
Live From MLB at Field of Dreams: Fox Sports Returns to Iowa for Cinematic Feast for the Eyes Drones, cabled cam return as Polecam and RF Sony F5500 join cinematic image-capture lineup By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, August 11, 2022 - 1:45 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
That's the mantra that Fox Sports is taking into this second installment of the MLB at Field of Dreams game (Thursday, 7:00 p.m. ET, Fox) from the site of the iconic 1989 film set in a small-town cornfield in Eastern Iowa.
Fox Sports returns to MLB at Field of Dreams on Thursday night with more than 30 cameras prepared to capture and deliver a cinematic viewing experience from the iconic movie site. Among those cameras are this new P50 robo peeking out from the cornfield just off first base.
So much went right for both Fox and Major League Baseball last year in an event that earned Fox the 2022 Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Special. Pleasant weather served as a comfortable backdrop for a wild finish (complete with a walk-off home run). That being said, a lot of the creative choices that both entities made put them in a position to succeed: from the sprawling corn stalk-filled outfield to the cinematic aerial shots and the memorable pregame ceremony.
There's a new story to tell - one more focused on the nostalgia of old-time baseball - this time around, but, in terms of the production and operations plans, here in Dyersville, there's a lot that's familiar.
I think that we and MLB got a lot of things right last time and, obviously, we got very lucky, says Michael Davies, SVP, field operations, Fox Sports. We got lucky with the game's moments. We got lucky with the weather. It was all fantastic. Because there was so much that we got right, we didn't need to change a whole lot in terms of the coverage, and, for that reason, we didn't.
Sony F5500 Goes Handheld; Polecam Joins Storytelling Arsenal Were there lessons learned from 2021? Were there opportunistic tweaks made to improve this year's production? Of course.
This year's truck compound is bigger and uses the available space more sensibly; Game Creek Video Encore and 79 trucks made the trip after supporting the broadcaster's work at All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Some tweaks were made to the camera lineup as well to give more cinema-style images. Also, certain cameras were repositioned because the corn stalks at the venue are about 3 ft. shorter than they were a year ago.
The game production features more than 30 cameras, including four super-slo-mos shooting at 6X. Additions include an RF Polecam in the outfield and the Sony F5500, which, for the first time on a Fox show, will be used as an RF handheld.
The 2022 MLB at Field of Dreams game pits the Chicago Cubs against the Cincinnati Reds at a custom-built field in Dyersville, IA, on the site of the 1989 movie.
Last year, Fox Sports erected a tower camera, similar to those used on a golf production, in the outfield, but wind issues and a lack of flexibility in what the camera could capture led production and ops to scrap that and go with the Polecam this time around. With the shorter cornstalks, Fox expects to use that unit more liberally for establishing shots coming in or out of breaks.
As for the F5500, a 4K-capable camera system unveiled by Sony last October, the MLB on Fox team has been finding ways to work the system into different locations to give a cinematic shallow-depth-of-field look to traditional broadcast-camera positions. At the MLB All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, the crew got great shots from it as a hard camera on the first-base line. The MLB at Field of Dreams game marks the first time that Fox will try the system as a roving RF handheld.
Much like the MLB All-Star Game in Los Angeles, this show was a fully Canon show as it pertained to the lineup of lenses. Sprinkled throughout the park were the DIGISUPER 122x, DIGISUPER 111x, DIGISUPER 95x, DIGISUPER 22x, and the CINE-SERVO 17-120mm.
MORE: Live From MLB at Field of Dreams: Fox Sports' Studio Crew Lowers Outfield Set To Show Off the Cornfield
The tech-productions team - headed by Lead Technical Producer Tom Lynch and anchored by Sid Drexler, Brian Obert, and Taihe Miller - is deploying two of its signature Dirtcams, this time adding one in the pitching mound to accompany their consistent look just off home plate. There are also looks from Dreamchip cameras in each bullpen as well as a robo peeking out of the corn just off first base.
We have a lot of ability to continue to tell this game's story as a movie, says Brad Cheney, VP, field operations and engineering, Fox Sports, who is working with Director, Field Operations, Francisco Paco Contreras on this year's engineering plans. To be able to pull yourself back and forth between the cinematic and venue within the game itself is great.
Aerial Imagery Reclaims Its Star Status One of the stars of last year's show was the aerial imagery. With a fixed-wing plane (provided by Winged Vision), a small fleet of drones (Beverly Hills Aerials), and a two-point cabled camera system stretching more than 1,400 ft. (FlyCam), Fox Sports essentially had three tiers of aerials, always keeping the venue visuals fresh and captivating throughout the broadcast.
