The Olympic Games have provided us with some of the most iconic, inspirational and unforgettable moments ever captured on film.
From Jesse Owens’ courage in the face of Hitler’s in 1936, to Usain Bolt’s 2008 100m World Record Victory (despite slowing down and beating his chest before the finishing line) and the heart-breaking footage of the injured Derek Redmond being carried by his Dad across the finish line – these images are as emotive, cinematic and dramatic as any movie, video, or documentary ever produced.
With the Olympic Games Paris 2024 upon us, everyone at Reels in Motion is looking forward to seeing what momentous events are brought to us by the broadcasters and video production teams at this year’s event.
In anticipation of seeing what golden moments Paris 2024 will beam into our homes this summer, we’ve taken a dive into the tech. We’ll explore the amazing video technology, innovative camera equipment and remarkable production systems, plus – we’ll look at what we can expect to watch from the comfort of our sofa’s.
But first, let’s see what’s in store in the 33rd Olympic Games.
Table of Contents
- The New Sports at Paris 2024 Olympics
- What can we expect to see at the Summer 2024 Olympic Games?
- How to watch the 2024 Olympics in the UK?
- The Video Technology at the Paris Olympics 2024
- What coverage should we expect to see on the Paris Summer Olympics 2024?
- What other advancements will be seen in sports video production at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024?
The New Sports at Paris 2024 Olympics
The starter pistol for the Paris Olympics fires on 26th July and crosses the finish line in a sweaty crumpled mess on 11th August. Your favourite sporting events will return once again, and we’ll also be introduced to a selection of brand-new games making their Olympic debut.
With the Olympic Committee announcing after Beijing that the focus on future events will be on appealing to younger audiences, it is no surprise to see all four new sports being very much aimed at this precise demographic.
Breaking, Sport Climbing, Skateboarding, and Surfing should certainly all help to widen the appeal of the Olympics. The major win here from a video marketing perspective, is that most of the participants in these events also bring with them huge social media followings and support with many of the contestants boasting influencer status.
It will be very interesting to see how/if the broadcasters incorporate the video productions of the participants into their main broadcast streams.
What can we expect to see at the Summer 2024 Olympic Games?
Let’s break down the numbers:
19 days of competition
329 events
35 venues
32 sports
10,500 athletes
Billions of television viewers worldwide
350,000 hours of TV broadcast
How to watch the 2024 Olympics in the UK?
The BBC is the official broadcaster of the Paris 2024 Olympic games for the UK. You’ll be able to watch the action completely free of charge across BBC Channels and BBC iPlayer. These channels will cover all the live action, including the opening and closing ceremonies.
You’ll also get to see highlights and replays on the official Olympics website if you only wanting to see the best-bits.
The host broadcaster is OBS (Olympics Broadcasting Services), who’ll be the ones delivering the video-goods to the third-party broadcasters. This year they’re promising to take Paris 2024 to a ‘whole new level’ through more coverage and more innovative technology. Which, is great, considering they games cost is currently approaching a hefty €9 billion, including €1.2 billion on the TV rights.
Let’s look at how they will deliver the magic, and how it will impact audiences.
The Video Technology at the Paris Olympics 2024
The prevailing wisdom and tradition in how best to cover live sports, is to use lenses which provide the widest depth of field. This allows all the action to be as in focus as possible, meaning viewers get the flexibility and ability to watch various points of the action, but you don’t get to see close-up and hyper-focussed shots.
However, as cameras, and auto-focus technology have advanced, it is now not just possible, but completely feasible to shoot live sports coverage on lenses with a much narrower depth of field. This enables videographers to blur the background of shots and provide a more cinematic ‘feel’ to the production. The Olympics broadcasters have confirmed that they will be taking an innovative approach to it’s camera equipment, and using cinematic lenses at Paris 2024 for this precise reason.
The cinematic approach to sports coverage has become increasingly popular every passing year.
The first time I saw it successfully used was in the 2020 NBA Season. Who, by the way, were one of the only sports who managed to successfully complete the season through the covid-19 lockdowns. Doing so, by placing all teams in a single stadium ‘bubble’, and having games play out in front of empty seats.
The NBA used cinematic lenses on mobile camera units to capture close-up shots of players pre/post-match and during timeouts. The cinematic shots were not used only during play, but also added into the broadcast stream in the moments where play had stopped. We now see this adopted across sports globally, from the NFL to the Premier League (and even Darts).
