The State of TV Coverage Camerawork

[Alesana]

I put this needless excess of close-ups and quick cuts down to broadcasters wanting to "tell a story". It happens in other sports too to a degree, they think you'll get bored if you just sit there and watch the game as if you were at the ground.

With the increased microphones, commentators, and cameras you now have the broadcasters thinking "there's the debutante's family reacting to his first goal, the coach showing some animation after a turnover, a couple of players shoving each other behind the play, the cheer squad waving their flags jubilantly - we have a story to tell here!".

Just using a few cameras with minimal cuts so you can just watch the game unfold is not an option anymore. Unfortunately, with all that is available in 2024, they would be seen as not doing their job if they weren't trying to be innovative with all this crap to "tell a story". Sometimes less is more.

 

[Cleavy]

I’ve noticed they have fixed the main camera position at the scg, more centeral now compared to previous years

so no more dramas of someone's big head blocking a crucial 1000th goal...

 

[1989]

I put this needless excess of close-ups and quick cuts down to broadcasters wanting to "tell a story". It happens in other sports too to a degree, they think you'll get bored if you just sit there and watch the game as if you were at the ground.

With the increased microphones, commentators, and cameras you now have the broadcasters thinking "there's the debutante's family reacting to his first goal, the coach showing some animation after a turnover, a couple of players shoving each other behind the play, the cheer squad waving their flags jubilantly - we have a story to tell here!".

Just using a few cameras with minimal cuts so you can just watch the game unfold is not an option anymore. Unfortunately, with all that is available in 2024, they would be seen as not doing their job if they weren't trying to be innovative with all this crap to "tell a story". Sometimes less is more.

Spot on. One of my pet hates is when at the end of an exciting match they zoom in on a player because it’s their 200th game or some crap, rather than taking a wider shot that shows the eruption of a larger group of players with the crowd in the background. Instead, the close up shot follows some bozo around for ten seconds before cutting to a couple of other close ups and then shoving a microphone in ‘the story’s’ face to fire off several lame ‘questions’.

Watching on TV will never be as good as actually being there, but it could be much better.

 

[Pusswah]

And just quietly, do we really still have to put up with a camera sitting there shaking like someone's doing the press conference on a ******* iphone?

The AFL is such an amateur organisation.
We put up with clowns and shitful coverage.
It's just ****ed.