Viewers of the Brazilian Grand Prix experienced a similar set-up with three presenters (James Allen, Martin Brundell and Woise Goodman), who gave a combination of the expert’s and viewer’s opinions. In the London Marathon, the presenters were a mix of previous runners and a general sport presenter to mix professional views. Sports presenters create a lot of rivalry between television companies-their reputations can depend on who presents which sport. An example of this would be when Des Lynam was bought from the BBC to present on ITV.
Sometimes, experts report live from the event and the presenters in the studio have a satellite link with them. This makes the expert’s opinion appear more important than the presenter’s because they were at the event whilst the presenter watched the sport from the studio, so they experienced everything in a more personal way. Other times the whole event is broadcast from a studio in a spectator’s box at the actual venue. This means that both the experts and presenters are in the same room and both experience the event “first hand”.
The most vital part in the quality of televised sport coverage is the camera. Without sound the event would be dull, but without pictures there would obviously be no sport on television. Today, television cameras allow colour, multi-angle views, instant replays, close-ups, slow motion: the list is almost endless!
Although cameras are vital to television broadcasting, the positioning of the cameras is as equally important as their use: Nobody wants to watch a football match where they can’t see the ball, or to watch a snowboarding competition where it’s not possible to see the snowboarder! This is why many cameras are often used when televising sport and the best views are chosen by a director. Also, many satellite television companies give audiences the opportunity to select their preferred camera angle for watching sport.
Multi-angle replays and slow motion are used to show events that are easy to miss; whether it is a goal or a controversial decision by an official. More unusual camera positions, such as in footballs, competitors’ helmets, goals, snooker pockets, and cockpits of racing cars are also available. All of these functions maximise an audience’s experience by not only trying to make them feel like they are at the event, but making them feel like they are involved in it. Computer information (i.e. player positions, scores/times etc.) is shown on screen in addition to images to ensure the audience know what is happening. Advertisements are now placed in and around the venue so that the camera will include them in its coverage, thus making money for the television companies.
The best view of the football pitch in the Man-U V. Real Madrid game was given by the cameras. Before the match kicked-off, a corner view of the pitch was given, along with an aerial shot and a behind-goal view to allow the audience to work out the size and scale of the pitch. The names, numbers and positions of each team’s players were shown twice, so that spectators knew exactly who was who. Crowds were shown to give home viewers the atmosphere of the event. It was possible to see players warming up on the pitch and as the players were leading onto the pitch, viewers could see them coming out from the tunnel. Finally, a close-up of each team’s players was given, followed by kick-off.
Many cameras are needed when watching football, as it is an unpredictable, fast-paced sport, where it is easy to miss key moments. Cameras are positioned along one side of the pitch (they are only positioned along one side because if there were cameras on both sides, every time the cameras swapped sides, the players would be facing the other direction.), so views of the whole pitch are possible, next to the pitch, for ground level shots and goals, in each corner, for corner kicks, in goal corners for replays and there was an aerial view of the pitch: There are usually around 18-20 cameras all filming the action in a football match. This number of cameras allows the people at home an even better view of the match than the fans actually attending it.
Obviously, the high amount of cameras used in football can lead to difficulty and complications, especially as most matches are shown live: Technical faults can lead to loss of pictures, which can, in turn, put down the reputation of the television company, poor weather can lead to bad visibility or match cancellations, which cost the television company money and disrupts their schedule, extra time can also disrupt the schedules.
The London Marathon can be a very difficult event to cover due to its length: it has a course of over 26 miles! Luckily, because all the roads are blocked off, it is possible to follow the athletes using cameras. This is most often carried out with the use of motorbikes: they don’t take up much space and offer a smooth ride for the cameras, so there isn’t too much jolting about. At the beginning of the main race (with the ‘fun’ runners) there is an aerial shot of all the participants, which gave the audience an idea of the scale of the marathon.
In the professional competitors’ race there were separate groups of people running at different pace. Most images were biased: they were of British runners or the favourites to win. When the women’s race began, nearly the whole race was focused on Paula Radcliffe, who is British and was aiming to break the women’s world record for the quickest time to complete the marathon. So much attention was paid to her because she tried to break the same record in a previous London Marathon, but she failed. She then became one of the world’s most successful long-distance runners, so a lot of pressure was on her to break the record, especially because she’s British. All of the concentration on Paula helped to create tension: “would she win?” “Would she break the record?”. This was brilliant for the BBC, who covered the event, as it created enough tension to keep most viewers entertained for the entire race.
The motorbike cameras used showed either a front, side or rear view of runners, although it was mostly a view diagonally in front of the person. This meant that the audience were able to see the competitor’s expressions, showing how the sports people were feeling. While the cameras were focusing on Paula Radcliffe, additional tension was built by showing details of how long it had taken her to run each mile. This worked by letting the audience know if she was improving or not and allowed them to make an estimate of her finishing time. As Paula was running the race, views of other athletes and their positions were given every few minutes to keep the audience informed.
Due to the marathon’s length, it is impossible to get an aerial shot of the whole track, so aerial views of different sections of the track were used, letting the audience know the general direction of the track and the route runners would be taking. Hanging along the barriers were countless numbers of advertisements, so that they could be included in the coverage of the race. Crowds standing next to the track were visible on the side of the screen, which helped to re-create the atmosphere of actually attending the marathon.
At the end of the race, there was a stationary camera placed behind the finish so it was possible to see the runner coming down the last stretch of the race towards the finishing line (which had a big timer above it). After Paula Radcliffe had finished, an interview was held with her. The camera then focused on runners behind her.
In the Brazilian Grand Prix, the race was delayed due to poor weather conditions. This meant the television company covering the event needed to fill time, which was done in a manner of different ways. There was an aerial view of the track which was then backed up with a map of the track with details on distances, corners etc. There was then visual information about the drivers’ previous race histories, along with their starting positions in the current race followed by views of drivers and their teams waiting to begin the race. There was then a close-up on different drivers’ faces: they were all looking nervous. This helped to create tension with the viewers and keep them entertained whilst waiting for the race to begin. Next, there were pictures of the mechanics and information on car’s tyres and engines-all this was being done to fill in time before the race began.
News finally came that the race was about to start, so to build up tension and atmosphere, pictures of the crowds cheering and jumping about were shown. There was a final long-shot of the beginning of the track before the race commenced. Different camera angles available in the Grand Prix involve helicopter aerial views, to show the entire track and to stay ahead of cars, trackside cameras to see the speed at which the cars are travelling, corner cameras, as accidents tend to happen on corners, pit-stop cameras, to let the audience know what’s happening with drivers in the pit-stop, and in-car cameras, so the viewers can see what the driver is seeing. Not all of these techniques were used in the section of the race I saw, as the drivers had to follow a safety car, meaning everyone had to keep below a certain speed and remain in their starting positions.
There was the use of helicopter and in-car cameras to give a clear perspective and there were also close-ups of the favourite drivers to win. Close-ups of the safety car were given to remind audiences of the slow start. Adverts were painted on the road and put above the track, so the camera would fit them in. At the end of the race there was a close-up of the winner celebrating.