I do wonder whether the empty stadiums fuelled the decision surrounding cinematic lenses, making the empty seats out-of-focus and out-of-mind, but nevertheless, it has set a trend that continues.
It will be fascinating to see whether OBS follow this pattern. Using cinematic shots only on occasions where the lack of in-play action allows for it, or whether we will see the main action unfold with this shallow depth of focus.
My suspicion is that they will stick to covering the main action with wide/deep focus lenses and use the cinematic shots for storytelling/dramatic purposes – but it would be great to see this approach pushed to its limits so let’s see what unfolds.
What coverage should we expect to see on the Paris Summer Olympics 2024?
OBS have also announced that there will be more ‘non-event’ and athlete-centric content than ever before. This will be in the form of behind-the-scenes videos, interviews with coaches and athletes, and more pre- and post-event content. This makes perfect sense for several reasons.
Firstly, our appetite for varied content, available across multiple platforms, and in bitesize, easily accessible formats continues to grow. From a video marketing perspective, it is essential the Olympics provide regular quality content for social media release. The Olympics are no longer just a broadcast spectacle. We will be consuming video content on our devices throughout the 19 days – after all, the beast must be fed!
Secondly, as we’ve touched on, this year there is a big the focus on appealing to younger audiences and their viewing habits. Many of whom will be watching Paris 2024 whilst dual screening, the live broadcast on the TV, and the social media feeds on the phones. You could argue that this distracts from the main event, but if this is how viewers want to view, our broadcasters should embrace it, not fight against it. At the end of the day, scrollers are gonna scroll.
And finally, with many of the athletes now bringing in-built audiences and interest through their social media channels, it seems a fantastic opportunity for the Olympics to leverage this. I hope to see them at the very least supporting it, and at most, fully incorporating it into their event coverage and across official social media platforms.
What other advancements will be seen in sports video production at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024?
Despite the UEFA deciding to only broadcast HD HDR streams for Euro 2024, the Olympic Games will be produced, delivered and available to watch in full UHD. As we touched on in our Euro 2024 blog, more broadcasters are turning their backs on UHD and focusing on HD. So, it’ll be worth watching the Olympics in full UHD if you have the TVs and devices to do so – it may be the last chance.
In other news, the multi-camera replay systems for Paris 2024 have been doubled since Tokyo 2020. We all love a slow-mo replay, and this adjustment will deliver a higher quality aesthetic and extra narrative content for those critical moments in sporting events. Not only will this be a complete visual joy to behold, but they are critical in helping to build the storytelling and emotional engagement between viewer and competitor. Lovely stuff.
Paris 2024 will see the inclusion of an AI technology in the Olympic Broadcast through the form of an enhanced multi-camera system. This will provide the ability to quickly create 3D reconstructions of certain events. Put simply, camera footage will be transformed into 3D models, which can then ‘replay’ specific moments of an event and allow us to the view them from different angles, distances, and camera movements. This should be a very exciting addition to our viewing experience and give us a glimpse of how AI an positively impact video production going forwards.
Coverage of Paris 2024 will also feature more onscreen dynamic graphics than ever before. This will give viewers instant access to an athlete’s positioning and performance metrics on-screen.
To conclude…
The Paris 2024 Olympics promises to be a groundbreaking event. Not just for the athletes and their feats of endurance, but also for the technology and video production techniques that will bring these moments into our homes. With advancements in video equipment, broadcasting, AI, and content formats, viewers will experience a richer, more immersive spectacle than ever before.
At Reels in Motion, we understand the power of high-quality video production in capturing and conveying the essence of such monumental events. As we witness these advancements on the grand stage of the Olympics, we’re inspired to push the boundaries of our own work.
Whether it’s through innovative filming techniques, engaging storytelling, or leveraging the latest technology, our commitment is to deliver video content that resonates with audiences and leaves a lasting impression.
As you enjoy the remarkable coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics, consider how professional video production can elevate your own projects.
From corporate videos to event coverage, at Reels in Motion, we bring the same dedication to quality and innovation to every project we undertake. Let’s create something unforgettable together. Visit Reels in Motion to learn more about how we can bring your vision to life.
