Indy 500: NBC Sports Preps Powerful Onsite Production for First Full-Capacity Crowd Since 2019 The broadcast will deploy a total of 75 cameras, five mobile units By Kristian Hern ndez, Associate Editor
Friday, May 27, 2022 - 10:52 am
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The Indianapolis 500 is one of the few sports events that have must-see activities surrounding the main attraction happening on the 2.5-mile track. COVID dampened the energy of the event, but the enthusiasm will be back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) this Sunday. And NBC Sports will be present to chronicle it all with 75 broadcast cameras, five mobile units, onsite studio shows, and more than 250 production personnel.
We're excited about the return of other events, like Carb Day and the pit-stop competition, says Rene Hatlelid, producer, NBC Sports, but having all of the fans back will be incredibly important. It was odd not having fans at the track two years ago, but I love that all of this is back. I couldn't be more up for the challenge.
Front-Row Tech: 75-Camera Show Led by Drones, Shallow Depth-of Field, Several Jibs To cover some of the fastest cars on the planet, NBC Sports will leverage a steep set of broadcast technologies. Where last year's race featured 103 cameras, this year's complement will decline to 75, but the equipment is still extremely high-quality. Two drones from Beverly Hills Aerials - which has become a major player in coverage of motorsports in the U.S. - will be hovering above the track: a heavy-lift drone, providing steadier shots at a slower speed; an FPV racing version, capable of nearly 100 mph for striking views of IMS's massive footprint. The FPV racing drone will be used on the front stretch of the track during pre-race festivities and throughout the course of the race.
A shot from Jimmie Johnson's onboard camera during qualifying on May 22
Continuing to take the sports-video-production landscape by storm, a Canon shallow-depth-of-field camera will provide a cinematic look at areas like the paddock, team garages, pit row before the race, and other stationary settings. It will be joined by a standard Steadicam and six RF handhelds roaming the premises. BSI will once again handle all of these RF needs, along with 15 onboard cameras installed on cars within Sunday's grid.
Further from the infield and the asphalt, the network will deploy a handful of heavy-duty jib cameras for coverage of each turn and to capture the crowd atmosphere. A Technocrane, which can be extended to 8-30 ft., will cover the front stretch during both pre-race and the actual race. A Stradacrane, which can reach nearly 100 ft., will sweep over the Snake Pit, the infield concert location, which can fit approximately 35,000 fans.
Seven high-frame-rate cameras round out the arsenal. The cameras are complemented by super-slow-motion replay supplied by EVS. All of this technology is more than fitting for an event of this magnitude, and, for Hatlelid and her team to do their jobs efficiently, it's up to the technical and operations crews to cast a wide technological net.
A hard hit for Dalton Kellett in #Indy500 practice.
His crash is the first major one throughout all of the practice and qualifying sessions so far. pic.twitter.com/Cfuw0rPCoo
#Indy500 on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 23, 2022
It's called The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, notes Matt Hogencamp, technical manager, NBC Sports, and that's not only because of what happens on the track. Our production team comes to us with ideas, and we figure out how we can make those happen. Trying to highlight this large-scale event is a really exciting challenge.
Onsite Workflows: IMS Productions, BSI Park Mobile Units in the Compound The NBC Sports crew will work from five mobile units in the television compound outside Indianapolis Motor Speedway. IMS Productions HD-5 will handle the primary production of the race, HD-3 the pre-race studio show, and B1 and other trucks ancillary distribution and support. Five office trailers will house other essential personnel, and BSI will have two trucks onsite for the RF infrastructure.
Jibs will play a large role on Sunday, including a Technocrane and a Stradacrane.
Although the Indy 500 is the most famous race on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule, there have been five other races since the start of the season in St. Petersburg, FL, on Feb. 27. With a calendar that takes NBC Sports to different locations around the country, Hogencamp gives a nod to the team at IMS Productions - including President Kevin Sublette; Director, Broadcast Operations, Ken Ferguson; and Technical Manager Ken Fitzgerald - for providing a foundation for the network.
The team at IMS Productions deserves a lot of credit for helping us create and capture this sport for 17 weeks out of the year, Hogencamp says. These toys allow us to show this exciting experience to the folks watching at home and, hopefully, get them to come out in person someday.
Setting the Scene: Studio Programming Resides Near the Yard of Bricks Alongside the main race production, NBC Sports will have a full cast of on-air talent to cover the festivities. Prior to the waving of the green flag, Senior Producer John Barnes will produce onsite studio shows featuring host Mike Tirico and studio analyst and former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, who became the first woman to lead laps and earn a top-five finish in the Indianapolis 500, in 2005. Motorsports analyst and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. will contribute to pre-race coverage alongside motorsports reporter Rutledge Wood. Within the versatile and flexible Peacock Pit Box on pit road in front of the famed Yard of Bricks, the quartet will preview the day's race and allow viewers to see shots of spectators at different locations, including the Pagoda and the Snake
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Indy 500: NBC Sports Preps Powerful Onsite Production for First Full-Capacity Crowd Since 2019 The broadcast will deploy a total of 75 cameras, five mobile units By Kristian Hern ndez, Associate Editor 
