Most major broadcasters like Sky, BBC etc use what are called lip mics for commentary. These mics cut out all extraneous noises and give more bass to the user’s voice. The ifollow/3CR radio equipment is different in that the mic and headphones are a single unit and can pick up coughs and other nearby sounds.
At Bristol City, we had a mic failure and had to borrow a very basic one from another broadcaster. This meant that I was unable to hear Matt Cecil and unable to hear my own voice. Not making excuses, but if I could have heard myself say ‘Jason’ Knight the first time, I would have corrected the error straight away. It’s strangely disconcerting not being able to hear yourself on commentary.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
I had low expectations for the FA player generally based on my overall feeling towards the FA but it was excellent. The commentary was well informed. The camera angles were excellent. The streaming was spot on. Bonus included the goal line ‘technology’ to show JJ’s corner was JUST not over the line.
I have to wonder why ifollow can be so disappointing sometimes (with the exception of @bluntphil and @glasshalffull of course).
The camera angle wasn't so brilliant on our first goal which missed half of the action!
Watching more Wycombe games on tv than ever before has certainly made me appreciate what I like in a commentary and what I don’t. I like a partisan commentary. Don’t care. It’s more like watching the game with my mates at the AP. Having someone so partisan as Bill Turnbull is a joy.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub said:
I had low expectations for the FA player generally based on my overall feeling towards the FA but it was excellent. The commentary was well informed. The camera angles were excellent. The streaming was spot on. Bonus included the goal line ‘technology’ to show JJ’s corner was JUST not over the line.
I have to wonder why ifollow can be so disappointing sometimes (with the exception of @bluntphil and @glasshalffull of course).
The camera angle wasn't so brilliant on our first goal which missed half of the action!
Yeah not the producers finest moment was it. The angles were there, just not used.
@glasshalffull said:
Most major broadcasters like Sky, BBC etc use what are called lip mics for commentary. These mics cut out all extraneous noises and give more bass to the user’s voice. The ifollow/3CR radio equipment is different in that the mic and headphones are a single unit and can pick up coughs and other nearby sounds.
At Bristol City, we had a mic failure and had to borrow a very basic one from another broadcaster. This meant that I was unable to hear Matt Cecil and unable to hear my own voice. Not making excuses, but if I could have heard myself say ‘Jason’ Knight the first time, I would have corrected the error straight away. It’s strangely disconcerting not being able to hear yourself on commentary.
It sounds like I’m hearing the absence of a ‘lip mic’ then @glasshalffull. I really appreciate the explanation, thank you.
The FA hired a production company - Gravity Media - which I presume is not the one used by iFollow (who might do it in house?) I suspect it's a very different set up, with Gravity bringing their own better quality mics and positioning them better, including one near the dug-outs. They presumably had the commentator in the back of the portakabin in the car park rather than in the ground so that he could see the replays, add commentary to the half and full time highlights etc -which would also have explained the much better sound quality as he wouldn't have had to rely on the ISDN lines in the stadium (slightly oid technology now).
One thing I've wondered with iFollow commentary is why it's only when Matt Cecil is co-commentating that anyone has access to the televised footage. My assumption is that the WiFi isn't yet working to the extent that others can access it, and Matt is presumably using a 4G connection over a phone? Having Phil at 3CR base the other week obviously lost some of the immediacy of his commentary but did allow him to make informed judgements on watching the replays. Hopefully when this better internet is up and running at Adams Park all commentary teams will have access to the footage.
Apologies if you’ve explained this elsewhere but which part of the restrictions stop you travelling to Adams Park? If we play closer to where you live, could you attend that ground for instance?
I enjoyed the impartial FA commentary yesterday (I also think @bluntphil stays just the right side of biased as well by the way). Yesterday’s commentator added a bit of personality and perspective, my two personal favs being ‘mind my car’ when the ball went over the Lords stand and his on-going description of JJ’s left peg as ‘a wand’, especially when he claimed JJ must be the best dead ball specialist in The Championship, wow!
@Right_in_the_Middle said:
The limits to what gets moaned about is expanding all the time. I saw this footage on MOTD this morning before Andrew Marr and don't actually remember a voice over.
After recent criticisms of female pundits on social media it's interesting that two of the three comments so far mention the gender of the voice over person as if it's relevant.
Do you know, I almost knew someone would jump in with that old chestnut and had tapped out a line about how good it was to have Gabby Logan back. But I took it out in case it looked like it was just arse covering.
The point is the voice was a total drone. When you think how difficult it is to get into the BBC I’d expect a better standard. I’m guessing the droning Irish reporter (ok for you RITM or is the inclusion of Irish an issue too?) has a high placed relation in the Beeb.
Having this afternoon heard the Irish person’s (!) voiceovers on our game and on one other (there may have been several others) I found it perfectly acceptable. Her role was to be factual and unobtrusive - inevitable when you read @glasshalffull’s explanation of the circumstances in which such pieces are scripted and rehearsed (time factors, unfamiliarity with the clubs etc) - and add in the complication of Covid protocols, I thought her clear Dublin inflected voice was fine.
