David Earl may not be a household name in TV sports as he prefers to work behind the scenes but in over 30 years creating incredible camera images for viewers, the Englishman has been recognized for his innovative genius by the likes of Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, motorcycle racer Randy Mamola, the late Formula 1 racer Ayrton Senna, Scottish Formula 1 legend Jackie Stewart, jockey Richard Pitman, former Rothmans promotions guru Sean Roberts and Fox Sports founding executive David Hill.
Earl, 67, is in town for the holidays with his Filipina-Spanish wife Isabel Picornell. It’s only his second trip to Manila and he raves about the warmth of Filipino hospitality. Last night, he watched Game 1 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals between GlobalPort and Alaska at the MOA Arena and was impressed with the high level of competition. Earl enjoys sports and is enthused at the thought of producing images to showcase the quality of play.
“The potential of specialized cameras is limitless,” said Earl who lives in Alderney, an island in the English Channel about eight miles from France. “When we introduced on-board cameras in endurance racing in the mid-1980s, we were working with 25 kilo systems. Today, we can equip athletes with chips that can transmit images to enhance the viewers’ appreciation of a live telecast. Technology has brought us to a whole new level.”
Earl said there are certain sports more adaptable to innovative camera suiting than others. In a study, he has rated various sports in terms of adaptability. Car and motorcycle racing would be up the ladder. Hockey and American football would also be at the top of the list because the players wear helmets and body armor that may be strapped with chips or GoPro cam-corders. Boxing would be a low priority as only referees could be fitted, not fighters unless they wear headgear. Basketball would be interesting to explore but players may not be comfortable with contraptions.
Earl was indirectly involved in introducing GoPro cameras attached to helmets of six players from the National Hockey League (NHL) for a demonstration video. Earl said the images on the video are mind-blowing. GoPro cameras strapped to players were used for the NHL Skills Competition and All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio, last season. This year, Earl was brought to Barcelona to be interviewed for a mini-documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of employing on-board camera technology in MotoGP. Earl equipped Mamola’s motorcycle with a camera system for a competition in Assen, Holland, in 1985. Mamola won the race without ever being headed.
Earl’s experience in TV sports as an engineer goes back to endurance racing when Roberts, working for Rothmans, tapped him to design an on-board camera system. Earl, who has an academic background in advertising and marketing, was a provider of mobile hospitality tents for events at the time. Roberts thought of the possibility of an on-board camera system when he chanced upon Earl putting up video monitors in mobile hospitality tents.
Earl’s success in endurance racing led to his involvement with Pitman whom he strapped with a camera for a video that was shown before a big horse race. He was later invited to equip two Formula 1 teams with on-board systems at the Adelaide Grand Prix in 1986. Earl eventually met up with Hill, an Australian with an equally creative and imaginative mind. Hill took Earl to work at the America’s Cup in Perth.
“I’m basically a trouble-shooter, a jack of all trades,” said Earl. “I like to fix things. I was actually a dreadful student. I went off to work in my teens but did two days a week of school. My father was in advertising so that’s what I took up. Once, I was even a roadie for an Australian pop band called New World. When Sean asked me to develop an on-board camera system for endurance racing, I was given a six-month deadline. I built something up using available camera equipment and got an anti-vibration bracket from an aviation parts company to make it work.”
Earl’s glowing reputation as an innovator led to friendships with high-profile sports figures. His favorite Formula 1 racer was Senna. He also became acquainted with Stewart who commissioned him to build a mobile office. Ecclestone, 85, continues to send him Christmas cards.
Earl’s association with music and endurance racing brought him to co-produce a 1986 26-minute documentary on Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason’s love affair with the track. The film was entitled “Life Could Be A Dream.” Earl was responsible for the camera mounts on the Porsche 956 test car that Mason drove during an endurance race in Toronto. By the way, the band that Earl worked with had four top 20 UK hits in the 1970s. New World’s biggest hit was “Tom Tom Turnaround” which went to No. 6 in the UK charts in 1971.
A few years ago, Earl was contracted by Madison Square Garden to submit a feasibility study on a system that would enhance the spectators’ in-venue experience. “That was the age before tablets and i-phones,” he said. “I conceptualized a system where spectators could rent a device something like a tablet that would show different live angles of the action of the game in progress.” Earl has also been consulted by host broadcasters for events like the Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games.
Earl’s expertise in camera work has opened opportunities to land contracts in security and surveillance. But his eyes light up when he talks about enhancing images for sports on TV to bring fans closer to the action because there are virtually no limits to imagining what can be captured on camera. Earl’s passion is vividly portraying the beauty of sports with camera angles that are unconventional, exciting and dramatic.