On a typical baseball telecast the Producer and the Director spend three hours making split second decisions. This aspect of our profession is what makes our jobs so exciting. Sometimes you get it right and capture the moment. Other times, you could have made a better decision and, thus, had a better result. Either way, a Producer and a Director are constantly “learning” during a baseball telecast.
The decision of replays and replay sequences is up to the discretion of the Producer.
The “live” cut of the cameras is up to the discretion of the Director. It is up to the discretion of the Producer/Director team in how to deliver to the viewer what is occurring or has occurred on the field. Most decisions are cut and dried. There is one instance in any sports telecast that causes some deliberation from the Producer/Director team in its decision making process.
How do we cover an instance where an athlete is severely injured?
The game in San Diego last night provided our TV production team with this unique circumstance. What was so amazing is that two severe injuries occurred not once, but twice in the same inning!
The first incident occurred when a batted ball struck the pitcher in the face. Each member of the crew let out a gasp. As play stopped, I took a shot of the pitcher who was sitting up and facing centerfield. The tight centerfield camera showed blood pouring down the pitcher’s face. I got off the shot and decided that it was too graphic of a shot to repeat it. I concentrated on reaction shots from players and fans and concentrated on the player who hit the ball. This player was clearly shaken up by the incident. We decided that the high home angle would be the only angle we would replay. The camera is far enough away from the mound that while showing the ball hitting the pitcher, this angle was not too graphic as to offend viewers. The tight face shots of players, umpires, and fans told the story anyway.
A few moments later, during a collision at home plate, the catcher’s ankle was severely twisted. A responsibility of the high first base camera is to be fairly tight on the home plate when there is a play at the plate. This angle clearly showed the ankle twisting in a horrible position. Indeed, we felt that the ankle was surely broken. The irony of this incident is that it involved the same player whose batted ball had struck the pitcher moments earlier.
I took shots of the catcher writhing on the ground, the medical staff rushing onto the field, and players looking on at the catcher.
During this time, our Producer contemplated not showing the replay because of its graphic nature. After a discussion, we decided to replay the tight angle but only after our play by play announcer warned the viewers that what they were about to see was very graphic.
Thankfully, capturing images such as these does not happen very frequently. But, when they do occur, these instances are examples of the few times in a TV production unit during a game that the TV production team does not have to rely on split second decisions and can make decisions after some discussion.
We should be thankful that our most difficult decisions during a broadcast are the ones where we can think first, discuss, and then decide.