Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

ESPN Debuts On-Field Camera System for Monday Night Football With Sony FX-9 on ARRI Trinity Stabilizer

13/09/2021

ESPN Debuts On-Field Camera System for Monday Night Football With Sony FX-9 on ARRI Trinity Stabilizer System is MNF's more flexible answer to the shallow-depth-of-field craze By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Monday, September 13, 2021 - 4:31 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Week 1 of the NFL season is nearly in the books, and, for those in the business of producing live football for television, a key conversation point is picking up right where it left off a season ago: what's with this on-field camera shooting in a shallow depth of field?

It's a trend that has swept the industry in 2021, and yesterday the shot was seen frequently across afternoon games on CBS and Fox.

With Monday Night Football returning this evening to kick off its 52nd season, ESPN is rolling out its own take on the new on-field camera, deploying a Sony FX-9 affixed to an ARRI Trinity camera-stabilization system.

Camera operator Clay Loveless (right) tinkers with the ARRI Trinity RF rig that he will operate this season on Monday Night Football for ESPN. (Photo: Gabriel Christus/ESPN Images)

The production crew expects the camera to serve many roles, from taking the place of the Steadicam to, when warranted, pulling in some of those popular cinematic looks.

It's basically a Steadicam Plus Plus, says Monday Night Football director Jimmy Platt, who is entering his third season at the helm of the iconic sports-TV property. It gives you the ability to have a jib and a Steadicam all in one system, essentially. Putting the shallow-depth-of-field camera on there is a plus, but we could have put any traditional broadcast camera on there.

The shallow-depth-of-field camera caught fire last December, which, Platt notes, was too late for the Monday Night Football crew to work anything like it into their rotation. They did, however, have a lengthy offseason to weigh the options. He loved the image, but, as for many, the struggle to keep the image in focus was a sticking point he was hoping to overcome before committing to a camera of its like.

The NFL permits broadcast partners - ESPN included - only one roving camera position that can come onto the field during a stoppage in game action. ESPN didn't want to sacrifice its valuable Steadicam without knowing that it would be logistically worth it. The ESPN operations team believes that this setup delivers the best of all worlds. The Sony FX-9 offers the strong autofocus needed to keep up with the goal of the shot, and the overall rig, which is connected to the truck via RF, offers more control over other elements of the image (such as aperture and color correction), making it a seamless and valuable addition to the broadcast.

That [shallow depth of field] has taken on a life of its own, which has been cool to see, says Platt. There have been various success rates. We've had the benefit of being able to sit back and watch the development while also doing some of our own R&D. The thing that's interesting with the shallow-depth-of-field craze is, there's a reason it works in film; the sports world is a bit different. But there are use cases where shallow depth of field is great, like when a quarterback walks out onto the field or there's a unique scene-setting shot.

But, in a touchdown celebration, he continues, in my opinion, the rest of the environment is important. Only one or two players might be in focus, and the other players are out of focus, or the crowd is out of focus. What we're going with gives us a really good use case in adjusting how much depth of field we have based on the situation at hand.

Director Jimmy Platt (left) and technical director Josh Miller rehearse at the front bench of ESPN Monday Night Football's primary onsite mobile production unit, NEP EN1. (Photo: Gabriel Christus/ESPN Images)

You have to look at this like a photographer, Platt continues, and actively choose when these types of shots will look great and when they will not. Can we get in and out of both looks within one system? I think this will help us do that well, which is what we saw when we tested it during the preseason. We'll only get better at dialing it in. There's still a lot of refinement that needs to be made that we'll make as we go throughout the season.

ESPN Senior Operations Producer Matthew Kwok says that the Monday Night Football team did extensive research over the summer in an attempt to vet the shallow-depth-of-field trend while simultaneously rethinking the on-field camera option as a whole. The team got its first look at the ARRI Trinity in action during a boxing event, and it caught their eye.

The camera, which will be operated on the field by veteran Monday Night Football Steadicam operator Clay Loveless, will present a new and significant challenge. Although a rig like this is used often in scripted film and television production, there's a quite a difference, as Platt points out, between operating this unit during a take on set and operating it live on the field during a three-hour game in a football stadium, where there's little control over the environment.

Another key decision in ESPN's work with this camera was to stick with autofocus over putting manual controls into the hands of the operator or someone else. The added role of a focus puller (or assistant camera operator) was not suited to live sports production, in the team's opinion.

It's hard for that focus puller to make refinements as the operator gets closer to the subject and vice versa, Platt points out. It ends up being a lot of hunting for the focus. With a normal broadcast camera, the Steadicam operator would be able to zoom and focus at the same time off of a grip switch. When you add in shallow depth of field, your room for error is minimal. They cannot zoom, get their
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/09/13/espn-debuts-new-on-field-camera...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

15/06/2025

Music Production for Women free in-person workshops

July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London Photo: Thea Martre Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...