This year, Beverly Hills Aerials has expanded its drone lineup for the show to four: two heavy-lift drones outfitted with Red Komodo 6K cameras; an FPV drone for faster, more nimble shots; and the super-compact Bumble Bee drone that was used for safe flying over the action during the USFL season.
According to Beverly Hills Aerials Chief Pilot Michael Izquierdo, these drones get more flight time through battery life than last year's, giving the pilots more freedom to explore for new, captivat
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
27/05/2026
Telestream has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Benjamin Desbois as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Desbois, currently Teles...
27/05/2026
ESPN garnered 10 awards; NBC's Sunday Night Football received the Outstandin...
27/05/2026
Matrox Video is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of operations from its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1976, the company has...
27/05/2026
Major League Baseball has announced a series of initiatives tied to America's Semiquincentennial, including a national marketing campaign, Fourth of July br...
27/05/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced that Brian Gross has joined the company as an Account Manager on its Audio team, based in the Burbank office. He will...
27/05/2026
Nielsen has released new research on soccer fandom ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2...
27/05/2026
ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has unveiled a new partnership with TikTok to bring broad...
27/05/2026
FIFA's Oscar Sanchez gives a deeper look to how this tournament will be cove...
27/05/2026
The soon-to-be senior from Charlottesville is building her skills in replay, TD, and even creative content for HokieVision and its ACC Network productions
In t...
27/05/2026
FOX Sports' Mike Davies breaks down the vision for this summer's showcas...
27/05/2026
HBS's Paul King, FIFA's Oscar Sanchez preview how the masses at home wil...
27/05/2026
FOX's MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards...
27/05/2026
One of the most memorable Postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
27/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most decorated and most watched programs in the history of television. It added to its jam-packed trophy case on Tu...
27/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
27/05/2026
With the Opening Match just over two weeks away, the entire sports-production-te...
27/05/2026
Spotify already brings together listeners' favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks in one place. Now, we're trialing a new format that expands the cont...
27/05/2026
The best podcast moments deserve more than just a mental note. That's why today, we're making those moments easier to save and share with clips.
Whethe...
27/05/2026
On Purpose is one of the most popular podcasts in the world, known for conversat...
27/05/2026
On May 8, 1,500 of Olivia Rodrigo's top fans gathered in Barcelona's Tea...
27/05/2026
Hybrid design combines large-diaphragm capsule & ribbon
JZ Microphones have teamed up with Grammy-winning producer and engineer Marc Urselli to develop a ne...
27/05/2026
Three new plug-ins inspired by classic tape effects
AIR Music Tech's latest release delivers a set of plug-ins that aim to capture the character, moveme...
27/05/2026
Piano played on the edge of silence
The Crow Hill Company's Vaults collection offers a continual rotation of instruments that are given away for free fo...
27/05/2026
Recreates Moog's iconic Memorymoog polysynth
Arturia's vast software instrument range offers a combination of new and old, with innovative modern so...
27/05/2026
Offers loudness levelling for speech and dialogue
Accentize have built up a solid reputation with their audio-restoration tools, and their latest plug-in is...
27/05/2026
10,000 units strong - The Rohde & Schwarz R&S M3SR Radio 4400 Rohde & Schwarz celebrates a major manufacturing milestone, producing its 10,000th R&S M3SR Radi...
27/05/2026
The XL Converge 300P radio system emerges with a groundbreaking feature set enhancing the mission-critical communications of public safety, federal and critica...
27/05/2026
Pairing Two47 MCX software with existing LTE networks means tailored system upgrades that can save time, money and lives....
27/05/2026
PAC-3 MSE offers improved range, speed, and maneuverability, making it an effect...
27/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/05/2026
Star Trek VFX: Recreating John Knoll's Iconic Warp Stars without a Slitscan ...
27/05/2026
Adventure World Uses Blackmagic Replay for Marine Live
Brie Clayton May 27, 2026
0 Comments
Large screen displays and slow motion replays dynamically ...
27/05/2026
Berklee Alumna and Assistant Professor Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Origi...
27/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/05/2026
Co-founder Dan Castles to transition to Executive Chair; internal promotion reinforces continuity and long-term growth
Telestream, a global leader in media wor...
27/05/2026
Big Blue Marble today announced that its Nakolos platform is the first end-to-end 5G Broadcast solution worldwide to implement the complete feature set introduc...
27/05/2026
Lightware recently hosted the Girls' Day event in April at its headquarters in Budapest, welcoming students for an interactive introduction to engineering a...
27/05/2026
27 May 2026
VEON's Kyivstar and Uklon Launch Ukraine's First Live Testi...
27/05/2026
May 27th, 2026 May 27, 2026
Press Materials Available Here
TRIBECA X Announc...
26/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...