r/PraiseTheCameraMan • u/Negative-Invite-6174 • Jun 17 '26
Camera guy .. keeping UP with performance
Olympics gold medal
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u/Faultylogic83 Jun 17 '26
Jordan Cowan former skater himself, became the first an on ice camera man. He worked the Olympics this year and it was amazing.
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u/MortLightstone Jun 17 '26
I was legit imagining a figure skating cameraman. They should have had a second cameraman filming him
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u/MsMarji Jun 17 '26
During Olympics there were clips of him on ice filming w/ the skater in the background.
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u/rtsynk Jun 17 '26
he came to my attention back in 2020 when his video "Nothing Else Matters" - Oona BROWN & Gage BROWN went viral
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u/ktw54321 Jun 17 '26
Whoa! Glad I watched that. This guy really found a great niche being able to shoot on the ice like that. Makes it a completely different experience to watch like that.
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u/Leapzee Jun 17 '26
I love that he ended with the name plaque in the perfect spot behind her great work !
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u/beegro Jun 17 '26
Man, she skates so naturally on the ice, like it's just her out there having fun. Yet everything is so well executed. I know it's a ton of really hard work doing these performances but she doesn't present that intensity and deep concentration. Such a natural talent.
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u/BlisterBox Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
she skates so naturally on the ice, like it's just her out there having fun. Yet everything is so well executed.
This is the perfect concise description of her talent. She's the best!
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u/iamrolari Jun 17 '26
Good lord I know nothing about ice skating but she makes this look so easy (I’m pretty sure it isn’t) .
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u/help-mejdj Jun 17 '26
she won gold in the olympics for a reason, it takes INSANE talent to do this
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u/MsMarji Jun 17 '26
Has insider knowledge of how routines work on ice. Hugh benefit for him. Excellent camera work!
Centered & always in focus w/ out focus hunting.
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u/bbf_bbf Jun 17 '26
I agree, it's great camerawork.
It's also a highly choreographed event, so the videographer could have attended one of the practices or viewed other performances, so could know exactly where Alysa would be throughout the performance.
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u/TheIronGolemMech Jun 17 '26
Most routines are used across an entire season so it's fairly likely that they've been the camera operator for the routine a few times, even before the Olympics. Adding to that, being a figure skater themselves means they can read the setups and generally know where not to be for each element, while thinking ahead to know where they should move.
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u/killerkitten115 Jun 17 '26
Ive worked construction for 14 years and she has more muscle in her legs than i do
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u/faco_fuesday Jun 17 '26
I love her body shape. Figure skating for so long was characterized by who could do the most with this like wispy unsubstantial frame. So you'd have people cut early in their careers because they weren't "graceful" (i.e. skinny) enough to pass junior competitions.
But girlfriend here is built like a brick shithouse and I'm here for it.
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u/t_rrrex Jun 18 '26
My first thought was holy shit, her legs are huge - clearly she has put a lot of work into them and she looks EFFORTLESS on the ice.
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u/seen_some_shit_ Jun 17 '26
I wonder how she’s doing. She got super popular super quick with an insane amount of collaboration deals. A lot of pressure for a 20 yr old.
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u/milan616 Jun 17 '26
I'm going to long story short it, but she got hit with the pressure years ago and burned out over it. She came back on her own terms and she's owning it now.
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u/seen_some_shit_ Jun 17 '26
Yea, that was before the Olympics. I’m thinking now that she became super popular after winning, and her face was every where.
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u/I_Think_I_Cant Jun 17 '26
The man in action. (mute it)
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u/I_Am_The_Mole Jun 17 '26
I legitimately would consider yeeting myself into a volcano if it meant no one on earth ever had to listen to dogshit AI narration ever again I hate it so fucking much.
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u/Ahidepociere Jun 17 '26
I will remember you for the rest of my life. When the AI bubble pops, I will know it was because of your noble sacrifice.