I totally disagree with your last paragraph @arnos_grove .
I totally agree with it. It started badly with the words "Fred Onmmminnmmna" and the whole thing sounded like she was either stifling a yawn or trying to hold back a vicious case of the squits.
Don’t know if I’ve missed discussion of this earlier in the thread, but the foul on Uche for our penalty and critical second goal seemed outside the box to me.
Given we have had a lot of bad decisions against us this season, that’s probably one to mark up in the credit column.
The commentator yesterday wasn't in a portakabin, but at the top of the Woodlands stand alongside the cameras so would have had a great view. No idea how he managed to organise that position when every other broadcast has been done from the press area where it's impossible to see the far corner.
Comments
Most major broadcasters like Sky, BBC etc use what are called lip mics for commentary. These mics cut out all extraneous noises and give more bass to the user’s voice. The ifollow/3CR radio equipment is different in that the mic and headphones are a single unit and can pick up coughs and other nearby sounds.
At Bristol City, we had a mic failure and had to borrow a very basic one from another broadcaster. This meant that I was unable to hear Matt Cecil and unable to hear my own voice. Not making excuses, but if I could have heard myself say ‘Jason’ Knight the first time, I would have corrected the error straight away. It’s strangely disconcerting not being able to hear yourself on commentary.
Totally agree that the faplayer was very good @TheAndyGrahamFanClub but I assume the FA have more money than ifollow.
The camera angle wasn't so brilliant on our first goal which missed half of the action!
Watching more Wycombe games on tv than ever before has certainly made me appreciate what I like in a commentary and what I don’t. I like a partisan commentary. Don’t care. It’s more like watching the game with my mates at the AP. Having someone so partisan as Bill Turnbull is a joy.
Yeah not the producers finest moment was it. The angles were there, just not used.
It sounds like I’m hearing the absence of a ‘lip mic’ then @glasshalffull. I really appreciate the explanation, thank you.
The FA hired a production company - Gravity Media - which I presume is not the one used by iFollow (who might do it in house?) I suspect it's a very different set up, with Gravity bringing their own better quality mics and positioning them better, including one near the dug-outs. They presumably had the commentator in the back of the portakabin in the car park rather than in the ground so that he could see the replays, add commentary to the half and full time highlights etc -which would also have explained the much better sound quality as he wouldn't have had to rely on the ISDN lines in the stadium (slightly oid technology now).
One thing I've wondered with iFollow commentary is why it's only when Matt Cecil is co-commentating that anyone has access to the televised footage. My assumption is that the WiFi isn't yet working to the extent that others can access it, and Matt is presumably using a 4G connection over a phone? Having Phil at 3CR base the other week obviously lost some of the immediacy of his commentary but did allow him to make informed judgements on watching the replays. Hopefully when this better internet is up and running at Adams Park all commentary teams will have access to the footage.
@bluntphil
Apologies if you’ve explained this elsewhere but which part of the restrictions stop you travelling to Adams Park? If we play closer to where you live, could you attend that ground for instance?
I enjoyed the impartial FA commentary yesterday (I also think @bluntphil stays just the right side of biased as well by the way). Yesterday’s commentator added a bit of personality and perspective, my two personal favs being ‘mind my car’ when the ball went over the Lords stand and his on-going description of JJ’s left peg as ‘a wand’, especially when he claimed JJ must be the best dead ball specialist in The Championship, wow!
Do you know, I almost knew someone would jump in with that old chestnut and had tapped out a line about how good it was to have Gabby Logan back. But I took it out in case it looked like it was just arse covering.
The point is the voice was a total drone. When you think how difficult it is to get into the BBC I’d expect a better standard. I’m guessing the droning Irish reporter (ok for you RITM or is the inclusion of Irish an issue too?) has a high placed relation in the Beeb.
Having this afternoon heard the Irish person’s (!) voiceovers on our game and on one other (there may have been several others) I found it perfectly acceptable. Her role was to be factual and unobtrusive - inevitable when you read @glasshalffull’s explanation of the circumstances in which such pieces are scripted and rehearsed (time factors, unfamiliarity with the clubs etc) - and add in the complication of Covid protocols, I thought her clear Dublin inflected voice was fine.
I totally disagree with your last paragraph @arnos_grove .
I totally agree with it. It started badly with the words "Fred Onmmminnmmna" and the whole thing sounded like she was either stifling a yawn or trying to hold back a vicious case of the squits.
Don’t know if I’ve missed discussion of this earlier in the thread, but the foul on Uche for our penalty and critical second goal seemed outside the box to me.
Given we have had a lot of bad decisions against us this season, that’s probably one to mark up in the credit column.
The commentator yesterday wasn't in a portakabin, but at the top of the Woodlands stand alongside the cameras so would have had a great view. No idea how he managed to organise that position when every other broadcast has been done from the press area where it's impossible to see the far corner.
That is the official TV gantry where the camera cables are linked to and where TV commentaries come from.