15/06/2025

Jason's Piano & API Drums instruments from Sulcata Sound

Composer/producer launches free virtual instruments Sulcata Sound is the latest venture of Jason Graves, a two-time British Academy Award-winnning composer,...

14/06/2025

Pluto TV Adds All Womens Sports Network's FAST Channel

NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...

14/06/2025

Scripps Inks Multiyear Agreement for WNBA Games on Ion

NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...

14/06/2025

NAB Highlights Hidden Importance of Spectrum in Major Sports Broadcasting

WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...

14/06/2025

1.0 Sunset, BPS and NextGen Broadcast's Potential Dominate ATSC Meeting

WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...

14/06/2025

Samba TV and Acxiom Announce Massive 40-market Global Expansion

SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....

14/06/2025

MPW announce free in-person workshops

July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London Photo: Thea Martre Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...

14/06/2025

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design

San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...

14/06/2025

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast

Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025 0 Comments The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...

14/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025 Brie Clayton June 13, 2025 0 Comments Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...

13/06/2025

Prime Minister: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Leader Who Champions Kindness

(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...

13/06/2025

Materialists' Director Celine Song Reveals the Inspirations Behind the Film's Soundtrack

Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima If you're a true lover of rom-coms, chances...

13/06/2025

Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic sporting event

Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic spor...

13/06/2025

Press Release: NFVF Opens Call for Public Film Screenings on GBV Awareness as South Africa Confronts Ongoing Femicide Crisis

Johannesburg, 12 June 2025 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...

13/06/2025

Central Texas Storm Knocks out KTXS Tower, Severely Damages Building

ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....

13/06/2025

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz Association

Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...

13/06/2025

ATSC Honors Aldo Cugnini, Clarence Hau

WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...

13/06/2025

ESPN Doubles Down on Immersive Fan Experience for UFL Championship

(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...

13/06/2025

Soulyft Audio release Chime

New iPad/iPhone synth App announced Following on from last year's release of Gradient Synth - which reached #6 on the App Store's Paid Music charts ...

13/06/2025

HBO Max Plans July Launches in 12 New Markets

LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...

13/06/2025

Verbit Launches Speaker Identification for Live ASR Broadcast Captions

AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...

13/06/2025

FCC's Anna Gomez Meets with TV Networks, Studio Execs and Unions

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...

13/06/2025

House Passes Rescission Package That Would Claw Back CPB Funding

WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...

13/06/2025

AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 202...

At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...

13/06/2025

National CineMedia Selects Operatives Suite of AI-Based C...

Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...

13/06/2025

Manfrotto Unveils Unique New Tripod System for Mirrorless...

Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...

13/06/2025

Synamedia unveils security enhancements to its Media Edge...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...

13/06/2025

LiveU Strengthens Presence in DACH Region with Strategic...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...

13/06/2025

Chaos Adds AI Tools Faster Animation Renders and More Sty...

Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...

13/06/2025

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design

PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...

13/06/2025

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets

OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets Brie Clayton June 12, 2025 0 Comments The motion design and production ...

13/06/2025

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release

On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...

13/06/2025

RT Seeks Expressions of Interest for on-air presenting roles on RT Radio 1 and RT News & Current Affairs Output

In fulfilment of a recommendation by the Government's Expert Advisory Commit...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the Growth in Cloud Storage

SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...

13/06/2025

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup The Most Ambitious Thing We've Ever Done in the U.S.'

SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...

13/06/2025

New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE for Sports Fans Can Deliver Real ROI

New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE...

13/06/2025

Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer?

Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer? Leaders from Sky Austria and ACS discuss the possibilities of camera placement pitchside B...

13/06/2025

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage Clash Between Bath and Leicester Gets Full TNT Sports Treatment with AR, RefCam 3.0 and Player Mic

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage clash between Bath and Leicester gets full...

13/06/2025

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports Gears Up for Bath vs Leicester Battle with Huge Uptick in Season Audience Views

Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports gears up for Bath vs Leicester battle w...

13/06/2025

NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Nearly 100 Mics to Enhance Audio

NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Ne...

13/06/2025

New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits of todays analysis methods

New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits o...

13/06/2025

2025-05-28

Apple today announced the addition of iPad to Self Service Repair, providing iPad owners with access to repair manuals, genuine Apple parts, Apple Diagnostics t...

13/06/2025

2025-06-09

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps use...

13/06/2025

2025-06-10

At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple unveiled Apple Games, an all-new destination designed to help players jump back into the games they...

13/06/2025

NVIDIA and Deutsche Telekom Partner to Advance Germany's Sovereign AI

Industrial AI isn't slowing down. Germany is ready. Following London Tech Week and GTC Paris at VivaTech, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Europea...

12/06/2025

Spotify's Heart & Soul Initiative Brings Mental Health Support to Artists and Creators Worldwide

In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to ...

12/06/2025

50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celebration

50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celeb...