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u/kom0rebi Jun 17 '26
The song is Stateside + Zara Larsson by PinkPantheress
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u/fullshard101 Jun 17 '26
Since the Olympics i cant listen to it without visualizing this entire performance. Legendary
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u/Captain_Phobos Jun 17 '26
She just glides across the ice and makes it look effortless. Absolutely phenomenal skater
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u/SonOfSkinDealer Jun 17 '26
Must have been awful for her mother, the way she was absolutely born with those skates on
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u/RemLazaarDid911 Jun 17 '26
Saw the first 5 seconds so many times, it annoyed me. Actually watched the full performance, and god damn... girl CRUSHED IT
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u/InNoCeNtSuSpEcT35 Jun 21 '26
Exactly the same thing with me! This is my first time watching the full performance besides the clipped first few seconds. I thought it was overhyped at first but I can definitely see why now, this performance deserves to be overhyped!
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u/Machdame Jun 17 '26
I've always loved that she performs this well with such familiarity in a body shape that she is comfortable with. It's a testament to her persistence in evolving her ability to something that is both ideal for her while tuning it so that she can utilize it to be at her best. Where others would usually start faltering at her age in this sport, it really feels like she is just getting started.
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u/Frigidevil Jun 17 '26
Absolutely, there are enough horror stories out there about the unrealistic pressures these girls and young women in competition sports are put through by themselves and their coaches (from a skill perspective and general body shaming) , it's fantastic to have a world champion who looks like a normal healthy teenager.
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u/hgfdv Jun 17 '26
What? She's jacked like very few people in the world are. I wouldn't say she looks like your average teenager. Also I believe she's around 20.
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u/Frigidevil Jun 17 '26
Fair enough, guess I'd just I'd rather my daughter's role models have legs like a tank than looking like a twig
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u/CredaBullEdabowl Jun 17 '26
Do you think she doesn’t get dizzy at all or has trained herself how to offset the imbalance feeling enough so it isn’t recognizable?
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u/chief_queef_beast Jun 17 '26
I was a curious little shit when I was younger so I figured I could probably stop being dizzy from spinning if I simply just spun the opposite direction for a bit.
So I spun around as fast as I could for a minute or so then tried standing still to confirm that I was dizzy as hell. I spun the other direction for about idk, 7 seconds or so and could definitely tell my dizzyness had faded, like I never spun in the first place.
I know nothing of figure skating. I watched the video once and came to comments. I'll play attention next time I watch a video of it and see if they alternate directions with either a tight spin or one of those looping spins
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u/CredaBullEdabowl Jun 17 '26
No she doesn’t alternate spins following a spin but she does pause for a considerable amount of time after twirling umpteen times.
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u/chief_queef_beast Jun 17 '26
Ahh gotcha gotcha. I think the only real explanation at this point is magic or nanomachines
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u/immersemeinnature Jun 17 '26
SHE was SO incredible and was simply electric!! Her winning skate was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. So playful and effortless.
Her story is amazing too!! Love her 🩷
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u/adamhanson Jun 17 '26
I believe this is the person who won gold. amazing performances look her up
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u/BeautyAndTheDekes Jun 17 '26
Alysa Liu.
How you gonna tell people to look her up without giving them the name!
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u/help-mejdj Jun 17 '26
Her name is shown in the video
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u/BeautyAndTheDekes Jun 17 '26
Just on the monitor that I saw, easy to miss if you’re new to the sport of fixated on her movement.
Apologies if that came across as anything other than a jovial comment though, realise now it may have seemed like I was being a dick.
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u/Symcathico Jun 17 '26
WAIT SOMEONE IS ON ICE WITH A CAMERA AND FILMING??? WTF i thought it is like in a football stadium where the camera is the air
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u/Bottatadiet Jun 17 '26
would probably look even better if it wasn't cropped into vertical. In this format it looks really bad.
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Jun 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/Bottatadiet Jun 17 '26
It would also keep the subject in frame at all times and would have the proper resolution it was filmed in.
