Have you ever watched a baseball game, basketball game, or football game on television? I have and I'm sure you have too. Have you ever watched an entire game zoomed in on individual players? Imagine watching an entire football game from a zoomed in angle on the quarterback from different angles. Or imagine you are watching a baseball game and the camera switches back and forth between the pitcher and batter at high rates and at an increased zoom. What about basketball? What if all you saw was the player making a move, dribbling, and shooting. Then maybe you get a zoomed in version of the hoop when the ball either hits the rim or goes in. Wouldn't this suck?
You would be missing so many little intricacies of the game. You wouldn't see the formations of the football teams, the audibles and how the players adjust to the game. You wouldn't see the wide receiver attempting to go across the middle only to get smashed by Ray Lewis. You wouldn't see two big men battling for a rebound down low. You wouldn't catch Ron Artest elbowing James Harden in the back of the head for no reason. You wouldn't see the the ball land just inside the foul line. In essence, you would be missing the most important parts of the game. So why in the HELL does everyone make paintball videos in a manner that makes no sense in every other sport?
What does it really do to the sport, as a whole, to have these redundant and mostly useless camera angles? Well for one, individuals that are watching the sport for the first time see the same camera shots over and over of some guy shooting his gun at 12.5 bps, but they have NO IDEA where he is shooting or why he is shooting in that particular direction. In other words, he watches clip after clip of a pitcher throwing a ball at a catcher without knowing if the guy threw a ball, strike, curveball, fastball, or changeup.
Worse yet, the viewer has no understanding of the actual game play. He doesn't get to see the beauty that is paintball. He can't watch Oliver Lang bump to the god bunker, followed by Yosh Rau filling Oliver's old position, while Ryan Greenspan fills out the tape. Meanwhile, Alex Fraige and Alex Goldman are shooting their lanes and making sure their teammates fill their positions safely. This is what paintball really is. It is coordinated, methodical, and planned out game play. It is an orchestra that is a result of many years of hard work. It is NOT one guy shooting his gun at some position on the field, anyone can do that - you don't have to be a professional to shoot a paintball gun at 12.5 bps at a random spot on the field.
For the sake of the sport, literally, can we please change the way we record paintball. Each video should be thought of as an audition to attract a potential player, a potential sponsor, or another player. What potential player wants to just shoot a paintball gun at an inflated bunker? They can do that in their back yard for a lot less money. What sponsor is going to take on a team that looks good while they shoot their marker? You don't have to be sponsored to do that. Any player looking for a potential team can see that you can shoot a ramping gun at 12.5 bps, but can your team coordinate and win consistently? We should think of the integrity and essence of the sport before we fill YouTube with a bunch of clips of the same exact thing; a short clip of some guy shooting at a random spot on the field, while the rest of the sport is unbeknownst to our viewers because the same poor viewing angles are repeatedly used. Videographers are on the front line of expanding paintball, so please put our sport on display in its entirety and quit selling the sport short. I am begging you.
Ditto on slooch's comment, but I feel like camera angles are hard to get on paintball. If you can see the guy down field behind the bunker, how can the camera?
That's the only place I will watch paintball unless I am using my iPad. Paintball Access may very well save the sport because of the way they present the game. They show it in its entirety and speak of the depth of the game by showing player moves and illustrating game plans. I am not worried about Paintball Access because they are nailing it on the head; it's the rest of the crap that floods YouTube that hurts the game.
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Originally Posted by debit
Ditto on slooch's comment, but I feel like camera angles are hard to get on paintball. If you can see the guy down field behind the bunker, how can the camera?
You're right, it can be difficult to see players from a wide angle, so what should they do? Simple, use a beautiful thing called technology. The same way ESPN or even Paintball Access draws on the field, they can do the same with where players are located. Or even easier, describe where the players are located. ESPN radio still thrives today because they have great commentary that allows listeners to live within the game by simply listening to a radio station. If the commentator says there is a player in the back right, center, and left, but you don't see the back right player, then you would be able to understand the back player is shooting out the other side of his bunker, which is probably the tape.
The reason I don't particularly like shooting paintball videos is because the subject matter gets redundant very quickly. Doing what you describe becomes bland and confusing. Here's why:
Think of a game of soccer. As you watch it on tv, the camera and your eye both follow the ball wherever it goes. The same goes for football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, volleyball, hockey, etc.
Paintball has no "ball." Instead you're watching (usually) 10 players moving in different directions and shooting at different things. Basically, it isn't a spectator sport and filming it like one confuses the viewer. Think of watching a fake hand-off or a fumble in football and losing sight of the ball. It's kind of like that all the time with paintball.
Also the people making these youtube videos really don't have access to cranes, giant dollies, or ways of shooting higher angles so that would also explain why it doesn't look like a traditional sport.
Last edited by empire112234 : 10-27-2012 at 07:57 PM.
The reason I don't particularly like shooting paintball videos is because the subject matter gets redundant very quickly. Doing what you describe becomes bland and confusing. Here's why:
Think of a game of soccer. As you watch it on tv, the camera and your eye both follow the ball wherever it goes. The same goes for football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, volleyball, hockey, etc.
Paintball has no "ball." Instead you're watching (usually) 10 players moving in different directions and shooting at different things. Basically, it isn't a spectator sport and filming it like one confuses the viewer. Think of watching a fake hand-off or a fumble in football and losing sight of the ball. It's kind of like that all the time with paintball.
Also the people making these youtube videos really don't have access to cranes, giant dollies, or ways of shooting higher angles so that would also explain why it doesn't look like a traditional sport.
Well that explains a lot. Thank you for your response. Everything that you mentioned here makes sense.
Is there anyway to create a viewing angle or some other method to help the sport become spectator friendly? Instead of focusing on a ball, could we focus on a particular player, bunker, or even a stat that is on the screen?
Hang a wide angle camera right in the center of the field, high enough, to avoid balls, aimed straight down, so that it captures everything from net to net. This would be a good reference POV for back filling with graphics and explaining the "why" and "how" a team wins, not just individuals looking cool shooting in slow motion to music.
Almost Famouse shoots their vids with commentary and trys to show both sides of the game. This is our team in Vegas a few weeks ago. I think you can follow it preety well.
Subscribe to our youtube channel for better paintball videos
Almost Famouse shoots their vids with commentary and trys to show both sides of the game. This is our team in Vegas a few weeks ago. I think you can follow it preety well.
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Almost Famouse shoots their vids with commentary and trys to show both sides of the game. This is our team in Vegas a few weeks ago. I think you can follow it preety well.
Subscribe to our youtube channel for better paintball videos
Pretty sick video
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Well that explains a lot. Thank you for your response. Everything that you mentioned here makes sense.
Is there anyway to create a viewing angle or some other method to help the sport become spectator friendly? Instead of focusing on a ball, could we focus on a particular player, bunker, or even a stat that is on the screen?
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