Live Sports Production Catch All

smokin joe wood

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Jul 19, 2005
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A good time of year to start a thread about live sports production. Super Bowl, March Madness and the playoffs all bring out the best in the business. Innovation, experimentation and thousands of hours of coverage.

I love discussing the coverage of live sporting events with passionate fans and SoSH always delivers.

So this is the place to kvetch about camera angles, why one network shows certain replays and others don't, sabermetrics usage/implementation, and in-game coach interviews.

A little background: I'm a producer that covers mainly collegiate athletics - basketball, football, lacrosse and baseball for ESPN, CBS Sports Network and the NCAA among others.

Hopefully I can answer some of your questions and learn what you people really want to see.
 

Harry Hooper

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Can we ever get to not showing the runner (already in scoring position at the time of the pitch) touching the plate on a double to the gap while failing to show the outfielder's throw trying to nab a runner at 2B or 3B?
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
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Dec 4, 2009
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I have always wondered, how do the cameras always capture the craziest/dumbest people. Do you have a crowd spotter who's only purpose is to find those crazy people in the crowd so that the cameraman can focus on them? Or does the camera man have to find them on their own?
 

Mugsy's Jock

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The coverage from the Blade of the Pats/Chiefs game seemed uncommonly tight to the action -- not a nice wide shot to give perspective on how plays are unfolding. And a lot of the kickoff and punt coverage was shot with the ridiculous perspective from behind the kicker/punter -- making it impossible to know how far the returner was matriculating up the field.

My guess is/was that maybe fog prevented CBS from using their normal high/middle positions (especially during the first half), but I'm pretty much making that up. Possibly they were just being morons. Any other hypotheses?
 

Harry Hooper

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The coverage from the Blade of the Pats/Chiefs game seemed uncommonly tight to the action -- not a nice wide shot to give perspective on how plays are unfolding. And a lot of the kickoff and punt coverage was shot with the ridiculous perspective from behind the kicker/punter -- making it impossible to know how far the returner was matriculating up the field.

My guess is/was that maybe fog prevented CBS from using their normal high/middle positions (especially during the first half), but I'm pretty much making that up. Possibly they were just being morons. Any other hypotheses?
Yeah, the producer was an idiot who kept cutting to "reaction" shots of Brady and Gronk on the bench while the Pats D was engaged. Those 2 weren't even watching the field much of the time for these.
 

smokin joe wood

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Jul 19, 2005
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Can we ever get to not showing the runner (already in scoring position at the time of the pitch) touching the plate on a double to the gap while failing to show the outfielder's throw trying to nab a runner at 2B or 3B?
Ha. I tell directors a similar thing. Everyone knows what it looks like when someone crosses the plate! I was taught that you should direct the game like you would watch it in the stands. I would probably glance at the second runner scoring and then go back to the ball being fielded in the gap. So that is likely how I would cut it. If a throw to third or the plate is coming, a cut to the runner builds drama for the viewer, i.e. a 'rounding third' call by the announcer with a corresponding cut.

Baseball is a director's sport so each individual director's style has a larger imprint on the broadcast. Most MLB directors tend to be a little older so a change in how they cut such a chaotic sequence is likely to remain the same. You go back to what got you there.
 

Warning Track Speed

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Jul 20, 2005
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Did it seem like there was excessive use of skycam in the Seattle/Carolina game? Maybe Fox always does that but it sure seemed more prominent to me in that game. Some interesting shots but at times it was a little much on the big screen.
 

jtn46

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I have always wondered, how do the cameras always capture the craziest/dumbest people. Do you have a crowd spotter who's only purpose is to find those crazy people in the crowd so that the cameraman can focus on them? Or does the camera man have to find them on their own?
The cameramen are scanning the crowd looking for crowd shots and sometimes a producer sees a crazy and decides to put said crazy on the air. Usually when a game is in commercial they're scanning the crowd for a shot to come back with.
Did it seem like there was excessive use of skycam in the Seattle/Carolina game? Maybe Fox always does that but it sure seemed more prominent to me in that game. Some interesting shots but at times it was a little much on the big screen.
Sometimes it's an artistic choice, and sometimes what happens is the "normal" wide shot is unavailable for a variety of reasons, usually that the lens is dirty/wet or there's an obstruction (like someone in the crowd holding a huge sign) so productions have to use another shot.
 

