Live from Final Four: Camera Op Janis Murray Makes History Taking Over Main Game Camera Position Following the retirement of legend George Graffeo, Murray was logical choice to take the reins By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Saturday, March 31, 2018 - 1:46 pm
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This weekend's joint production of the Final Four between CBS Sports and Turner Sports features a noted changing of the guard, as for the first time in 30+ years, the main game camera position will not be filled by legendary camera operator George Graffeo, but another iconic vet of the business: Janis Murray.
Camera operator Janis Murray (right) with CBS lead director Bob Fishman prior to the 2018 Final Four in San Antonio.
The main game camera or as they call it in the truck: Camera 2 is the camera position that is responsible for a clear majority of the live game action that viewers at home see. It's a critical position and a career milestone for Murray, who becomes the first woman to run the position in the history of the event.
It's a dream come true, says Murray, ranking the Final Four as her favorite event to work behind only maybe working center on the 2015 World Series for Fox Sports when he beloved Kansas City Royals won the title. This is the job that I always pictured me getting but was never sure I'd get. ]The Final Four] is just such an exciting event and I get the chance to work with the best people in the world. I'm very excited.
Last year, when Graffeo retired the position of the main game camera opened up, but in the eyes of veteran director Bob Fishman who will call the shots from inside Game Creek Video's 79 on tonight's Final Four and Monday's National Championship Game the person to pass the baton onto was a simple one.
Janis is so good at this because she senses the moment, says Bob Fishman, the veteran director who will call the shots on tonight's Final Four and Monday's National Championship Game. When the crowd's going crazy, she'll pull back and let the scene play out. I don't have to tell her anything. If there's a full court press on an in-bounds play, she'll be in there closer. She gets it.
Murray's resume speaks for itself. She has worked cameras on four World Series, four Super Bowls, and two Olympics with this being her fourth Final Four. She's worked on Fishman's weekly NFL team for the past 15 seasons now after starting her career in her hometown of Kansas City shooting Royals games. She has worked more than 3,000 baseball games in her career with one of her career highlights coming in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series when she captured the iconic shot of Joe Carter rounding first base following his series winning home run. (Fishman was also directing that game for CBS) True to her roots, she'll head back to begin working on her 35th season of Royals baseball following this weekend.
I've always liked the concept of truly live television, which is what doing live sports is, says Murray. There's really nothing else like it in the world. You don't know what's going to happen and I find that fascinating. Someone with the talent of Bob Fishman can pull together a bunch of people and make that all happen live and have it look fantastic is an incredible gift.
In her previous three Final Fours, Murray has worked the Reverse Angle camera from a similar post across from the main game camera position. The role of that position is traditionally reserved for replay angles and grabbing shots of coaches and players substituting into the game.
Every event has more cameras than you could possibly need and the reason we have all of these angles is in case there's a controversy, says Fishman. Let's face it, it's all about the replay. But what's the best view for the fan at home? They want to see the play and the best place to see the play is from center court, up a little high, able to see what all ten players are doing. That's why this camera is so important. Its got to be there for every play and I know Janis will be.
Throughout her 30+ year career, Murray has lugged her share of equipment, set up and broken down her share of cameras, and worked on perches overlooking everything from championship celebrations to tractor pulls. However, the most dramatic technological evolution she's witnessed in her career behind the camera is a simple one:
Well I've got to tell you, and this is huge for me, is now we can see things in color, she laughs. We were working with these old black and white monitors and I'm trying to find a guy in the crowd that's in a blue shirt. Now we have high-def color monitors. It's just amazing!
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Live from Final Four: Camera Op Janis Murray Makes History Taking Over Main Game Camera Position Following the retirement of legend George Graffeo, Murray was logical choice to take the reins By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
