The Jobs Everyone Wants
ESPN Camera Operator
ESPN is not only a local or national company, but also international. It covers all sorts of sporting events all over the world. This job requires a lot of time commitment and the willingness to be able to hop in a car, on a plane, or train whenever duty calls. ESPN is known for having the best angles, highlights, and action shots. Whenever you are hired, you are giving a show to not just the producers but to an international group of people that may not see the live.
There is a lot more to being a Camera Operator than just holding a camera. There are so many details that I must learn in order to get exactly what the producer wants. For most college sporting events, there are at least 3 cameras operating (most of the time more). Every camera has a different role, some may be getting the close up victory and hero shots, while others may be zoomed out getting the bigger picture and crowd reactions. You learn to work with every person that is helping behind the scenes to put on this grand show for everyone watching. The skills needed for this job is something that not everyone has. One of the most important skills needed is basically knowing how your camera works. The camera and you are connected, you need to know how to put it together and take it apart and put it back together in a timely manner. One thing you’ll need is patience, everyone knows there are games that can get very boring. It is the job of the producers, directors, audio, and camera operators to keep every game as interesting as the next. Another thing needed is to have very high listening skills, when you are paying attention to the game and you have your headset on listening to 10 people talk about every play, you are searching for one voice telling you and your camera exactly what to grab. It can get confusing but multitasking is something you will need or you will not survive in this industry.
Bowie Baysox Camera Operator
The Bowie Baysox is part of the MiLB (Minor League Baseball), this is a local ad for a camera operating position. This type of job is more flexible and not such a high demand as ESPN. These games are for local communities mostly and the shots are not as strategic as ESPN. Most shots will be far out, getting the whole baseball diamond, or some close shots of hitter, pitchers and slight action shots. Baseball is more a slower sport than most, and can can be longer than most sporting events. Baseball does have more games than almost any sport throughout a season, so it will be time demanding more than anything.It requires a lot of patience and paying attention. This type of work is what i’m most familiar with. For my internship now, I film college sporting games. The skill level required is about the same but I definitely would need to develop a few more skills and know a better way to really grab the best shots.
Red Bull Videographer
Everyone knows that Red Bull is huge sport sponsors, they mostly sponsor sports such as rock climbing, skydiving, snowboarding, surfing, etc. A job like this would require to be on the road at all times throughout the year. It would require a much more extensive knowledge of sports, other than baseball, football, soccer, etc. I would need to know more about how to capture the best kind action shots and from which angle to capture them. I would also need to know how to operator other cameras (most of the time smaller cameras) such as Go Pros, handhelds, or even a phone. Most of these shots are caught in the moment, and not some live sporting event. These camera videographers travel with athletes all over the world, to the best destinations to for their sports. Most of the time these shots are turned into films, short highlight reels. I would need to know more about how to edit the perfect video and not just how to shoot the perfect video. A job like this would require a higher knowledge of the industry than I know. Interning with a company like this would be a dream, and would work best in order to grab a better idea of what they may be looking for in an employee.
I think as a whole my internship has definitely giving me skills that I am putting to good use, and learning more about the industry. I think It’s giving me a different outlook on sporting events form an angle i never even imagined. I know I have a lot to learn but I think that over the course of this semester I will learn so much more and get to experience filming a wide variety of sports to know how give a show to all the viewers. I will be working closely with our athletic communication directors, TV producers/directors and producers from ESPN that will help give me advice to get the best camera operator or videographer that I can be.
