Very distracting TV coverage

[pastoralguy]

I would like to propose a solution... Just do close ups of the prettiest girls In the orchestra. For instance, during Le Siecle's recent concert, concentrate on no. 4 first violin, the flute section and the lady playing 2nd clarinet. Problem solved.
(Although I do admit that there could be problems with the Vienna Phil...)

[pastoralguy]

For me, the yardstick of good tv presentation/camera work was ?1981 when MR. Simon Rattle conducted the Philharmonia in Rachmaninov's second symphony. For once, the experience was enhanced by the cameras who caught little felicitous moments of an orchestra giving their all.

I remember videoing it with the new fangled machine and watching the tape over and over. (If only Sir Simon could do work like that now with the Berlin Phil then we'd REALLY be on to something). The next concert to be broadcast was The Planets and the coverage was terrible. (The director had a real thing about the RAH's organ pipes and almost ever climax was crowned with various shots of these bloody pipes despite there being no part for his beast!)

[french frank]

Perhaps we can agree, then, that the fault is not that of the camera operators themselves but the directors from whom they get their orders. Imagine how much time they could save by not having to work out those '800 scripted camera shots'.

[PJPJ]

The next concert to be broadcast was The Planets and the coverage was terrible. (The director had a real thing about the RAH's organ pipes and almost ever climax was crowned with various shots of these bloody pipes despite there being no part for his beast!)

Ahem, apart from the pedal in Saturn, and the fff gliss in Uranus.

[jean]

Or even discreet?

Do we now have two pedantry threads?

Seems like it.

[mangerton]

Perhaps we can agree, then, that the fault is not that of the camera operators themselves but the directors from whom they get their orders. Imagine how much time they could save by not having to work out those '800 scripted camera shots'.

Ah, but then it wouldn't be a "carefully thought-through journey".

Things were ever thus. I used (30-40 years ago) to sing in a choir which was on TV quite frequently. Camera shots were scripted then too, attractive - ie female - members of the choir were shown more frequently, and we were told to stand in the same positions when recording as we had at rehearsal because "cameramen* remember faces".

* It was always men at that time.

[pastoralguy]

Ahem, apart from the pedal in Saturn, and the fff gliss in Uranus.

Even as I was writing that I thought 'HANG on - are you SURE'?! I should have looked up the score!

[LHC]

I would like to propose a solution... Just do close ups of the prettiest girls In the orchestra.

Isn't this the favoured modus operandi already?

We should thank out lucky stars however that we don't suffer the hyperactive direction used for some concerts on the continent. Some of the concerts shown on Sky Arts are particularly bad with myriad jump cuts, inappropriate close ups and zooms and a general adoption of the kind of direction more familiar from pop videos than classical concerts. For some reason, French TV directors seem particularly prone to this.

[MrGongGong]

Even as I was writing that I thought 'HANG on - are you SURE'?! I should have looked up the score!

There is an Organ in The Planets

(but strangely No Earth ?........ I did write one once with some teenage composers)

[Ferretfancy]

There has never really been an agreed grammar for presenting classical music on television. When we attend a concert, our ears, eyes, and brain work very subtly together to produce a satisfactory result. We do not expect an exterior hand to guide our eyes and tell us what to see. In the earlier days of TV Proms coverage, cameras were less mobile, lighting requirements were higher, setting up probably took longer, and so it was necessary to keep it simple.

In practice this meant that the cameras slavishly followed the top line of the music, with a few wider shots. Unfortunately, if you are an attentive listener, you may be more interested in what the violas are playing at a given moment than what is happening in the brass, and so the irritation begins to build. I used to get so tired of all those tricksy shots of reflections in the brass or focus pulls through the strings of the harp that it seemed better not to watch at all.

Modern facilities are more sophisticated, but the shortcomings are still there.

Television absurdity has reached its worst with David Starkey's survey of Music and Royalty.In the first episode, which went from Dunstable to William Byrd, Starkey was in shot virtually throughout, pontificating in his usual way while various choral and instrumental groups around the country gave us a few bars of music in the gaps. If you decided not to try to listen to the music the fan vaulting was nice!

[pastoralguy]

Very good tv coverage of the Pappano / Santa Cecilia concert on BBC4 tonight, I thought. Very good camera work and lots of shots of the co-leader from which I learnt a lot about bowing technique....

[Beef Oven]

There is an Organ in The Planets

(but strangely No Earth ?........ I did write one once with some teenage composers)

Earth hadn't been discovered when Holst wrote his masterpiece.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Re #26. Oooh, I must check that out, my bowing technique is a bit rusty....

[VodkaDilc]

Very good tv coverage of the Pappano / Santa Cecilia concert on BBC4 tonight, I thought. Very good camera work and lots of shots of the co-leader from which I learnt a lot about bowing technique....

She certainly got more than her fair share of coverage. For those who did not see the broadcast, the leader was male and 40-something, while the lady in question was half that age and, to say the least, very photogenic. Coincidence, of course.

Some good camera-work on the pianist too.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Earth hadn't been discovered when Holst wrote his masterpiece.

- you're on fine form today, Mr O.