by Bob Carson

Editor’s Note: The USTA website is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

“You will need a handheld device, and in the future you will need a home entertainment system. The Internet is going to be the invisible present power supply, and the boundary between some things that have boundaries today, like telephones, will go away. Television will go away. It will be the Internet, and there will be different display devices and different user interface or interaction devices. — Barry Glick, MapQuest

Bob Carson

See if you agree with these three statements:

Harness horse racing, with our beautiful animals, interesting characters, gambling and history, holds the potential to be a fantastic product.

There is a world, yes a world, of potential owners, gamblers, and sports enthusiasts who do not have the foggiest idea of who we are, but they would love us if they got to know us.

Due to our tiny geographical footprint, the bridge between harness racing and the vast majority of our potential audience will be a television set, or more likely, a computer screen.

The third statement in our trio, our bridge to new players, our window to the rest of the world, is critical. Our presentation should be smart and enthralling. Our gateway should be attractive, exciting and understandable. If we are to have a brighter future, new visitors must like what they see. It they do not, harness racing will fade out of the picture.

As we race for our lives, we are sorely lacking speed and variety in our visual presentation. The traditional harness racing picture is a long shot that lingers. The proven formula that works for entertainment and sports is the opposite, close shots that constantly change.

“We have reached the epoch of the nanosecond. This is the heyday of speed. If one quality defines our modern, technocratic age, it is acceleration. We are making haste. Our computers, our movies, our sports, our prayers — they all run faster now than ever before. And the more we fill our lives with time-saving devices and time-saving strategies, the more rushed we feel. We have become a quick-reflexed, multitasking, channel-flipping, fast-forwarding species. We don’t completely understand it, and we’re not altogether happy about it.” — James Gleick

If you scientifically study modern entertainment and sports, you will be astonished at the ever-accelerating pace of presentations. For example, in the movie, The Bourne Supremacy, the average time the viewer can linger on a scene is 2.4 seconds. That’s over 2,500 edits in 100 minutes. To many of us, that much scene shifting would seem to be almost unwatchable. But sports, television, and films all dance to this speedy tune for one simple reason — it pays. This speedy cutting is everywhere, cooking shows, fishing shows, news, sports — the camera angles never stop.

Autumn Ryan graphic

Tonight, when you watch television, be it a ball game, a news program, or a sit-com, take a few minutes to count the cuts. You will see that the camera rarely lingers. The decision makers do not want to lose your attention and they will stop at nothing to keep you from clicking.

Many of us hate this blistering pace. We prefer sipping lemonade and watching trotters and pacers looping the oval in warm-ups, and the simple, single shot of the race. That’s enough for us. But it is not enough for the modern consumer. In the modern marketplace, slow pacing equals lost attention, lost attention equals lost revenue. Viewers are manipulated like puppets and don’t even realize it. If harness racing doesn’t improve our presentation we will become as relevant as puppet shows.

Most of us wager and watch harness races on computers. When we step back and put this into perspective, it’s quite amazing. Thirty years ago home computers were science fiction. Ten years ago, a computer feed of a horse race at home was exotic and low-tech. Today, the images are clearer, research for handicapping is readily available and the computer/horserace experience is common-place. The experience will only get richer. We are fortunate. The digital age and horse racing make a great match. We can, and we must, make the match better.

Two recent innovations in presenting a harness race are promising; the split screen where the viewer has a choice of the wide angle of the field or the closer view of the lead horses and the “floating colored balls” effect that traces the location of each horse in the field during the race. But we need more, much more, if we are to compete.

Visually, the three primary areas we need to add to our harness racing presentations are cutaways, cut-ins and reaction shots. These are common and effective editing and directing techniques. Not only do they add variety, but they are the foundation of other editing shenanigans. The most common sequence is a three-shot, where we see the subject (trainer, owner, horse, gambler) looking at something; then we see what is being looked at (a cutaway shot); then we see the subject again so that we can read a reaction.

From the standpoint of the editor or director, the beauty of the three-shot reaction shot is that the middle shot can be anything from anywhere. That is, it can be footage shot on another day at another race, a rundown on the upcoming race, commentary, interviews, back stories, old photos or any unique subject. The ritual of character/action/reaction is ingrained in our brains.

In presenting harness racing, we do very little of this; nor do we attempt much cutting edge format. Harness racing simulcasts and podcasts are basically static, predictable, etch-a-sketches in an I-pad world.

The menu of “cuts” before and after a race should be long; a helmet view from a driver, a reaction shot from a trainer or gambler, a higher angle shot from about 45 degrees, extreme close-ups, head shots, of horses and drivers. We need to show faces and reactions, it is here that drama and interest reside. The race itself needs real-time editing; these cuts do not have to be lengthy, a few seconds, and then back to the wide shot. The “flow” of the race will stay intact but at least a dozen cutaways would dramatically improve our picture.

Looking a short time down the track, emerging technology will allow viewers the option of how “they” want to watch a harness race. Maybe they enjoy sitting with Dave Palone and taking the drive. Maybe it’s a wide shot all the way. For now, the production unit, primarily the director, will decide what the viewer sees, before, during and after the race. A good presentation is challenging for professionals, but good videographers are magicians.

Do we need this magic? Can we afford it?

We should not skimp here. Sending our existing harness presentation package into today’s marketplace is like sending a car to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and deciding to save money by not buying tires.

In the big picture, placing money on production may be the most cost effective thing we can do to grow harness racing. If we hired two additional high quality videographers, a producer, director, a sound person and a digital promoter, they could make a world of difference.

Of course it would be wonderful to have every racetrack decide to get into the picture, but a good start would be to find one racetrack, pull together as an industry, and put out a jaw-dropping digital presentation. Our brass ring should be a prototype of a fabulous harness racing production that would nudge a national cable television broadcast into our picture.

The race for attention is underway. The race never ends and harness racing is well positioned to be a winner in this race.

The world could soon be watching if harness racing gives them a great picture.