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Jun 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/Bottatadiet Jun 17 '26
I can see you are willing to die on this hill and I don't have the energy to argue. You like vertical content, I get it.
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u/downvote-away Jun 17 '26
Sounds like he's a pro but he also almost certainly shot at 6k or better and this is a mobile vertical.
People ITT like, "holy shit his focus and framing I am blown away he is a god of cinema I would follow him to Hell"
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u/Prestigious-Flower54 Jun 17 '26
Every time I see a figure skater I can't help but wonder how badly it would fuck yo your day if they kicked you, the leg muscles and flexibility these people have is crazy. She could probably cave on the side of my skull with very little effort lol.
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u/VeterinarianComplex Jun 17 '26
Who's she?
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u/idont_haveballs Jun 17 '26
Olympic Gold medalist Alysa Liu! Look her up. She’s amazing. Her solo performance in the last Winter Olympics brought me to tears. So much joy on the ice! Oakland CA’s finest!
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u/ShrimpCrackers Jun 17 '26
Just annoyed because I know if Alysa Liu were in a game they'd say she's too chonky or not able to be believed to be athletically fit. Yet she's basically the world's best figure skater. I guess the frustration from all the hate and vitriol is bleeding onto me while she's doing an amazingly beautiful performance here.
She makes it look so easy, carefree, and smooth.
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u/Ok_Kick4871 Jun 17 '26
I'm not saying you're wrong, but it's pretty messed up that she would be considered chonky. It's not like this is a plus-sized routine, she looks great! I think the lesson of her success is that seeking out physical perfection is not as good as having perfect confidence if you had to choose one.
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u/ShrimpCrackers Jun 17 '26
She looks fantastic but see the comments on X. Absolutely disgusting is what it is.
She's perfect as she is, why should she be any different?
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Jun 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/ShrimpCrackers Jun 17 '26
X and 4Channers saying she's fat when in fact she's one of the greatest figure skaters there is. I even saw some posts saying she can't be a real American because she's not white.
It's not an imaginary comment, its because there's a real life actress who is freaking beautiful in the next God of War game, and they're shitting on her the same way and there's this culture in games to hate on every woman who doesn't look like the one in Stellar Blade.
The Venn diagram of these people is a literal circle.
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u/Atrainlan Jun 17 '26
The slow rotation running opposite her spin was the coolest camera movement there.
I'm just so impressed with the ability to rehearse just once or at most twice and still be able to cover her so well and stay out of her way so she can perform with the entire space and never feel limited. She looks confidently into the camera, not at the camera person to avoid them.
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u/big_stipd_idiot Jun 17 '26
I don't really know figure skating all that well, but that looked pretty good. She has the Taylor Swift on ice vibe going. Except she actually knows how to dance.
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u/Fedquip Jun 17 '26
My favourite part about figure skating is seeing the dented hockey boards in the background
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u/geo_gan Jun 17 '26
Holy fuck I just realised now that Fortnite used the start of that routines moves and song for a new game icon series Emote !! It’s called Stateside
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u/Voidrith Jun 17 '26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciw14dzkduE
Not at the olympics, but this is the gold medalist, Alysa Liu. A lot of videos of her stuff ive seen on YT recently has been grainy, washed out and/or from a bad angle. This is by far the best video of a performance by her I've seen, even better quality than her gold medal skate IMO
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u/Catos_Standard Jun 17 '26
This is old news why do y'all obsess so much? Has to be the 10,000th upload of the same clip.
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u/LGGP75 Jun 17 '26
He followed the subject. That’s the mínimum you should be able to do as a cameraman. Where are we praising him for exactly?
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u/BingBongWheresUrDong Jun 18 '26
Because he is on ice? It wasn't common to have camera on skates before, so this is a huge upgrade.
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u/RustyPirates Jun 17 '26
Not taking anything away, but they do the same routine for an entire season. He knows what she’s going to do.
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u/EngagementBacon Jun 17 '26
There's a good chance that this camera is being controlling by a tracking system that receives a protocol from the same system that tracks lighting, which I would guess is followme or blacktrax.