smokin joe wood

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I have to say, the production of lacrosse on ESPN is absolutely fantastic.
Thanks! I think I have 12-15 games for ESPN this Spring. It is easily one of my favorite sports to produce. They don't overload the shows with promos/sponsors and you can just show the game.

Cameramen shoot dumb people because they're typically easy to spot and it can be amusing. The percentage of people on their phones or not into the games is pretty high. The small percentage of die hards in face paint will always make air. If you think the stuff they show is crazy, you should see the things that happen at a sporting event that don't make air.

I've never been on a show with a SkyCam so I can't really speak much to its usage. It costs a crazy amount of money to rent/setup/operate so I'm sure there is pressure to use it.
 

GeorgeCostanza

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May 16, 2009
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The coverage from the Blade of the Pats/Chiefs game seemed uncommonly tight to the action -- not a nice wide shot to give perspective on how plays are unfolding. And a lot of the kickoff and punt coverage was shot with the ridiculous perspective from behind the kicker/punter -- making it impossible to know how far the returner was matriculating up the field.

My guess is/was that maybe fog prevented CBS from using their normal high/middle positions (especially during the first half), but I'm pretty much making that up. Possibly they were just being morons. Any other hypotheses?
I thought CBS was especially guilty of doing this in all the games I watched from about week 12 on. Not sure why it ever started but it really takes away from the game. I would go from watching the early game on CBS to the later games on fox and wonder why the hell the field suddenly looks so much bigger.
 

tonyandpals

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The coverage from the Blade of the Pats/Chiefs game seemed uncommonly tight to the action -- not a nice wide shot to give perspective on how plays are unfolding. And a lot of the kickoff and punt coverage was shot with the ridiculous perspective from behind the kicker/punter -- making it impossible to know how far the returner was matriculating up the field.

My guess is/was that maybe fog prevented CBS from using their normal high/middle positions (especially during the first half), but I'm pretty much making that up. Possibly they were just being morons. Any other hypotheses?
I noticed that as well. My god was that annoying. It was only between the 30s though which made me think something was going on preventing them from using the usual shot from those positions. Or, they thought it was a good idea to switch it up while at midfield. Whatever the reason, it was horrible.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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During football games is there an edict for not showing every no-call? By this I mean that it seems like sometimes there will be a contested pass play and it looks like there may have been pass interference, but we never see a replay of the play. I noticed this most recently during the first quarter yesterday when it looked like Gronk was held on a third down play, but CBS never showed a replay. I understand there are close calls on every play, so is it because it would be monotonous to show potential contact plays all the time?
 

smokin joe wood

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During football games is there an edict for not showing every no-call? By this I mean that it seems like sometimes there will be a contested pass play and it looks like there may have been pass interference, but we never see a replay of the play. I noticed this most recently during the first quarter yesterday when it looked like Gronk was held on a third down play, but CBS never showed a replay. I understand there are close calls on every play, so is it because it would be monotonous to show potential contact plays all the time?
ESPN has put an emphasis on not replaying everything. Not sure about CBS in their football coverage. In football, there's always a decision on a bang-bang call in a close game. Normally, on a third down, you can get to multiple replays because you can cut it close getting to punt coverage. With that said, I don't know any producer that would turn down a definitive look at a bad call.
 

jtn46

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The other thing with replays is often broadcasters are up against a "break zone" (basically, the time on the game clock determines that on the next whistle/clock stop, it's time to go to commercial) and the referees know how long the TV timeouts are, so the production would much rather take the break ASAP than run a replay and risk missing game action after the break is over (when I did baseball missing a pitch was considered a major fuck-up). The broadcast has no control over how long breaks are once the game has started, really the TV timeouts are extremely standard across a sport and don't change until the playoffs when the TV timeouts get a little longer and possibly when breaks are added.

