TV Camera Angles

[tandayu]

Which do you guys prefer?

I do not like the "far from above" view on the coverage of a tennis match on TV. I think the court length is out of proportion due to the camera location up above. It seems the court is longer than real life, and most of the grounds strokes seem to land far before the baseline.

I like it couple years back (US OPEN) when USA put camera behind the baseline at the height of the player's lower back. We can watch the server motion so clear from behind, and see how he/she prepare for the strokes while you can see the ball coming closer to the screen. Of course, they mixed the camera shot also with "from above" view, but not that far above.

 

[Andy Hewitt]

Soon we'll be able to watch from whatever angle we want! .... well one can dream...

 

[Yours!05]

tandayu -
Couldn't agree with you more. No thought at all given by the camera people to the watcher.
Doesn't matter how much tennis you play, or how well you know the game, the brain soon stops adjusting for the distortion and you lose all perspective except the one being forced on you.
I think it was at last year's French that I was particularly impressed with the frequent and intelligent use of behind the player shots, and variety of other angles.

 

[westside]

i like it when the camera is lower and is right behind the server

 

[Venetian]

I too love the "behind the player" angle. It really lets you see the net clearance and spin put on the ball.

 

[jonas-the-ball-basher]

Me too, I hate those views from above where sometimes the court seems wider than long!!!!
At the Us open of last year, they would film from behind Agassi's nad Novak's back and that was great, you could see much better how hard those groundstrokes were!

The sound is important too, sometimes you just hear a very low quality plop sound, I wanna hear this hard crushing sound!

 

[splink779]

I thought the Masters Cup coverage had the best from above camera angle last year. They really captured the length of the court and you could really tell the spped of the groundstrokes.

 

[35ft6]

Word. I have no freakin' idea what they're thinking when they shoot down from the nosebleeds. Isn't anybody there to suggest a better angle? And by "better" I mean things like, uh, being able to see the ball, and, uh, say, being able to see the ball, and, maybe even, being able to see the ball.

I remember one year the angle at the Indianapolis tournament was just ridiculous, like it was being shot from orbit. This is one simple thing the ATP can do to make their product instantly better.

The Spadea, Blake match in Arizona had a great angle.

 

[tylerchadwick]

There was one point in one of the men's matches at key biscayne where the camera was more of a side view. like straight down the base line but maybe a little further back. it wasnt real close to the court though and you could get a much better feel for their games. anyone remember this?

 

[El Diablo]

The view from behind the player will only happen at a large venue like the US Open as it requires investment to set up the movable camera and it's simply not worth it to the sponsor or broadcaster of a smaller tournament to spend the money. Putting cameras down low in the stands requires sacrifice of some primo seats and views, and I understand players have objected to the movement of cameras and cameramen too close to their line of sight (just look at where the still camera photographers are allowed, well off to the side). In any event, the bottom line is that you watched the tournament despite the camera placements, and that truly is the bottom line.

 

[equinox]

I prefer behind players at baseline level. I like seeing the topspin and different ball projectorys the players can generate.

 

[Kaptain Karl]

Soon we'll be able to watch from whatever angle we want! ....

Cliff: Here's a look at Roddick's serve from ESPN's new Center Strap Cam. This give you a little bit of an idea what Moya has to VOOM!!!...
Aaagh!!!

PMac: Omigosh!!! That's amazing! Let's see that again. (Uh! Cliff, you spilled your coffee all over both of us! You idiot!)

Cliff: Patrick, who won that point? What's the score?
___________

MaryJo: We're switching to the ESPN Ump Cam for this point. This gives you, the viewer, the best seat in the house.
Notice Maria's anticipation ... Venus' footspeed ... Maria cutting the angle available to Venus ... Venus' running forehand ... Boy! They're both in a groove ... Back ... And forth ... Pounding ... Counterpuching ... Back again ...

Um, excuse-me-I'm-gonna ... [Graack!]

Pam: Oh, geez, MaryJo! You got it on my shoes and ... [R-R-Raaalph!]

MaryJo: Um ... Who's the idiot who thought giving two million viewers motion sickness was a good idea????

Pam: What's the score...?
_____________

Carillo: Cut the feed! CUT THE FEED!!!

Um, sorry folks. It seems our producers accidentally activated the new ESPN Belly-Button Cam Serena agreed to wear for us. Only, she hadn't left the Women's Locker Room yet.

I'm terribly sorry. I'm sure we'll be extending our personal regrets to Capriati's, Mauresmo's, Asagoe's and Lisa Raymond's people.

Cliff: Well ... see if you can work the "Wasn't *that* tatoo a little painful?" question into the context of the Mauresmo apolo... *WHAP!* Well, Mary, don't you think that would have hurt???

- KK

 

[Yours!05]

Karl - great post!

 

[35ft6]

In any event, the bottom line is that you watched the tournament despite the camera placements, and that truly is the bottom line.

Actually, I think improving the camera angle, allowing for more dynamic broadcasts, giving the TV watcher a real sense of how fast and powerful the players are, would help greatly in broadening tennis' pitiful US fan base. I've actually stopped watching matches because of poor camera positioning.

 

[jonas-the-ball-basher]

Also a camera view from the first row of seats behind the bassline is very nice!
I wanna see the depth of the ball.
Sometimes you cannot tell if a ball is going out, if it's loaded with spin or if it's going into the net.

 

[spirit]

Tennis Channel Scottsdale

Which do you guys prefer?

I do not like the "far from above" view on the coverage of a tennis match on TV. I think the court length is out of proportion due to the camera location up above. It seems the court is longer than real life, and most of the grounds strokes seem to land far before the baseline.

I like it couple years back (US OPEN) when USA put camera behind the baseline at the height of the player's lower back. We can watch the server motion so clear from behind, and see how he/she prepare for the strokes while you can see the ball coming closer to the screen. Of course, they mixed the camera shot also with "from above" view, but not that far above.

Didn't the Tennis Channel coverage of Scottsdale use hand held cameras from behind the server? I thought this gave great perspective and gave a far better feel for the match and what was going on. And I doubt the Tennis Channel has the budget that ESPN or the major networks have.

 

[rhubarb]

The main camera angle used at the women's YEC last year was really awful. It was low, but seemed far away from the court so that you couldn't even see what was going on. I'm afraid my attention span was even shorter than it normally is for women's matches.

 

[Pirc Defense]

Well, I'll say that one camera I really can't stand is when they show a closeup of the server, then cut away to the normal, wide angle just before they strike the ball. That is infuriating. I want to see the whole service motion! Very frustrating.