The art of filming fast-moving sports
With the Olympics 2012 drawing ever nearer, and the recent announcement by Formula 1 of their dedicated channel with Sky TV, our television screens will be filled with high-octane, fast-moving images of cars, boats, bikes and track sports throughout the summer.
If you haven’t managed to get tickets to go to these events, you, like millions of others, will be relying on the skills of the broadcasters and production companies to bring you the excitement of these incredible events to your TV screens.
It’s something we all take for granted, but can you imagine how disappointing it would be if the filming of these events didn’t capture the drama?
With F1 and the Olympics, it is paramount that the buzz from the track, field or sea is captured on camera – and that’s no easy task.
First, there’s the equipment.
You need the very best kit, with long lenses that can film in tight. For example, when we film motorsports, we always use professional 72×1 lenses trackside to get the close up detail you need of the wheel-to-wheel action. And we make sure we’ve got them everywhere.
As with any live production, you need to make sure you have your most reliable equipment there on the day. Any problems or breakdown in camera equipment could result in missing out on that critical piece of footage. So, keeping your tried and tested, familiar, kit maintained to optimum standards is essential.
The same goes for the camera operators.
You need the best. Nothing else will do. That means using the people at the very top of their game filming sports. The races you’ll be watching on TV from the London Olympics will be filmed by cameramen from countries the world over, flown in especially for their exceptional skill and expertise.
Then there’s the psychology.
Capturing the buzz of a sporting event is notoriously difficult. Not many manage to convey the same excitement of being at a race, on the screen. It requires a real understanding and genuine passion for the sport you’re filming.
This means you need to predict where a person, vehicle or yacht is headed and how it moves. The camera needs to be able to film in tight without missing sudden movements, following the race from every angle, without confusing the audience so that they can follow and feel every peak of emotion throughout the race.
The camera operators and editors need to be able to think as the audience do, knowing what the viewer wants to see next – whether that be from the air, on the water, on the track, close up or wide angle.
Too often, event filming relies simply on the equipment used, rather than the sports-fanatic eye of the operators and that can mean the difference between great looking film, or stunning film filled with the thrills and spills of the race that takes you on a roller-coaster ride of TV watching.
If you want to find out more about filming fast-moving sports, contact those that have been doing it well for years. Call Mallard Productions today.
Is corporate video enough?
Most creative agencies and businesses confirm that video marketing is a headline feature of their digital strategy over the coming months. But will this be a repeat of the rush to follow the social media movement where businesses jump on the bandwagon without thinking about the what’s and why’s?
Is it enough to simply add a corporate video to your website just so you can tick the ‘online video’ box?
If your venture into the world on online video consists of nothing more than a corporate video, think again.
Be honest, how often have you re-visited a website to watch their corporate video? And if you did, why?
Many corporate videos are lazy, serving little more than the egos in the business. Whilst these videos can work well as internal presentations they often lack the creativity to really draw the audience in enough to watch it to the end, let alone watch it again.
Instead, think about building a relationship with your audience. Treat your website video as you would your other marketing activities with regards to repetition and relationship building.
In other words, drip-feed what you want to say about your business through multiple videos.
By viewing your online video as a series, you can start to think more creatively about its content. Rather than try and create a 10-minute rolling video of flat, headshot interviews and 360 views of your head-office reception, consider shorter edits to push your key messages over time.
Borrow ideas from TV. Consider creating a sequential series of videos to generate a want from your audience to see more. Think about a theme, teasers and cliffhangers. Tell a story. Demonstrate your service or product in different ways with varying treatments and approaches.
Some of the most successful digital campaigns over the past few years have treated video as an ongoing initiative to build a brand. Look at the well-known Old Spice campaign. By integrating a series of short video edits with various social media activities, the brand created a viral storm reaching audiences worldwide.
The video series concept clearly brings many added benefits.
For one, Google loves new content so by keeping your website content fresh and updated, your SEO will likely improve. Google loves video too – in fact, the likelihood of your website being clicked on in Google is significantly higher if it has video.
Secondly, your brand will remain in the minds of your audience for longer. They’ll get to know you better and connect with your business at a much deeper level.
If your videos have a watchable appeal, your audience will also be more likely to talk about your brand and share your videos with their friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Creating a number of videos doesn’t need to be anymore difficult than producing a single one. If you would like to find out more, just give Mallard Productions a call.
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