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The pandemic has affected the system design and operations of live sports production in a myriad of ways. At first it was difficult for many to figure out but then evolved into the deployment of innovative types of distributed workflows and crews that drastically altered the physical positioning of technology and human resources.
Although latency and resource coordination continue to challenge those considering cloud-based remote live production, the distributed architecture model is steadily gaining traction as a cost-effective alternate to hardware-based on-premise projects. To date this IT-centric architecture has not been deployed for high-profile productions like the Super Bowl or World Cup, but remote IP-video contribution, production and distribution has allowed second-tier sporting events to be televised globally whereas they might not be - due to cost and fully remote access - using traditional production methods.
Though mostly a publicity stunt, Major League Baseball’s Field of Dreams Game live telecast on August 12th proved to be a hit for everyone involved—including the Fox Sports team and production company Game Creek Video—tasked with putting it on.
In the high stakes world of auto racing, every second counts so whatever a team can do to improve its performance, both on and off the track, is put into play. For the highly successful Corvette Racing team, which competes in endurance races that last 24 hours to the finish, it’s secret weapon is reliable two-way communication between its drivers and crew.
We move on to looking at developments in noise cancelling technology and the role it can play in achieving clarity and comfort within headsets for intercom use.
Core to any successful television production is the effective application of clear and precise communications. Camera operators, sound assistants, playout, slow-mo operators, and floor managers all need to hear direction from the production teams. Without comms, the production would soon degenerate into a chaotic cacophony of incoherent images and sounds.
If there’s one thing the production community has learned during the pandemic, it’s that ensuring the safety of the crew on site or in the studio should always be first and foremost in people’s minds. The second takeaway is that sending less people on site and implementing more remote support is the new normal that the industry is, somewhat begrudgingly, coming to terms with.
Without intercom, a live broadcast production would soon degenerate into chaos. A whole industry has been built on the protocols intercom users have adopted and everybody involved in the production must be able to hear the director’s instructions, clearly and concisely.