How to film a wrestling match - Flo Lesson

[John Morgan 54]

I am making a complaint on this forum in hopes some flo guy follows this message board and makes a change.  The reason for my complaint is that I have contacted them on three previous occasions without success so I will try this strategy.  My complaint is watching matches/dual meets when the camera is zoomed so far out it feels like you are in the nose bleed section.  From my experience, it is best to film from a bit higher up (so people don't walk or stand in the way) and then zoom in and leave a foot or two above and below the action.   Not rocket science.

Today, the NDSU v Air Force dual the camera is on the side of the mat (people walking in front, ref in the way, etc.) and I can actually see the top of the arena.  Good grief, the arena is empty so why are you at mat side zoomed out?

For the most part I am a Flo supporter (at the moment the benefits I receive are more valuable than the money I pay) so I am not bashing them...I just want them to improve the product so I (we) can enjoy the matches.  I hope they read this.    

[Mphillips 1,732]

Are you sure they were the ones filming?

[John Morgan 54]

https://www.flowrestling.org/live/24814  If promoted by flow and accessed through their website at "Live Now" then it doesn't matter to me who is filming.  If they sub this out totally cool.  Take 30 seconds to explain to anyone filming on their behalf on how to do it.

Edited February 13, 2021 by John Morgan

[Mphillips 1,732]

24 minutes ago, John Morgan said:

https://www.flowrestling.org/live/24814  If promoted by flow and accessed through their website at "Live Now" then it doesn't matter to me who is filming.  If they sub this out totally cool.  Take 30 seconds to explain to anyone filming on their behalf on how to do it.

Never seen it work that way every time.  The broadcasts without scores and announcers must make you really crazy.

[John Morgan 54]

15 minutes ago, Mphillips said:

Never seen it work that way every time.  The broadcasts without scores and announcers must make you really crazy.

Funny.   it's not impossible to film from higher up and still be connected for mat score.  Mat 1 Utah Valley St vs SDSU, guy filming zooms in and wrestling is close up.  Looks fine and he is positioned well.  Mat 2 NDSU V Air force match is zoomed out as mentioned above.  Use the zoom and position yourself.  

[gimpeltf 2,069]

Is it possible that given no fans they might not actually have anyone filming? Just set the cameras and go?

[John Morgan 54]

Just now, gimpeltf said:

Is it possible that given no fans they might not actually have anyone filming? Just set the cameras and go?

Nope, sitting right next to camera along with broadcasting.   Just zoooom in a bit.   

[Plasmodium 2,255]

Also, when there are no graphics overlaid pan and zoom to the scoreboard on breaks.

[Mphillips 1,732]

FWIW...FLO is doing a great job so far at their event, 'Women's Captain's Cup.'  I think you'd be pleased.

[John Morgan 54]

1 hour ago, Mphillips said:

FWIW...FLO is doing a great job so far at their event, 'Women's Captain's Cup.'  I think you'd be pleased.

you win.  They should zoom further out.  lol.

[Swayz 160]

I worked a qualifier at NAIA level this past weekend and I was impressed with having three camera workers with 3 separate feeds.  

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,050]

different events have different levels of production. also different entities responsible for the production. if we are just taking the feed from a third party and retransmitting then the best we can do is let our third party contact know and hope they relay the message for us.

for the SDSU events, Flo is responsible for production we we have a direct line to the folks working the event, and the people in Brookings are awesome people who pour their hearts into the program. for instances like this, hitting up customer service is your best bet. even if you get a hold of someone like myself that also works at Flo, I'm just going to relay the message through our customer support channels. this year a big program has been getting enough bodies at events. the pandemic makes every thing that much more difficult. 

appreciate the feedback and trying to make the streams better. sometimes (most times) it's not a matter of not know how to do something it's having the resources and manpower to do it. sometimes tho there's nothing you can do, no matter how much I wish we could. we'll keep working on it tho.

[Plasmodium 2,255]

1 hour ago, Swayz said:

I worked a qualifier at NAIA level this past weekend and I was impressed with having three camera workers with 3 separate feeds.  

The question is - did they do a good job or did it turn out like this? 

 

[John Morgan 54]

On 2/21/2021 at 9:31 PM, Jaroslav Hasek said:

different events have different levels of production. also different entities responsible for the production. if we are just taking the feed from a third party and retransmitting then the best we can do is let our third party contact know and hope they relay the message for us.

for the SDSU events, Flo is responsible for production we we have a direct line to the folks working the event, and the people in Brookings are awesome people who pour their hearts into the program. for instances like this, hitting up customer service is your best bet. even if you get a hold of someone like myself that also works at Flo, I'm just going to relay the message through our customer support channels. this year a big program has been getting enough bodies at events. the pandemic makes every thing that much more difficult. 

appreciate the feedback and trying to make the streams better. sometimes (most times) it's not a matter of not know how to do something it's having the resources and manpower to do it. sometimes tho there's nothing you can do, no matter how much I wish we could. we'll keep working on it tho.

Thank you and I appreciate the response.

[rocklobsta 13]

To add to John's post...

Often times the cameras are unattended and the only option is to zoom out so as to cover as much of the mat as possible.  Unless the tournament is major, camera operators are not paid.  Each of these cameras is connected to a computer that is on an internal network.  For stability/bandwidth reasons these computers are almost always hard wired, not run on wifi.  As for placing the camera high and zooming in, would require double the networking (keep in mind that each table also has a scoring computer) and locations that you could place a camera that wouldn't get disrupted/blocked by spectators - not always an option.