Millennium and Eurosport
- Thread starter Piper
- Start date
Interesting stuff. I used to really believe in the dream of outside sponsorship and televised events, but I'm no longer convinced.
In my opinion the only really good job I've seen done of televising Paintball lately was Patrick Spohrer's live coverage of the Cup. To make something so watchable whilst being LIVE was quite an achievement. I'm still not convinced many people can do it though and make it watchable for the general public, even recorded and re-edited.
Will TV be the saviour of paintball? In my opinion NO. It's been tried in the US and hasn't helped. Millions and millions have been lost on the attempts. It's a horse that's been flogged, and maybe it's Europe's chance to give it an extra beating.
For me the saviour is in helping players enjoy themselves at the grass roots. Putting the fun back into the game, and keeping it there, at all levels. Making new people want to play paintball and come back again after their first try.
If we don't have people enjoying themselves at the grass roots level, that scares me.
I'm not convinced showing people on supair bunkers with machine guns is going to help get any more people playing paintball (heck I think it will scare them off).
I'm also not convinced tapping an already straining set of companies in the industry will really help the industry either. Isn't the point of getting it televised to have outside sponsors and industries see the value and potential for marketing? I do hope there are efforts being spent on finding outside support for this as well as the tariffs being imposed on people in the industry...
I'm sure many of you don't want to hear this, but I'd rather see a very well planned and executed production of a recreational event that makes people want to go and play.
OK crucify me now, but if the trend continues of new players getting blown up and not having fun, we are screwed.
DISCLAIMER: This is my own personal opinion and has nothing to do with the company I work for.
In my opinion the only really good job I've seen done of televising Paintball lately was Patrick Spohrer's live coverage of the Cup. To make something so watchable whilst being LIVE was quite an achievement. I'm still not convinced many people can do it though and make it watchable for the general public, even recorded and re-edited.
Will TV be the saviour of paintball? In my opinion NO. It's been tried in the US and hasn't helped. Millions and millions have been lost on the attempts. It's a horse that's been flogged, and maybe it's Europe's chance to give it an extra beating.
For me the saviour is in helping players enjoy themselves at the grass roots. Putting the fun back into the game, and keeping it there, at all levels. Making new people want to play paintball and come back again after their first try.
If we don't have people enjoying themselves at the grass roots level, that scares me.
I'm not convinced showing people on supair bunkers with machine guns is going to help get any more people playing paintball (heck I think it will scare them off).
I'm also not convinced tapping an already straining set of companies in the industry will really help the industry either. Isn't the point of getting it televised to have outside sponsors and industries see the value and potential for marketing? I do hope there are efforts being spent on finding outside support for this as well as the tariffs being imposed on people in the industry...
I'm sure many of you don't want to hear this, but I'd rather see a very well planned and executed production of a recreational event that makes people want to go and play.
OK crucify me now, but if the trend continues of new players getting blown up and not having fun, we are screwed.
DISCLAIMER: This is my own personal opinion and has nothing to do with the company I work for.
Manike, one of the best worded and most appropriate replies I have ever read. I think your 100% right with everything you have said and I don my e-hat to you
TV=tried tested and failed
TV=tried tested and failed
Manike, nice words, all making sense.
I have been doing my own vids for a wee while now and over the last three weeks or so have been showing extracts at school as part of another presentation...the response is brilliant and for this reason I would say that the grass roots games have a great future so long as it can be afforded and that's the question, can it be afforded?
No TV channel will spend cash promoting it unless there is money in it and so online channels will be the only way it can be seen for the future..(so long as my camera gear doesnt get hit then I will continue to film it locally and in future perhaps beyond.)
I have been doing my own vids for a wee while now and over the last three weeks or so have been showing extracts at school as part of another presentation...the response is brilliant and for this reason I would say that the grass roots games have a great future so long as it can be afforded and that's the question, can it be afforded?
No TV channel will spend cash promoting it unless there is money in it and so online channels will be the only way it can be seen for the future..(so long as my camera gear doesnt get hit then I will continue to film it locally and in future perhaps beyond.)
Gambo, paintball on TV ain't ever gonna work on TV because paintball don't work on TV - it's as simple as that mate.
looks like it,s dead in the water, was on the tv listing for the 18th but know it,s gonewell my dear fellows back to the woods we go
well my dear fellows back to the woods we go
Pete, I agree, especially for the tournament side with the pieces shown to date, but I do think it is possible to capture some of the "essence" of paintball, and maybe enough to get the casual viewer excited enough to try the game or to be able to understand more of it than they can now.
I don't think we can (yet) show a full game and have it make sense in the same way that you can a game of football. I'm not 100% convinced we will ever be able to, but that kind of thing has never stopped people thinking or trying to work out a way. I was discussing this with Bill Mills just the other day, he has some cool concepts for it too, as he specializes in videography (spelling?).
I spent some time talking with Pat Spohrer at World Cup and in San Diego about how to try and do that and he has some great ideas and plans. I've always been very impressed by his work from the early days of Push. If anyone captures the "essence" it's him. If anyone has a chance of doing it right, it's him. ESPN or maybe even the Millennium series should put this money into getting him involved...
I tried for years to get friends and family to watch paintball on TV and they could just never understand it in such a format.
I've shown friends our Empire Commercial (that Pat Spohrer made for us) and even though they didn't play they thought it was cool and it got them excited.So the question for me is, can ESPN make a breakthrough in how paintball is portrayed on TV or should the time, money and efforts be directed differently...
Personally, as I said, I'd rather aim it at the grass roots players.
With cameras placed in the right areas, covering al the team players, I think the essence can be demonstrated well. I love videography and photography but am limited by the cost of my gear and risk of hit damage. I miss action by covering the wrong player at the wrong time, it is hit and miss but with more cameras and good directorship it could work... but it won't ever make money.
I'd love to video more games from better angles and height just to get good shots...but it's a logistical nightmare, just as it would be for live TV..
I'd love to video more games from better angles and height just to get good shots...but it's a logistical nightmare, just as it would be for live TV..
Sorry mate, you are wrong. The actions of each player as he duels with the opposition, battles away for a small percentage of the game time and hides away for the rest cant be captured on TV with any real meaning.
The viewer cannot make sense of what each individual player is trying to influence in the game. After all, the majority of all the paintballs we shoot are aimed at a space in the air that we dont want another player to be playing in,running through or getting to, rather than being shot AT a player.
The game can change anywhere on the field as all players can influence what happens either through good play or poor play. This cannot be effectively captured and communicated to the viewer with any real progressive meaning.
It cant work with 5 a side, it didnt with 7. It would with 1 though!