Rory Mcilroy’s long walk after 18th green in Augusta National immediately entered the club.
Getty Images
The sound of silence
Golf television is an exercise in ruthless movement. On a typical Sunday, Eight voices are employed To talk about at least 50 widespread balls in 18 fields, while two dozen people production work every number of jobs concentrated in the past (repetitions), attendees (direction) and future (production, graphics, advertising, pre-produced segments).
When it works, everything sounds like a symphonic orchestra – a series of talented masterful individuals who serve as an indispensable part of a much larger whole. And when it works really well, it sometimes sounds like it did for six minutes right in masters on Sunday: Nothing at all.
Reception is the hardest part
CBS didn’t say a word for six minutes as Rory Mcilroy cried his way to the scorer’s room to Augusta National on Master on Sunday. On the contrary, in what may be the best moment of the CBS team under the leadership of lead Sellers Shy producers, the network sat again and observed, holding a single consistent camera in Mcilroy as he faced his first moments as Grand Slam winner.
It can be exciting – and feel somewhat counterproductive – for those who are paid to speak to sit quietly after a historical moment. But often silence tells the story much better than it could be analyzed. This was the case here.
‘If tears could tell a story’
Shy has found himself thinking those words often in the days since Mcilroy with tears published the Grand Slam career in Masters. Mcilroy’s histronics on the 18th green secured the tournament and broadcast, with an iconic image that fits the moment.
“The truth is that I didn’t have to say a word to anyone. Everyone knew exactly what to do at that moment,” Shy Golf told him. “The truth is that there is nothing we could have said it would match the tears that rolled his face.”
Tears really told the story about CBS, and Shy wants little loan to his orchestration.
“(Director) Steve Milton’s splendor to climb atlas Cam for 95 percent of that walk – and the rest of our team’s synergy was extraordinary,” he said. “Liberated me to look forward. As soon as Rory returned to note, I would imagine we had 10-12 repetitions lined up like planes at an airport.”
The best minds of sports TV are experts in the areas of abundance and absence – knowing when you collide the gas pedal down into repetitions, analysis and graphics, and when you sit at a single moment for an eternity. CBS crew gains high grades for their understanding of both here.