Another factor with Patriots games in particular is that they run no-huddle a lot, and if they're running no-huddle there isn't much time to fit for replays.
 

Merkle's Boner

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As a producer, do you attempt to inject advanced metrics into the minds of the announcers? Do you ever bring up an interesting statistic that shows a certain player to be more, or less, valuable than he is perceived?
 

jon abbey

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Jul 15, 2005
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It seems like the bigger the game, the more cameras are there, and hence the more overdirecting we get. It drives me nuts when every breakaway in a NBA game has to be shown from behind the basket, it's distracting and cuts into the enjoyment of some of the most exciting plays of the game. Save the funky angles for replay and let us watch the game live, and never change the perspective so drastically mid-play. End mini-rant.
 

Rod Becks Mullet

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Another factor with Patriots games in particular is that they run no-huddle a lot, and if they're running no-huddle there isn't much time to fit for replays.
Unfortunately for crews, this has become the norm in the NFL. There are a number of teams - Patriots and Eagles being the most difficult to deal with - that are at the line so fast that tv needs to be back and ready to play quicker than they would for others. It means missing opportunities to get production elements done out of a commercial (such as a tape package of a player or game trend, or a graphic) plus also less chances to show replays between plays. Some officials are better at helping control the timing out of a break, but there's nothing that can be done in game about it.
 

smokin joe wood

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As a producer, do you attempt to inject advanced metrics into the minds of the announcers? Do you ever bring up an interesting statistic that shows a certain player to be more, or less, valuable than he is perceived?
This is a touchy subject for the folks in my office. My bosses are old enough (late 30s) to be old school about advanced statistics. They think every advanced stat needs to be explained by the announcer. That's kind of the FOX model. I'm a believer that if you pop a stat that a viewer doesn't know, that viewer will simply ignore it and move on. More of the CBS model.

You do need SOME buy in from the announcers and it isn't always easy. Most former coaches are decent about advanced metrics because they're a part of the game now. Older play-by-play guys can struggle and it can undermine the effect of the graphic. Example: I worked with Dr. Jerry Punch the other night and he isn't going to get into defensive efficiency or rebounding percentage. That won't stop me from using those stats out of the score bug but it may slow me down if I'm going to build a full screen graphic to discuss the value of a player/team with advanced metrics.

One of the most difficult aspects of working in advanced metrics as a storyline: Most in-game stat programs don't calculate them and it becomes cumbersome to do a bunch of math to follow up on the storyline. Most games on TV don't have an army of researchers. There is someone for talent stats and someone for official stats. That's it.
 

smokin joe wood

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Jul 19, 2005
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It seems like the bigger the game, the more cameras are there, and hence the more overdirecting we get. It drives me nuts when every breakaway in a NBA game has to be shown from behind the basket, it's distracting and cuts into the enjoyment of some of the most exciting plays of the game. Save the funky angles for replay and let us watch the game live, and never change the perspective so drastically mid-play. End mini-rant.
Directing is more art than science. I understand where you're coming from but big games always bring new tech and if it isn't used someone up the food chain will ask why it was paid for in the first place.
CBS actually asks their directors to cut 'low' on breakaways. Next month watch the NCAA tournament and almost every uncontested breakaway dunk will be cut the same way.
 

h8mfy

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Jul 15, 2005
336
Orange County, CA
Question for those on the production side: what is the perspective on advanced video quality (4k, HDR) in terms of adding customer value relative to increased production cost? How quickly do you see it being a widely adopted norm (putting aside the evolving standards issue)?

On my end of the chain (delivery of cable solutions to MSO customers) we are being pressed to support it (before MLB opening day) but I am not sure how imminently the content will be available widely.