TV camera coverage...a fan's rant

[CaliBob'63]

Why oh why do TV directors insist on giving us their latest and "greatest" camera angles during live action? Why not stick with the standard views from the best seats! The SU-North Carolina coverage was especially aggravating. We were forced to watch views from far away, down low, behind the basket, overhead, moving with the action, and in general from "seating angles" that a fan would not pay premium dollar for. GRRRRRR! What can we do to stop this? Ideas?

 

[MELOKEITH]

Yes! Thank you! I kept saying this throughout the game. So stressful when the game is going on and you can't see anything but the side of a player's sneakers.

Also, how about the charge call where they showed 2 replays and neither of them showed the player's feet or even the general area of the court. The announcers were specifically talking about if they were inside or out of the semi-circle in the lane. Idiots.

I don't need Quentin Tarantino artistic/dramatic angles for a freaking basketball game. I need to see the whole floor and see what is happening! And while we're at it, stop showing people on the bench while the game is going on. Save that for a break in the action.

Phew - I feel better. Thanks for letting me get that out of my system!

 

[Col. Bleep]

Absolutely right...although I do like the shot from behind the attacking team.
It can be a nice set up angle on how the floor is spread and the offense is trying to run.

Otherwise...most directors seem to do their best to ruin the game.
Instead of a great view of the action which should be their only goal... they give us meaningless cutaways of fans and benches and some useless camera angles.
At least CBS seemed to cut back on the useless graphics.

 

[Orange Barrel]

Couldn't agree more. Just hated it. A cool shot is not necessarily a good shot. Show us the game.

 

[OrangeDW]

In addition to what's been said here, you get very little "feel" for the game atmosphere. You can never hear the bands play because they're busy pumping their own noise over the top of it on the broadcast. I also don't understand why during the starting lineup announcements, they kept cutting away from the player being announced to show weird close-ups of fans. Why? Throw in the weird reflections on the court, the players and coaches having to climb up onto the floor from the bench, the slippery court, and it was just an all around disorienting experience.

 

[hallcity]

And for the first half of the first game we were treated to a bright yellow glare across the basketball court coming from advertising within the stadium. You would think they could have spotted this problem well before the broadcast began or at least solved the problem within a few minutes.

 

[SBU72]

There was a segment in the 2nd half where the camera on the wire was in the TV frame and was literally imposed over an UNC player! Almost made it look like a robot was going down court. AND it took several second to get it out of the way.

 

[OttoMets]

...

Also, how about the charge call where they showed 2 replays and neither of them showed the player's feet or even the general area of the court. The announcers were specifically talking about if they were inside or out of the semi-circle in the lane. Idiots.

...

Glad someone else picked up on that. It was gutless and pathetic. It's obvious that they chose two bad angles in an attempt not to show that the official made a bad call.

 

[br801]

In addition to what's been said here, you get very little "feel" for the game atmosphere. You can never hear the bands play because they're busy pumping their own noise over the top of it on the broadcast. I also don't understand why during the starting lineup announcements, they kept cutting away from the player being announced to show weird close-ups of fans. Why? Throw in the weird reflections on the court, the players and coaches having to climb up onto the floor from the bench, the slippery court, and it was just an all around disorienting experience.

In addition to the reflections on the court being a distraction, the court design itself was a hideous eyesore, particularly the various colors blending into the sidelines.

 

[MSOrange]

The television production of college basketball is just atrocious these days and it doesn't seem to matter which network. Constantly missing game action to show crowd reaction, not telling us who fouls are on and how many the player has, ridiculous camera angles - the list goes on and on. It's like they have never been a viewer at home.

 

[OrangeDW]

The television production of college basketball is just atrocious these days and it doesn't seem to matter which network. Constantly missing game action to show crowd reaction, not telling us who fouls are on and how many the player has, ridiculous camera angles - the list goes on and on. It's like they have never been a viewer at home.

Plus they basically mute the crowd noise. Especially ESPN. You can't even tell when the arenas are loud anymore.

 

[tbonezone]

CBS coverage sucked all tournament. so many crucial judgement bang/bang calls often went without replays or bad angles. i want to see the replay !

