Macy's Day Parade

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope everyone is having a good vacation and relaxing with family and friends from home.

So, the annual Macy's Day Parade just ended. I watched most of it while doing some last minute cleaning and homework and watching it for the first time since being at school (I missed last year's), I had a whole new appreciation for the entire thing. After reading Rebecca's post earlier this week, I kept those little notes in mind. I can't even imagine directing something so massive. Deciding which of the twenty-two cameras would capture the perfect image in a split second? That's a lot of cameras to choose between.

The parade had the normal host of musical performers, many of whom seem to be popular, that I've never heard of, along with those I have. But the thing that caught my eye the most was how, every float had some different character, logo, or commercial something on it, with most recieving a line from the announcers about how, "so and so was brought to you by this company or that company."

The culture in America has always been very commercial. I remember stories that my grandmother told me about waiting every week for her Life Magazine to tell her all the newest fads and products. And while this commercial culture is a huge part of entertainment in America, I can't help to think that it's becoming a larger and larger part.

This year has been the one to showcase the creeping times of "Black Friday." Our need to consume has started encroaching on the holiday that has been reserved for family and thanks. K-Mart opened it's door Thanksgiving morning, selling out of some of the biggest deals by the time I woke up this morning. Others are opening at 8, which, doesn't seem that bad, as it still gives families time to have their feast and spend time together. However, if workers need to be at the store by 5 or 6 to set up, they have to start getting ready around 3 for work, which completely kills any chance they might have of having a relaxing day with their family. The majority of stores open at midnight, which is still earlier than the previous years' opening times of 2am or 3.

How early are these times going to be pushed up? Will it get to a point where this peaceful holiday is obliterated for the more stressful Christmas season? I hope not.

'Tis the season to...take camera twenty-two?!

Since 1924, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a part of many families’ holiday traditions, and in my household, it’s no different. For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has always started off with the parade on TV at around nine in the morning and continued on until about midday, when more people would be in the house, preparing food and chatting and occasionally watching the program. It’s a comfortable memory that repeats itself annually, but this year, I can already feel the Parkie in my brain taking over.

I’ve never really thought about it before, but a lot of effort must go into producing this yearly piece. Between performers, floats, balloons, and the crowd, there are billions of things that could be focused on at once, and each also holds the potential to completely malfunction and throw off the plan of the day. In making live television, there’s no telling what will happen, so the people behind the parade broadcast must have some way of dealing with such a high-stress situation.

With a little help from everyone’s best friend, Google, I’ve come to find out some of the tricks of NBC-TV’s production when it comes to the Macy’s Parade. Over the span of a two and a half mile parade route, twenty-two cameras are stationed, including steadicam and helicopter mounts, with audio reception set up at each. Over two hundred crew members work on location for the big show, and are also required to rehearse both with and without talent for days before the event (these workers are legitimately doing run-throughs and checks up until fifteen minutes before the start of the show). Planning for the parade starts approximately three months in advance, which includes things from organizing the performers to pre-production for the broadcast. When it’s actually go time, the program is live switched in NBC’s New York HQ, with cameras and audio routed through the AMV truck.

The first hour of the parade focuses on the starting point and utilizes the cameras there, with occasional cuts back to hosts in a booth. The next two hours are more focused on the live performances farther down the parade route by Broadway groups, dancers, and marching bands, which go up until the end of the show, at which time Santa reaches his final destination in Herald Square (where, of course, cameras are waiting).

Knowing all of this, I’m probably going to watch the parade a little differently this time around, and will most likely keep a running commentary on what happens behind the scenes to family members who want to find out what kinds of things I’ve learned in school. At some point or another, I can assume I’ll be asked by a cousin to shut up for a poppy musical number, but until then, I’ll be calling shots as if someone at a switcher can actually hear me.

Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone, and enjoy break!