MEMBER PROFILE
Scalise sounds off on need for audio education
By
Jul 21, 2006 - 12:04:00 PM

As HD sports productions increasingly become the norm at national and regional sports networks so is the demand for quality Surround Sound productions. The challenge? Ensuring that those who make a living sitting behind the audio console in a remote production vehicle have the skills to put together a Surround Sound experience that meets the needs of the network.

“We need to get more people on what I call the A list so we aren’t scrounging around on Wednesday for a Friday setup,” says Ron Scalise, freelance audio consultant. “Most of the stick and ball stuff today is HD.”

That education need is one of the reasons next Thursday’s SVG Surround Sound Challenge seminar is important. “Audio used to be just audio and it was an afterthought,” says Scalise. “But my approach now is to give impact to the audio experience. I’m not there to make a National Geographic special: it has to sound bigger than life. When a zoom lens focuses in on a quarterback’s eyes I want to let viewers hear the QB call and the crunching and grinding.”

That doesn’t mean the viewer at home doesn’t feel like they’re in the stands. “You need to create an audio bed that puts the viewer in the best seat in the house, and you’ll sprinkle in things like a fan yelling ‘Let’s go Jets,” says Scalise. “But you also need to take the elements of the game that match up with a camera shot.”

Scalise sees three challenges for the industry as it moves to Surround Sound, with the need for training and more A-list talent topping the list. Also important? Making sure affiliates understand how to deliver the Surround Sound signal to the viewer correctly so the audio signal is true to life. And then there is the need to educate the consumer.

“Ask a typical consumer ‘What is Dolby Digital?’,” says Scalise. “Ask them how they use it, turn it on or turn it off. We need to make sure they understand how to get the most out of their $12,000 home theater investment. And that means educating them on how to set up a Surround Sound system and how to adjust it.”

The overall goal is consistency—whether in the truck, at the station or cable headend, or at the home. “There’s a certain consistency I want to strive for and maintain and support the goals of senior production management,” says Scalise. “Everybody is a little bit different so need to have operators and mixers that know what ESPN wants and that if I’m at home it’s what I want.”


© Copyright 2006-2008 sportsvideogroup