 

[MSOrange]

Plus they basically mute the crowd noise. Especially ESPN. You can't even tell when the arenas are loud anymore.

That's a good one. I watch games at the Dome on tv and am really surprised sometimes when fans post on here about how loud it was. I take their word for it but it doesn't come across on tv very well many times.

 

[OrangeDW]

That's a good one. I watch games at the Dome on tv and am really surprised sometimes when fans post on here about how loud it was. I take their word for it but it doesn't come across on tv very well many times.

Yup. From watching on TV, you'd think it was never loud now.

I remember ESPN used to make a thing out of how loud it was as the announcers would say they were going to stop talking for a bit and all you'd here was the crowd for like 30 seconds.

 

[Cowtown]

Glad someone else picked up on that. It was gutless and pathetic. It's obvious that they chose two bad angles in an attempt not to show that the official made a bad call.

I get the idea they're told by the NCAA they can't overdo it with criticism of the officials. I mean, on an obvious situation - Cooney & the end line - okay, but the routine fouls, they seem to move past.

 

[81South]

Personally I would rather see espn get the tournament. Cbs with the NBA guys in the studio are killing me. I can't stand Nantz and Grant Hill on the call.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I feel like we need to treat shots of the walk-ons on the bench the same as they treat streakers who run on to the field. They never show the streakers because it encourages the behavior. I am all for anything that stops the second grade antics of walk-ons on the bench. I include our guys in that. I know, I know, college etc etc. I still don't like the stupid, unsportsmanlike, show-up, choreographed, forced, sometimes obscene machinations of a bunch of guys who have nothing to do with whatever play just happened.

 

[MELOKEITH]

I feel like we need to treat shots of the walk-ons on the bench the same as they treat streakers who run on to the field. They never show the streakers because it encourages the behavior. I am all for anything that stops the second grade antics of walk-ons on the bench. I include our guys in that. I know, I know, college etc etc. I still don't like the stupid, unsportsmanlike, show-up, choreographed, forced, sometimes obscene machinations of a bunch of guys who have nothing to do with whatever play just happened.

Agree 100%. I'm actually embarrassed for them. They act like they've never seen a person make a 3 pointer before or something. It's one thing to get excited at a key point, but the pre-planned, "let's make it about me" mentality is crazy. I don't mind fun and celebrating, but half the time it's not even a key play in the game.

 

[OttoMets]

I feel like we need to treat shots of the walk-ons on the bench the same as they treat streakers who run on to the field. They never show the streakers because it encourages the behavior. I am all for anything that stops the second grade antics of walk-ons on the bench. I include our guys in that. I know, I know, college etc etc. I still don't like the stupid, unsportsmanlike, show-up, choreographed, forced, sometimes obscene machinations of a bunch of guys who have nothing to do with whatever play just happened.

Exactly. This was a bad phenomenon this year, guys hamming it up for the camera. Don't show it, they won't do it.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Why oh why do TV directors insist on giving us their latest and "greatest" camera angles during live action? Why not stick with the standard views from the best seats! The SU-North Carolina coverage was especially aggravating. We were forced to watch views from far away, down low, behind the basket, overhead, moving with the action, and in general from "seating angles" that a fan would not pay premium dollar for. GRRRRRR! What can we do to stop this? Ideas?

Personally, I loved it. I loved the overhead camera, especially when they showed what it was like looking at the zone from the perspective of the PG. My daughter, who is really into film making noticed it right away and loved it, too. It looked so much different from regular broadcasts, which I guess is why you were upset about it.

 

[br801]

Personally, I loved it. I loved the overhead camera, especially when they showed what it was like looking at the zone from the perspective of the PG. My daughter, who is really into film making noticed it right away and loved it, too. It looked so much different from regular broadcasts, which I guess is why you were upset about it.

There is nothing wrong with employing unusual camera angles as long as they are not used during live game action. If used on replays or to illustrate a point, they certainly can add value to a telecast. However, when a director cuts to those shots during live action, too often the effect is disorienting for the serious viewer.