What the football fan sees on tv is controlled. Unfortunately (for the fan) those who do the controlling, those who decide for us what (they think) we want to see, are graduates of “theatre arts”, or “media”- type courses. We know them well, having to suffer through their self-styled “expertise” for decades. They are the ones who believe they REALLY DO know what’s better for us, the Rather/Jennings/Brokaw wannabe’s. TV coverage must be particularly galling for football coaches (they’re fans too!), because coaches specialize and excel in the art of seeing more than one thing at a time. But we all have to suffer with the director’s decision to fill the screen with a player’s face to the point where each drop of sweat can be observed. (Is nostril hair-counting part of the curriculum?) This invariably happens immediately after an (increasingly infrequent) exciting play. I can hear the director now; “Get the face camera two!” “Knowing” that this will make us “intimate” with the post-action player’s reaction, get us more “in” the game. Meanwhile, the real feel for the game is lost. The linebacker’s group-huddle? Fuggedaboudit! “Get the face!” Three players slow to get up? “Get the face!” One variation is; “Get the crowd!” This supposedly gives us the sense of “being there” ( it’s in chapter 2: “Theory”). Three defensive backs conferring after the touchdown? “Get the crowd, camera three!” The most popular variation seems to be the back of a jersey, most often seen during the offense’s huddle. This view is believed to get us “inside” the huddle, see Chapter 2, (unless it’s in the chapter on spelling, as in; “How To”) We never knew that the spelling of last names could be so interesting! Just kidding, we’re regularly inspired by such stupefyingly creative displays of camera work and the (mis)use of our viewing time. -as an aside, since the offense usually bends over in the huddle, (and they’re the biggest guys on the field), we get to see a lot of big butts. At this point, to thank the directors and give them their due, we’re grateful (well, I am) they are still aware of the existence of the “pan out” function, allowing us the spectacle of three or more butts at a time. (I assume that the sight of one big butt “up close and personal” is a bit, shall we say, obvious.) Would it be cynical to suggest the existence of intent to increase market share in “diverse” demographic groups? Or maybe it’s part of Chapter 6?
In this weekend’s Auburn and Syracuse triple overtime, Auburn’s star runner, “Cadillac” Williams, ended up face down in the end zone after an incredibly violent collision with a Syracuse defender, who also ended up “praying to the grass gods”. Did the camera linger, as if we were interested? Beyond the blathering of the announcers, who remarked NOT AT ALL, we instead watched crowd celebrations, nose hair, sweat drops, cleavage (they won’t abandon THAT demographic), and “quick! get me the spelling fix!” It’s too easy to “pick on” announcers, but I think they’re watching too much TV. While ESPN’s cameras (see? it’s not personal!) seem egregiously intent on “making it more personal” for the fan, they achieve the opposite result. Sound familiar?
The fix is simple, brush the rust off the “pan out”, (ok, first FIND it) use it, let the fan choose what part of the action to watch. Choice, what a concept!
we were the victims of the worst type of network decision yesterday...at the beginning of the 3rd quarter of the Raider/Titan game, they switched over to the Charger game for the remainder. We called the local affiliate who admitted they'd been flooded with angry calls..we got a number for the network..but they were perpetually busy.