The Verge: It's 90 minutes to game time in Foxboro, Massachusetts, and Troy Aikman's not speaking to anyone.
Around him, a dozen or so crew members, assistants, and friends chatter as they finish last-minute preparations, making sure Gillette Stadium is ready for football. They're testing cables and video feeds, rechecking stats, and setting up the fabric "NFL on FOX" backdrop that will turn this bland, gray, carpeted room into the tiny booth millions will soon see on TV.
16 comments:
This is absolutely fascinating! I have always been raised around football and have known that a lot of work goes into the technical aspect of presenting it to the audience at home. However, this article has really opened my eyes to some of the coolest things I have seen in a long time. I loved hearing about the artistic aspects of their jobs. For years, I used to think that football was brainless and lacked art. This video proved me wrong. I think that I have a new appreciation for this particular sport now and how they work and their approach to their work.
What a fascinating read! While I still agree with Tim's assessment of football as sometimes being a "brainless" sport, one has to admit there's a lot of entertainment value in it. As the article states, for a three hour broadcast of a game, there might be 11 minute of actual action. Therefore the fact that viewers still tune in for all three hours speaks to the strength of Fox Sports, ESPN, and other broadcasters as storytellers. They really do craft the event into a story they can only tell live. They do back research, they plan camera angles for the given stadium/arena, they know what they might be watching for and how to find the emotion in it. Because ultimately, that's what the audience latche on too not the pass itself but the touchdown dance and the coach's reaction. It's about creating entertainment which some might say devalues the sport, but I just see it as making a universal story out of something we all appreciate.
I have always been a fan of football on Sundays, to me it is even cooler now to see that there is so much preparation put into every Sunday. There is so much that goes into what we watch on TV and I always knew that it was a lot of work but this article really made it a solid concept that these people put a ton of work into football on Sundays. I personally will appreciate Sunday football days more then I ever have.
I've never been a big football person but this article kind of makes me want to watch a game soon just to look for some of the things mentioned here. I've always heard how intricate a football broadcast is but this really puts it in perspective. One of my favorite parts of the article was the discussion of the intense team dynamic that has grown over the years. How there is a trust and calm during the game even in intense moments because the leading individuals have developed a system to communicate quickly and clearly to each other. Just as they are in control but slightly excited as a broadcast starts, a stage manager and his/her crew waits in the same way as they get ready to complete a set of actions they are well prepared for during a show.
Wow what a cool article. I had no idea that the network crew had to breakdown and setup their entire rig each week. It is amazing how much work goes into their coverage! I suppose after all this time they have their routine down to a science, but that is still a crazy amount to do every week in just one day! I particularly was interested in the point they made about how they are not just covering the event, but "making" TV. This gives me a lot more appreciation to Sunday football!
This was an awesome article. I am a huge football fan, so it is really great to see all that goes into this spectacle. Football is such an unpredictable sport. There is so much happening at once, and it is really interesting to see how all of the action is captured and broadcasted in real time. Its also interesting to see how the technology and skills they are using changes the game itself, in terms of reviewing plays during the game more accurately.
I've done some small-scale live broadcasting, and I though that was hectic! The thing with live broadcasting is that every little thing has to be accounted for, just like it said in the article. That ends up being a lot of work when only a little of it gets used. Also, there is a significantly reduced margin of error for something going wrong. The other thing about live filming is that the crew has to expand and contract in relation to the event. Live theatre, of course is a much smaller (and slower and more predictable) event which makes things a little easier.
Being an avid football fan I've been to a number of games, and watched countless games on tv and thousands of replays on ESPN but I've never had such an appreciation for the broadcasts until now, because i just didn't know what really went into it. For this team to bring this game to millions of fans around the world is a particular feat that requires anticipation, focus, understanding, teamwork and an undying love for your job. Football is all but a "brainless" sport. Players have to memorize multiple versions of a single play for any situation that it might be used, and there are books of plays thicker than the average script. And with every play there are multiple routes and jobs that each player has to execute flawlessly or else the play falls apart, not to mention they have to remember the play calls, signals, shorthand, verbage, audibles and countless ways that a coach or quaterback or other player might alter or set a play....oh yeah, and then they have to deal with out playing the guy on the other side of the ball. And just so my rant isn't off topic, ever camera guy in that stadium, every producer, director and board op on that crew needs to be able to capture every nuance, every second of every play, every angle and every stat and replay without missing a beat.
Football is all but brainless...and so is the art of broadcasting it.
I was always intrigued by the amount of unacknowledged work that goes into the broadcasts of football games. And after reading this article even more spots and positions that I would have never thought of have popped up. Its also iterating to see how much the mixer puts into trying to deliver a first hand experience to home viewers. Football production is almost worthy to be a major in and within itself.
I really enjoyed this article presenting something not commonly thought about. Few viewers think about the viewing of a football game as an artistic or management feet. However, if anything, it should be considered even more of a difficult endeavor. In feature length films, crews have a script to work with, and somewhat controlled elements. They are commended and awarded for their vision and execution. However football is unscripted and entirely improvised. The sheer volume of media, technology and talent needed to execute a smooth show is simply immense. This article provides a great insight into this.
I'm not surprised at all to read about the work that goes into producing an NFL football game (although, yes, as everyone has said, it was fascinating to read about as it is something we are not always privy to.) It's an entertainment event, just the same as those we have made, are making, will make careers out of being a part of. Thus, I would expect that many of the challenges and rewards are the same. I also think that the players themselves probably have a similar stigma attached to them as actors do. However, when you assess the situation objectively, it's not brainlessness, it's that they are focused on different things. The performers focus on the show, or in this case on the game; it's not really their job to be focused on the other aspects. That's what we are there for. Additionally, I do wonder why nobody with a drama background ever seems to fall into technical production in the way of live sports....
This reminds me of a Cirque show Kenny Chu told me one tie. He was recollecting how everything was timed and choreographed backstage at a cirques show he was visiting and he was amazed that even the push of an elevator button was in the mix. The difference between a live football game and a televised one is definitely big and is definitely amazing. I never really thought about how much technicality and creativity goes into making football television. However, now that i am thinking about it I agree on the difference of level. I am also really curious as to how choreographed the set up is in the stadium and if it fluctuated from one to another. Is it really as choreographed as Cirque as I am imagining?
I have never really been a fan of football, but after reading this article I definitely have a new appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes at these games. I had no idea what went behind the shooting of football, and how much work and equipment it takes. It was really cool to read about the myriads of cameras and microphones that go into broadcasting a football game. I also though that the closeness of the production team was really cool, and the way that they can communicate and understand one another is great. As the article said they really are a well-oiled machine, and all of the components and people in the machine work so well together. I'm probably not going to start watching football after reading this article, but I definitely have a new appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes at these games.
This is definitely an interesting read. I have never really been a big sports fan, but this definitely shows me a new perspective into any sports broadcast. I mean, I always knew of some the things that went into it. But I never thought the crews had to do things like load in and tear down their rig every weekend! Just wow!
This is awesome. Typically, sports are thought of at the antithesis of art, but capturing something as fast-moving and unpredictable at football is truly impressive!
(^Anna Azizzy Rosati's comment!)
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