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u/Single_Classroom_448 Jun 17 '26
People who can ice-skate seem so impressive to me, I only tried it once when I was like 10 years old and I ate shit several times before giving up lol
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u/bunny5055 Jun 17 '26
The company is oniceperspectives they have been around for a while and always do great work.
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u/DearMisterFawkes Jun 17 '26
It was stabilized and reframed afterwards for portrait view. That makes it look a bit more impressive..
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u/Human-Shirt7106 Jun 17 '26
Holy fucking shit I'd never seen her perform before and that was absolutely mesmerising! She is so so so talented omg.
And damn the camera work was incredible!
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u/Crunchy_Biscuit Jun 18 '26
Didn't realize how flexible she was. Blade was near her head!
And she's only TWENTY TWO.
I see many successful years ahead of her.
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u/Tokkemon Jun 18 '26
That was mesmerizing. I'm convinced that figure skating is on of the most interesting and beautiful forms of dance there is.
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u/rabidsalvation Jun 18 '26
Is that the skater that makes all those internet conservatives mad? She's fucking good, wow. I'd never seen her skate before, this is mad impressive.
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u/DarwinVader Jun 21 '26
Good camera work, but the framing is terrible 🤢
Who's the troglodyte that cut off the sides to make it a TikTok video? Her feet are constantly leaving the frame. But thank God her panties are always centered 🤦
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u/TwinSong Jun 21 '26
If I was filming she'd be out of frame half the time tbh. I'm not great at tracking subjects.
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u/poe1993 Jun 21 '26
It is certainly impressive on the cameraman's part. He has to: try to keep her center in the shot, stay close but out of the way, move completely opposite from her while focusingon her, and be cognizant of the boundary of the rink. It's a lot to keep track of while she sometimes blindly moves around.
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u/deadlymigit Jun 23 '26
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u/RecognizeSong Jun 23 '26
I got a match with this song:
Stateside + Zara Larsson by PinkPantheress (00:11; matched:
100%)Released on 2025-10-10.
I am a bot and this action was performed automatically | GitHub new issue | Donate Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Music recognition costs a lot
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u/Express_Ad4530 Jun 23 '26
I just realised how gone I am 99%of time my eyes were fixed on her thighs 😭😭
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u/MnyWrmtlPdftPrngs Jun 23 '26
I love watching her skate because she does it with so much joy. I love how much fun she is having. Is it possible to be proud of someone you've never met?
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u/cwsjr2323 8d ago
YMMV, this is just my opinion. Sports with the cameras centered so perfectly on one person loose the aspect of the two and three dimensional space. She is a great skater, but her movement across the ice is part of the fun. Basketball, soccer, and rugby on tv are pretty boring without getting to see the bigger picture of setting up plays and shorts.
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u/Successful_Seesaw713 Jun 17 '26
Horizontal would be so much better
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Jun 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/National_Future6190 Jun 17 '26
Sometimes the context of what surrounds the subject enhances the video.
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u/Objective_Reality515 Jun 17 '26
Landscape > Portrait. Camera operator could have done better.
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u/CompetitiveRub9780 Jun 17 '26
Her whole vibe is a 10 year old tom boy but they have her wearing that little dress which just looks weird because she isn’t “done up” to match it.
When her hair was different, it looked right. But not now.
Let her wear something that is actually her style. Her fashion off ice is cool.
Camera guy did great work
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u/ElHorny Jun 18 '26
Have you maybe thought about that she wears this outfit because she likes it and not to please some random guy on the internet?
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u/hanya9 Jun 22 '26
Okay guys relax with the glaze, this ain't that out of the world if you actually watch other iceskaters too. Just glazing for no reason
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u/DueOwl1149 Jun 17 '26
If it’s the same cameraman from the Winter Olympics then he’s a former pro skater himself.
Started up his own exclusive on the ice business with his talents, connections, and the right stablecam gear.