Triller Fight Club PPV Brings Cinema-Style Tools Into the Sports-Production Ring The goal was to blur the line between live sports and entertainment By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Monday, April 19, 2021 - 3:49 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Live sports broadcasts have seen an influx of cinematic cameras in recent months - from CBS Sports' use of the Sony Venice for its NFL and Masters coverage to Fox Sports' extensive deployment of its Megalodon system to Turner Sports' use of the Canon EOS C500 Mark II camera at the NBA All-Star Game. But, on Saturday night, Triller Fight Club took it to the next level with an end-to-end cinema-style live production featuring a whopping 18 Sony PMW-F55 CineAlta 4K cinema cameras.
Triller worked with Echo Entertainment to create a cinematic-style live broadcast.
The four-hour boxing/entertainment PPV event at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was headlined by a fight featuring YouTube-star-turned-boxer Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren and offered a star-studded list of musical performances by Justin Bieber, The Black Keys, and others. The PPV, which reportedly generated 1.5 million PPV buys on Saturday night, aimed to blur the line between live sports and entertainment with a heavy infusion of cinema-style production.
Triller is trying to create a totally different environment for sports and entertainment content. It's not just about boxing or just about the music acts; it's about creating something totally new, said Triller Coordinating Producer, Special Events, Paul Cambria prior to Saturday's fight. With that in mind, we're trying to create a true cinema feel for this event with different cameras, different lenses, and huge sets. We're looking to take your cookie-cutter boxing event and flip it upside down to make it different and more appealing for the younger viewing audience that Triller [appeals to].
Going Cinematic: Cine-Style Cameras, Lenses for Live Sports Triller Fight Club featured live musical performances throughout the night, including this one by Doja Cat.
Triller, the music-based social-media network behind the Fight Club series, enlisted Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Bert Marcus to bring a cinematic style not seen before in sports television. In addition, Echo Entertainment was brought in as the official production partner for the event, and TVG (The Visionary Group) was tapped to design and build the sprawling sets inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
You are certainly seeing [cinematic cameras] a lot more these days on live sports on things like the Super Bowl and the Masters, said Cambria, but it's really just one or two cameras. Our goal, driven by [Marcus], is to have every camera look that way. We're trying to create the look and feel of a film throughout the whole show as much as we can, which is really different than any other live sports show right now.
A total of 18 Sony F-55 cameras were deployed for the cine-style Triller Fight Club production.
Immediately after beginning work on the project, Echo Entertainment hired Rick Siegel as director of photography and Tom Kenny as lighting director. They worked with Echo to evaluate the tools it would need its arsenal to pull off a live, cinematic production like the one Triller was envisioning.
We knew we wanted the cinematic look, so we would need a full-frame sensor to achieve that, say Echo Entertainment Technical Manager Pierce Williams. We looked at a few options, including the Sony Venice, the ARRI Alexa, and the Sony 55. We ended up going with the Sony F-55 because we felt it was the most proven in a live environment. We have 18 of them here, and we've been really happy with them.
Dome Productions' Atlantic mobile unit served as home to all music-performance productions.
As for glass, Echo selected a wide range of Fujinon Cabrio cine-zoom lenses, including the ZK25-300mm T3.5-3.85, XK20-120mm T3.5, ZK85-300mm T2.9-4.0, and ZK19-90mm T2.9.
It all came down to finding that film-like look, and we felt like the [Fujinon] lenses capture that, says Pierce, noting that lighting played an even more integral role than usual, given the unique demands created by a cinema-style live sports show.
Lighting is a huge part for this show because we're not shading cameras as much in the traditional sense; we're not going to open and close iris constantly, he says. Instead, our LD is going to adjust the look through lighting so we can have that raw, gritty look, for both the boxing and the music.
Production Complement: Inside the Compound, in the Ring, On-Stage Three BSI POV cams were deployed, including one on the ref seen here.
Echo and Triller partnered with Dome Productions on the production compound in Atlanta. Dome's Atlantic mobile unit served as production home for the music/entertainment segments, while Thunder handled fight coverage. In addition, a pair of Dome's flex units, Unite and B200, were on hand to house a variety of workstations necessary to socially distance the 173-person broadcast crew under the onsite safety protocols (which also included rigorous testing and specific zones for different departments).
Of the 28 cameras deployed for the Triller Fight Club production, 18 were PMW-F55 4K Super 35mm single-sensor cameras. Each camera was outfitted with a CA-4000 4K fiber-transmission camera-system adaptor back, and the signal ran through a BPU-4000 baseband processor before arriving in the camera-control unit (CCU) in the trucks onsite.
Making a show of this size work with that many [F-55's] is definitely a challenge, says Williams. We have a stack of all those BPUs outside the truck because the racks inside are already full. All the cameras are going through the BPUs outside the truck before they can hit the CCUs. One great thing is that all the cameras are goin
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
24/04/2024
FRANKFURT, Germany Software solutions provider manifold technologies has announced that its manifold CLOUD was selected by NEP Belgium to provide a signal proce...
24/04/2024
NEW YORK Integral Ad Science has announced that it has earned Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for its sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration f...
24/04/2024
LOS GATOS, Calif. Streaming media company Plex has announced a partnership with the National Football League that will add the NFL Channel, the NFLs 24/7 free l...
24/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the helm of NAB through 2029, according to NAB Joi...
24/04/2024
GENEVA, Switzerland Software-defined video network (SDVN) platform specialist GlobalM and broadcast-quality content distribution expert scoopa have formed a str...
24/04/2024
24 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound...
24/04/2024
Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1 The in-person conference is open to Berklee Online students and the music community ...
