I've been watching some of the NFL Wildcard games this weekend, and I can't help but notice that in the Bears/Saints game, CBS seems to be using lots of "shallow depth of field" cameras with their mobile sideline cameras.
It's unusual because 99% of sports coverage uses quite narrow apertures in cameras. In other words, nearly everything is in focus no matter how near or far it is from the camera. CBS seems to be shooting "wide open" which results in what should theoretically be quite cinematic shots, because it's what many movies and TV dramas use. The subject of the shot is in focus, while the background is blurred - "bokeh" in photographic parlance. The problem is that the zone of focus when you shoot wide open is really tight, and if you've got a camera operator moving, plus the players they're focusing on moving at the same time, even with high end TV cameras' autofocus, it's incredibly hard to keep the image sharp. CBS seems to have had this problem quite a lot, and it's really obvious on big HD (or better) screens. Dramas, of course, have the benefit of shots being planned in advance, with actors required to hit their marks. Maybe CBS has been doing it before today, and I hadn't noticed. They may be trying something out ahead of their Super Bowl coverage. But it has been really obvious in today's CBS game, and while the shots in theory look gorgeous, in practice, they're just out of focus. Adam -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGCziEFgD%2B-7Jzi5N49nfrqRxtSer6hnpnve6SknC9wO7A%40mail.gmail.com.
