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Snoqualmie
1/25/2020 7:07pm
1/25/2020 7:07pm
Edited Date/Time
1/26/2020 10:16am
Not sure if this has been discussed
Al Michaels has a Spotter for his NFL games as an example Malibu Kelly Hayes is one
Idea is to help process in real time what is going on to help the broadcaster stay on top of things
Could this work for SX broadcasters?
Al Michaels has a Spotter for his NFL games as an example Malibu Kelly Hayes is one
Idea is to help process in real time what is going on to help the broadcaster stay on top of things
Could this work for SX broadcasters?
The Shop
Super tough job done in real time at the mercy of the team. Monday morning qb’s always think they can do it better.
You sound like a real pleasure to be around in real life. HAHAHA (That's sarcasm for you keeping score at home.)
Could you imagine the absolute meltdown this place would have if RC and Sheheen were taking about some good racing that wasn’t on the TV!?!? Holy shit.
all live race announcing is done this way. You talk about what is on the monitor. What the TV broadcast is showing.
I work in esports production currently and we have what we call 'subject matter experts' in the truck who are former esports pro's (aka: know the games inside and out) and sit alongside the show producer and show director. The Subject Matter Expert (SME) can see EVERY SINGLE camera that is filming. In esports, we at times have 32 different games going on (in the lower brackets) and the SME will look and see what games are 'going off', let the director know, and then the director can switch the broadcast over to the more interesting game. Or in a game that's 6v6, the SME can see every player's POV, and call out which player the 'live feed' should be moving to.
The Director makes the final call, but the SME can help the Director make that choice by providing intel.
The Show Producer mostly sits there tracking the Run of Show (ROS) which is the second by second blueprint of everything that happens in the show. Every graphics package, in-broadcast feature, commercial break, toss to the floor, etc is pre-planned out in the ROS. The Producer communicates to Talent (Ralph, Ricky, Blair, and Will) what's coming up next, what tosses to make, and basically what's going on.
The Talent all have multiple people talking in their ear during the show. The Producer does most of the comms to them, but they can also speak directly to the Director. Plus they have the Live Feed normally, and they are talking to you. So when they are talking to you, they often have 1-2 people passing instructions to them in their ear "okay Ralph wrap this segment and toss to Blair. Blair you have :30 seconds and then over to Will"
In live action sports, like SX, your SME would be seeing all of the live cameras, and seeing what's going on on-track, and relay to the Director 'hey battle for 5th Webb and Adam is heating up) and then Director can then 'go to that camera'. Every single camera has it's own screen in the truck, and someone sitting at the main board can see them all.
I don't know if SX has a SME in the truck, but I do know I've been very unimpressed with how the director calls the show. Bad PIP (picture in picture) calls. Bad on-screen graphics. Miscues coming out of break. It's really bad. To be fair, the Show Producer and Show Director 99.9% of the time aren't really experts in the sport they are working (that's what the SME is for) but most of the miscues I see are basic show production things, regardless of your familiarity with the sport.
While I'm on the subject, here's the talent team breakdown.
Ralph - Play x Play: Ralph is your main play x play broadcaster. He's the show host also. Meaning he intros us at the top of show, coming off breaks, and closes the show out. During racing, he's calling the action primarily.
Ricky - Color: Ricky in the color commentator. He gives Ralph breaks and helps add 'color' to what's going on. He'll take the cue from Ralph and just paint in a little more detail. He also is the 'Pro Perspective' guy, the former racer, champion, who knows what it's like to be out there and can give that Pro POV.
Blair - Analyst: Blair seems mainly in the analyst role. They go to him to break down a section of the track, giving insights and detail to what's going on. He does a little bit of side line reporting also.
Will - Sideline Reporter / Interviews: She's in the sideline reporter/interviews role. Pretty self-explanatory.
Hope that helps explain a bit of what goes on. As I do not work on the SX broadcast... I'm using my experience on other broadcasts to make some educated guesses, but it's all pretty basic TV 101 stuff.
Pit Row
If the camera is on some guy, they’re not going to start talking about some guy down in the sand
You guys blame the announcers for shit, when they’re to announce what you see.
They don’t control the broadcast.
If you want to blame direction or production, that’s fine, but some of you also seem to think the broadcasts are tailored for experienced and knowing MX racers, it’s not, it’s produced towards the least knowledgeable.
It's easy to blame the announcers because that's all most people know, see, and hear. Seems everyone on here wants to blame Ralph and RC because they don't understand that both of them have people yapping in their ear while they're trying to pay attention to the race AND simultaneously calling the action. I hear too many times responses that Ralph is a professional and he should be better. Even Diffey, who is a seasoned motorsports announcer was struggling. My guess due to frustrations with production staff.
Would be interesting to know if Ralph and Leigh shared notes on just how frustrating it is working with this particular production crew. (If it is frustrating.)
I've heard both Ralph and Leigh announce other events and sound amazing. Perhaps the real reason the show is bad is because of the guy in Ralph and RC's ear. haha
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