24/04/2024
Kargo said it has launched a new product that gives advertisers more details about the connected TV campaigns they are buying....
24/04/2024
Mundo Hispano Digital said it has launched MundoNow Connect, which is designed to use first-party audience data to help advertisers reach Latino connected-TV vi...
24/04/2024
Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who spent 10 months in a Russian prison, sits with Robin Roberts for a primetime special on ABC Wednesday, May 1. The 20/20 speci...
24/04/2024
To give its subscribers more content to pick from, DirecTV Stream is making deals to carry streaming channels from Cineverse and additional digital multicast ch...
24/04/2024
Jenny Padura has been promoted to co-anchor on the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WLTV Miami, known as Univision 23. She starts April 25 and will anchor with Ambros...
24/04/2024
Paris Schutz has joined WFLD Chicago, known as Fox 32, as a political reporter. He starts April 29 and will handle all political coverage for the station, repor...
24/04/2024
Plex has made a deal with the National Football League that will let users watch the NFL Channel, the league's free ad-supported streaming television (FAST)...
24/04/2024
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone sit for a chat when TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons debuts on Fox Tuesday, April 23. The pair di...
24/04/2024
Lionsgate Television said it signed a new multiyear employment agreement with executive VP, worldwide production, Gary Goodman....
24/04/2024
Miguelangel Lopez, WTMO Orlando (Florida) VP of news, has been named regional VP of news and content for WTMO, WRMD Tampa and WWDT Fort Myers, effective immedia...
23/04/2024
Psychology can play an important role in helping us understand what audiences respond to (Dr Jon Roozenbeek, Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab)
For newsroom...
23/04/2024
IN ADDITION TO FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY FEATURES, THE SELECTION INCLUDES:
PRO...
23/04/2024
Today, we announced our first quarter 2024 earnings. In a solid start to the year, Spotify reported
Monthly Active Users grew 19% Y/Y to 615 million.
Subscri...
23/04/2024
Idag publicerar Spotify sina finansiella resultat f r f rsta kvartalet 2024. ret har inletts stabilt:
M natliga aktiva anv ndare kade med 19 % j mf rt med f...
23/04/2024
In the last decade, as K-Pop cemented its status as a global phenomenon, Spotify has helped fans around the world keep their fingers on the pulse at every step ...
23/04/2024
Social entrepreneur Hedayat Osyan wins Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition
23 April, 2024
Media releases
The prestigious award is now in its third yea...
23/04/2024
LONDON IBC is now accepting nominations for its IBC2024 Innovation Awards, which honor achievements in technological innovation and social impact media & entert...
23/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. In response to the introduction of the Broadcast VOICES Act that seeks to encourage more diversity in the ownership of TV and radio stations, t...
23/04/2024
MIAMI, Fla. As part of a push to expand its FAST channel and streaming operations, Hemisphere Media Group has launched its free ad supported television (FAST) c...
23/04/2024
LOS ANGELES DirecTV is adding seven new channels to its rapidly expanding streaming lineup through new licensing agreements with Cineverse Corp. and Scripps Net...
23/04/2024
Entitled Our Creative Future, the manifesto calls for radical new action' t...
23/04/2024
The company has secured investment from private equity firm PAI Partners, which also holds a stake in outside broadcasting company EMG
By Jenny Priestley
Pub...
23/04/2024
Cameron also said he recognised Marlow as a potential UK and European base for his new company, LIGHTSTORM 3D
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 23, 2024 ...
23/04/2024
The five categories cover Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere, Social Impact and Environment & Sustainability
By Matthew Corrigan
Publ...
23/04/2024
He played a central role in securing key broadcast rights, including the FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 23, 2024
He pla...
23/04/2024
IBC is preparing to honour the highest achievements in technological innovation and social impact with the launch of its prestigious IBC2024 Innovation Awards, ...
23/04/2024
BREA, Calif. Bolin Technology is integrating Network Device Interface (NDI) across its product line, bringing support for the latest NDI technologies to its PTZ...
23/04/2024
WYOMISSING, Pa. PENN Entertainment has announced that longtime Disney and ESPN executive Aaron LaBerge has been named chief technology officer effective July 1,...
23/04/2024
In response to an FCC ruling in March proposing a $1.2 million fine against Nexstar and a ruling that Mission Broadcasting sell WPIX, Nexstar has filled a respo...
23/04/2024
Sony has announced new details about how the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is using Sony's Ci Media Cloud platform to streamline its workflows and spe...
23/04/2024
Esports' rapid rise to popularity can be attributed to many factors, from technological advancements that have enhanced the quality of modern gaming experie...
23/04/2024
OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, has been selected as a winner in the 2024 N...
23/04/2024
BCNEXXT is pleased to announce that Vpe has won the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year Award in the Asset Management, Automation and Playout category. The offici...
23/04/2024
Gravity Media, a world leading global provider of complex live creative production and media services, today outlined the broadcast technology and television pr...
23/04/2024
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage for the AI era, today announced the appointment of Peter Brennan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Scality...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced ATEM 1 M/E Constellation 4K and ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K switchers, two new Ultra HD models of the ATEM Constellation famil...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 12G, the newest model in the Videohub 12G router family. The massive Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 1...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced new lower prices for Blackmagic Video Assist 3G and 12G models. Customers can save US$200 on all models. These lower prices ma...
23/04/2024
Adder Technology continues to shine brightly, with its groundbreaking product, the ADDERLink INFINITY 3000 (ALIF3000), once again taking center stage. Hot on t...
Triller Fight Club PPV Brings Cinema-Style Tools Into the Sports-Production Ring The goal was to blur the line between live sports and entertainment By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
