Travel by Blue Screen

I was watching ESPN the other day, and I noticed what has to be the most efficient travel operations method I have ever seen. The network is featuring a series of commentary programs supposedly transmitted live from each of the various NFL training camps around the country as the teams begin gearing up for the 2008-2009 season. Basically, the program consists of two on-air personalities sitting in director’s chairs at the edge of the practice field while the team works out, and chatting about the personalities that make up the team and the prospects each team has for this season. The on-air people claim to be visiting one camp per day, as they move randomly about the country…

I became suspicious of the whole thing early on, when I realized that the program wasn’t moving from one camp to the next nearest one; instead, they appear to be lurching about the country at random, from New York one day to Los Angeles the next day to Indiana the next day to San Diego the next, and so on. There’s no question that ESPN has the resources to actually charter a private jet and send two of their on-air people (plus their entire support crew, camera crew, and entourage) on jaunts like these, but it seemed a highly inefficient use of both money and staff time. This opinion was reinforced when I realized that neither of the two talking heads on the show was interacting with any of the people at the training camps; all of the “local” team interviews had been taped earlier or were part of press conferences held at some other time…

It wasn’t until they had the continuity malfunction that I caught onto the scam, however. About a week into the program the two on-air guys were starting their conversation for the day, when a couple of people started walking across the field behind them. Despite being behind the commentators, the two people walking were clearly closer to the camera than the men in front of them (e.g. they were larger and in better focus). That’s when I looked closely and realized that the two commentators were actually sitting in front of a blue screen; they weren’t actually at the camp, but rather were being digitally superimposed over the live feed…

I suppose many other sports fans (and television viewers) would have been offended by this trick; at the very least, they might have resented the network assuming that they (the viewer/fans) would be taken in by this simple trick. My reaction was quite the opposite: I thought it was the most brilliant idea I had heard in years. Since ESPN already has a camera operator or two covering each team (or at least has one based near enough to go and get some footage when needed), all they had to do was have one of their people in the field set up a camera on a tripod somewhere near each practice field, and then have two of their people sit down in front of a blue screen on the set in their broadcast center. No travel expenses, per diem, or even extra salaries involved…

Now, I’m not saying that every company could get away with this sort of thing, or should even try. In each of the ESPN “Training Camp” broadcasts, the commentators spent most of their time reviewing tape, playing interviews and game footage, showing pictures and diagrams, and generally discussing media other than the footage being shot of them at that moment. In point of fact, it really would not have made any difference at all if they had gone around the country and set up their broadcast set at each training camp, or if they’d just gone to the Bahamas and done the whole broadcast as a voice-over using their satellite phones. Most business travelers who are spending the company’s money and their own time traveling around the country for business have some concrete reason for actually going where they say they are going in person, and a conference call or videoconference is not always going to cut it…

Still, if your company needs to cut down on its travel expenses, you could always look into having your people try traveling by blue screen…