I just watched the CBS special from Boston of the Boston Pops 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. The music was fun but the microphone positioning was atrocious. You'd think CBS could figure out how to mike a friggin' symphony, but hey, who am I to judge?
Finally the fireworks happened and they were spectacular. Over the harbor reflected on the water. Great. Once again CBS failed to capture the event with any kind of skill. You'd think CBS could shoot a huge fireworks show well. But who am I to say?
OK, so here is my take on this. Today the only events that are shot live are sports and the directors and camera people who do that are concerned with showing the action and keeping the camera on the ball. Well in an entertainment show, there is no ball and something like fireworks need to be seen in their entirety not close up. A nice wide shot of the harbor, which they did show occasionally gave the best impression of how massive and delightful the event must have been, but the director who I will lay big money on, shoots football or baseball normally and so he or she kept calling for "zoom in" or give me a tight shot!
The result was a lot of zooming in and out and shots of the crowd in the dark watching. Who cares? We are watching the fireworks not the crowd.
It reminded me of the way modern TV directors try to shoot live dance numbers. The get closeups of faces and feet. Ever see a great musical movie with memorable dancing like "American in Paris", or "Royal Wedding" ? The director shot the numbers wide enough so you could see the dancers whole bodies. Because dance is a full body experience, not a close-up medium. Well same for fireworks!
End of rant. Happy Independence Day!
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