After three films and over 10,000 kilometres travelled
, Algonquin television broadcasting professor, Matt McCooey had arrived in PyeongChang South Korea
for his second Winter Olympics.
McCooey was part of the 100-person team at the Kwangdong Arena who helped broadcast both men’s and women’s hockey to viewers around the globe.
At ice level for the 26 games at the Kwangdong Arena, McCooey’s job is what he called “the liaison between the broadcast production truck and the referees on the ice.” When production cuts from play during a stoppage to go to commercial, McCooey was the eyes in the arena for production and would send word back to the truck when play was to begin again.
He was a vital member of the team and ensured that action isn’t missed for the viewers at home.
McCooey said that he has been working live sporting events since 2003PN no comma” class=”inline-comment collapsed”>
and recently has worked for Sportsnet and CBC/Hockey Night in Canada. He was also part of the production team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Joining the faculty here at Algonquin College in August of 2017, McCooey said, “I hope to share my experience and observations here with students PN no comma” class=”inline-comment collapsed”>
and communicate to them how television is produced at this level. There is a level of coordination, sophisticationPN no oxford comma ” class=”inline-comment collapsed”>
and balance to these broadcasts that is unique in the business.”
His students will also hear of the new technology and equipment used at the Olympics which McCooey says are normally one or two years ahead of the latest broadcast equipment and techniques used. He recently shared some of these on his Twitter account that there are, “72 cameras pointed at the net, that allows 180-degree coverage of the offensive zone. It allows us to stitch together hundreds of images to create one continuous replay from various angles.”
Also according to his Twitter account, the Dreamcatcher replay machine shoots the whole offensive in 4K, while it can also
“zoom into a quarter of the picture without losing resolution. A very valuable tool that is used each game.”
Every person who attended the 2018 PyeongChang games, whether in the media or as a spectator, will take home different memories, such as
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s historic skate, or Jocelyne Lamoureux’s sensational shootout winner that gave the American women gold in hockey. Matt McCooey however, will remember the support generated for the eighth-place Korean women’s hockey team – a team comprised of two nations that, some would say, are still at war.
The Algonquin professor also watched South Korean pop-stars situated on a stage just above North Korean cheerleaders, an image he says he’ll never forget.