Live From Super Bowl LIV: SkyCam's Daredevil-like Rigging System Delivers Unique Live Angles

Live From Super Bowl LIV: SkyCam's Daredevil-like Rigging System Delivers Unique Live Angles One of the two four-point aerial camera systems is rigged to the 357-ft. spires above Hard Rock Stadium By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Sunday, February 2, 2020 - 1:00 pm

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You're going to think that I'm crazy, but hear me out.

Super Bowl LIV was still more than half of a year away when Stephen Wharton, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer for SkyCam, called Fox Sports' SVP of Technical and Field Operations Michael Davies with a wild idea.

SkyCam has rigged one of its two aerial cable camera systems to the spires towering above Hard Rock Stadium's roof. It's a deployment unlike anything the company has ever done and is providing stunning cinematic shots. Engineer-in-charge Josh Thompson will be on the roof to assist with any support of the system on game day.

SkyCam, the popular four-point aerial camera system has become so prevalent in live sports television production these days that simply having one (heck even two, or three) isn't enough to differentiate a major championship broadcast on its own. Wharton wanted to do something eye-catching for Fox Sports' latest swing at the Big Game.

To make that splash, SkyCam has deployed a pair of its SkyCam Wildcat units rigging one of them, not to the base of the roof as is the standard spot, but rather to the top of the 357 foot spires that tower over Hard Rock Stadium following the renovation of this building in 2016.

The rigging allows for the higher SkyCam to essentially move in and out of the building through the roof, playing an entirely new role as a cinematic scene-setter. The set up capture camera angels that hovers above the stadium's roof opening grabbing shots of the Miami skyline before descending into the open roof of Hard Rock Stadium and dive bombing towards the field. Its pulling in shots unlike anything before seen on a Super Bowl broadcast.

With the 100th anniversary of the NFL, it's cool for us to be able to deliver this and do something that's never been done before, says Wharton. I think everyone tries every year to outdo the previous [Super Bowl], and we wanted to have a really real big highlight that is impacting game coverage but is also a huge entertainment factor on pre-, post-, and the halftime show.

Logistically, SkyCam hiring a third-party engineering firm and held multiple meetings and site visits with Hard Rock Stadium, the architectural designers of the stadium: Populous, Fox Sports, and other entities. They also went through the processes of ensuring that power, RF capabilities, and safety gear for operators stationed on the roof were all in place.

The spires were climbed by SkyCam's Hector Keeling and Jason Curl with the roof installation managed by Eric Van Gorp, Brad Eisele, and Josh Thompson. Naturally, SkyCam and Hard Rock Stadium had to take extreme safety precautions with the rigging of the system and in the regular maintenance of it this week in the event of rain and/or high winds (both of which have occurred in the days leading up to kickoff)

There's about 25 staffers from SkyCam here on site for the Super Bowl and about a third of those are the company's top-level riggers that are dedicated to purely to the safety of the system.

Each SkyCam is driven by both a pilot and a camera operator. Due to the lengthy nature of the Super Bowl broadcast window (hours of pregame, a highly-technical Halftime Show, and trophy celebrations postgame), SkyCam is rotating those positions throughout the day.

The High SkyCam, which is outfitted with a a Sony HDC-P50 (capable of shooting in 4K) with a Fujinon lense, has the freedom to the leave up through the stadium's roof opening.

For the game broadcast, the Low SkyCam will be piloted by Alex Milton and operated by Vinnie Scaffidi while the High SkyCam will be manned by pilot Sam Walker and operator Darin Haggard. For all surround coverage, the Low SkyCam will be taken over by pilot Raubyn Pointer and operator Mike Miller, while the High SkyCam will be piloted by Rian Weigart and operated by Ed Martino.

As for the cameras themselves, the High SkyCam is a Sony HDC-P50, capable of shooting in 4K. The Low SkyCam is fitted with a Sony HDC-P43, a POV camera that is also capable of shooting in 4K and at a high-frame-rate. Both are outfitted with lenses from Fujinon.

NOTE: Fox Sports has deployed a third aerial camera system here pulling in a similar shot that takes viewers from the parking lot of Hard Rock Stadium, through the roof's structure, revealing the stadium bowl and the field of play. That shot is provided by FlyCam, which is a two-point cable camera system.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/02/02/live-from-super-bowl-liv-skycam...
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