specifically for covering figure skating.
Because... watching 4CC's coverage yesterday, I saw that it was littered with innapropriate closeups of upper body, so that footwork couldn't be seen. Not a good idea during a step sequence. Landings of jumps were also hidden from view occasionally, so I had no idea if the jump was fully rotated etc. Just had to hope for a replay afterwards.
And this is not unusual. Closeups at innappropriate moments is extremely common in figure skating coverage - the most common being the closeup just before the music starts... which would be fine if we didn't frequently miss the first few critical scene-setting seconds of a performance, because the director was too slow to switch to a wide-angle view. Is it really so difficult? At the very least, doesn't the start of the music give a clue?!
As for close-ups during a performance - no, No, NO. In my opinion, that is ALWAYS a bad idea! We need to see the whole skater, the whole time - so save the closeups for the replays.
If directors were trained/qualified/briefed specifically for figure skating coverage, then maybe we wouldn't have to endure the Innapropriate Closeups. Or indeed, other "crimes" - and here's a few I've seen very recently (ie. in 2015):
Am I being unfair? Are things are actually better than days gone by? (I note that skycams don't see much use any more - thanks, Patrick!)
I think the ISU should insist that TV directors pass a basic qualification, or at least are given a "do's and don'ts" briefing before every competition, specifically for covering figure skating.
Because... watching 4CC's coverage yesterday, I saw that it was littered with innapropriate closeups of upper body, so that footwork couldn't be seen. Not a good idea during a step sequence. Landings of jumps were also hidden from view occasionally, so I had no idea if the jump was fully rotated etc. Just had to hope for a replay afterwards.
And this is not unusual. Closeups at innappropriate moments is extremely common in figure skating coverage - the most common being the closeup just before the music starts... which would be fine if we didn't frequently miss the first few critical scene-setting seconds of a performance, because the director was too slow to switch to a wide-angle view. Is it really so difficult? At the very least, doesn't the start of the music give a clue?!
As for close-ups during a performance - no, No, NO. In my opinion, that is ALWAYS a bad idea! We need to see the whole skater, the whole time - so save the closeups for the replays.
If directors were trained/qualified/briefed specifically for figure skating coverage, then maybe we wouldn't have to endure the Innapropriate Closeups. Or indeed, other "crimes" - and here's a few I've seen very recently (ie. in 2015):
- Camera on a giant crane/boom at ice level, over the ice, during performances. Seriously, this is just All Kinds Of Wrong. I wonder what Patrick Chan would say (actually, I think I know).
- Worst possible choice of camera angle, making eg. beautiful and spectacular dance lifts... look like an ugly mess of limbs.
- Staying with a camera that's showing empty ice for several seconds, after the skater has left its field of view. Entire jumping passes have "disappeared" in this way.
- Using a camera that only shows one skater in a pairs team, for a substantial amount of time - when both could be in view by switching to another camera.
Am I being unfair? Are things are actually better than days gone by? (I note that skycams don't see much use any more - thanks, Patrick!)
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