“Hello again from HOYS 2011. As blog writing locations go, this has got to be an all time best. Perched high up in the grandstands of the massive HOYS arena, typing away and watching Bob Ellis’ new feature class, the Five Fence Challenge. Certainly beats my spidery old office at Hickstead!

New class scores well with the crowd

What a class it was… New to HOYS this year, it proved a massive hit with the crowd. Set over a (sizeable in the first place!) course of five fences, it’s basically a puissance top score. Each fence carries points and you are knocked out instantly if you have one down. The fences are made higher and wider after every round, and we’ve just gone in to the final round with fences going up to 1.75m!

The Derby bank in 3D?

The highlight of the show for me so far has to be ensconcing myself in the SKY OB trucks checking out show jumping in 3D for the first time. It is quite extraordinary it has to be said. There are 2D screens in the truck too alongside the 3D ones, and it’s particularly interesting to look at them side by side and see the difference. Crucially 3D suddenly allows people at home to get an impression of the enormity of the fences as suddenly in 3D you can see how wide they are. It’s also much easier to see how big the fences are in relation to the horses - in some cases actually bigger than them - and quite the lift they achieve off the floor to clear them. I am positively bursting with excitement at the prospect of seeing the Derby bank descended in 3D!

I am not particularly scientifically or mathematically minded, it has to be said, but it was very interesting when one of the lovely directors Phil described to me the challenges of working in 3D. Exhilarating sport is captured and produced through precise camera work and creative direction, and in 2D the challenge is to cut from camera to camera whilst maintaining and overall impression of the course as a whole.

When directing in 3D, the trick is not to cut away but to let the action come to the camera and, literally, jump out of the screen. As this is the first time they’ve covered the sport in 3D too they were faced with unexpected challenges such as the timing graphics looking like they were in the middle of the jumps, a problem they don’t experience with the flat pitches and greens of football, rugby and golf! A member of Phil’s team was immediately set the task of pulling the graphics further forward on the z axis. Mind boggling!

Arachnaphobia alert

Regular readers will recall what a bunch of pranksters the Sky crews are and after I’d marveled at the amazing jumping coverage they insisted on showing me the official SKY 3D promo so I could appreciate its amazingness. All of them knowing what a massive arachnophobe I am, there were hoots of laughter when I nearly fell backwards out of the truck in fright and plunged to an embarrassing death (or broken arm at least) when a MASSIVE 3D spider crawled out of the screen at me. Eurgh.

A special mention for John...

Ooh how exciting, William has just shared the top prize in the Five Fence Challenge with Dutch rider Cindy Van Der Straten. It’s William’s wife Pippa’s birthday today so legendary commentator Nick Brooks-Ward is at presence teasing William over the loud speaker about buying Pip a nice present. The tradestand owners are getting very excited.

I must go, as the Pony Club are about to come in and do their mounted games, and a friend of mine’s little sister is in it, so I promised to cheer my absolute loudest. I can’t end the blog though without a special mention of my brother John. Winning the prize of being the most 44 going on three-year-old member of the family, who really was rather upset that he wasn’t mentioned in yesterday’s blog. Say I, ‘John, I was really thinking about those members of the family who are here in a work capacity, that’s why I didn’t mention you,’ to which he replies with quivering Just-William-Style lower lip, ‘I am working, I’m NETworking!’ “

Daisy