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Current mood:  tired Category: Sports
At my local movie theatre, where it was being broadcast live in 3D.
Very, very cool. Incredibly close to being at a game but without the travel and at a fraction of the cost. That alone is reason enough to spend the $20 if only to experience it one time. It was a big plus that they knew they had a captive audience and kept the commercials to a minimum (Sony was sponsoring, so we got some cool PlayStation game commercials in 3D, plus some short 3D films to fill time), but they also went so far as to not leave the screen cluttered with graphics that told people stuff they were completely aware of, like the score. I would have liked to see the game clock, but it was okay without it.
But there were definitely negatives.
1. Four hours is WAY too long to sit there with 3D glasses on.
2. It was in HDTV resolution, not digital cinema resolution (4x HDTV). HDTV looks great at home or even on big screens at a sports bar, but stretched out over a 50+ foot screen? Not so much. Still looked very good, but had some fuzziness issues at times.
3. Transitions from one 3D image to another can be very jarring. A dissolve will really play hell with your eyes. The best transitions they made were to cut to a graphic and then back to the action.
4. They chose to do field-level angles for most of the game. They had a crane to get higher shots, but nothing high enough up to give the whole-field perspective we're accustomed to with "normal" network coverage.
5. Given that they were largely limited to field-level angles, they really needed to get the director on the ball, literally. Many, MANY pass plays ended with the receiving end off-camera or obscured by sideline personnel. It was VERY common not to see how a play finished, including one of OK's TD passes.
6. Director sloppiness. Because of the Sooners' rapid pace on Offense, they were frequently late coming back to the play after the replay, and at one point, the director seemed asleep at the switch, showing the sideline (and the Fox cable cam) while a play was getting started.
Of these six negatives, four can be addressed simply by how they choose to produce the games, but, frankly, this was clearly a game-coverage B-team given a plum assignment. Given that they attracted $20/ticket (vs FREE on TV), you'd think they'd get some real pros in there. I suppose it's possible that with the new technology, there isn't yet anyone who's a true pro.
Kenny Albert and Tim Ryan were the commentator team for the 3D broadcast, which was a smart idea, because, unlike the broadcast team, they knew the difference in what the audience was seeing for this show. The only minus is they were obsessed with pointing out that things were being seen in 3D. "It's the first field goal block ever...IN 3D!" "I'm just so tempted to reach out and see if I can grab those graphics. What does a graphic feel like, d'y'think?" (I cracked up at that one.)
I'm sure we'll see more games this way, and I'm sure I'll pay to see a few of them in my lifetime (especially when they get smart and get the Eagles on the big screen), but right now, I have to rate it as a novelty more than a necessity. With a little tweaking, though, that could change.
 | Currently listening:
Narrow Stairs
By Death Cab for Cutie
Release date: 2008-05-13 |
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7:00 AM
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