NBA Finals 2022: Despite Logistical Hurdles, ESPN Ramps Up Massive Bicoastal Productions in Bay Area and Boston Small-form shallow-depth-of-field RF Sony Alpha 1 headlines 55-camera complement By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor Wednesday, June 8, 2022 - 4:19 pm
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It was less than two years ago that ESPN/ABC's NBA Finals production operations were confined to a standalone bubble inside Disney World in Orlando. This year, ESPN's ops team is back on the road in full force, rolling out two of the largest NBA production footprints of the year on opposite coasts: at the Chase Center in San Francisco and TD Garden in Boston. And ESPN has found a way to pull it off even given the unprecedented crewing, shipping, and supply-chain issues facing the entire industry.
ESPN has deployed 55+ cameras for its NBA Finals coverage.
It has been interesting this year, considering the challenging environment for [truck] drivers, resources, and shipping right now, but the Finals is what our entire team lives for. It's why we love covering the NBA, says Eddie Okuno, senior remote operations specialist, ESPN. Our crew has been on the road for over 30 days straight at this point, and we have put in some serious miles going back and forth between Miami [for the Eastern Conference Finals], Boston, and San Francisco, but everybody is doing an incredible job despite the challenges.
Camera Complement: ESPN Intros New Courtside Shallow-Depth-of-Field Look Despite the logistical issues, ESPN has once again pulled out all the stops when it comes to its coverage on the court. Among the 55 cameras being used for ABC's NBA Finals broadcasts are 17 high-frame-rate super-slo-mos (many of which are Fletcher robos), two RF shallow-depth-of-field mirrorless gimbal rigs (one courtside, one roaming), a 1080p Skycam system above the court, a live drone (operated by Disney's in-house specialists) flying above the arena, and Winged Vision fixed-wing plane overhead.
ESPN has two shallow-depth-of-field Sony Alpha 1 RF rigs for its NBA Finals coverage.
Although courtside shallow-depth-of-field cameras have become a staple of NBA coverage of late, ESPN is putting its own spin on its sideline position. The system - which comprises a Sony Alpha 1 mirrorless DSLR camera affixed to a smaller DJI Ronin gimbal and equipped with an AVS RF link - has an ultra-small footprint, allowing the operator to be stationed directly behind the announce table.
Those are truly incredible shots, says Okuno, noting, The positioning [of the operator] and the size [of the rig] are so important in order to get those shots. If you had a traditional Steadicam and a big-block shallow-depth-of-field camera, the size of the rig would limit you that close to the court. But the Sony Alpha and DJI Ronin gimbal gives us that shallow-depth-of-field image with a very small [footprint]. The camera operator literally sits at center court behind the announce table, and you can't even see him.
A lot of times, he continues, these types of cameras are stationed deep in the vomitory so, by the time they run out to the court during a timeout, they are usually already too late. But, since the footprint of this camera is so small, [the operator] can be right there ready to go. He gets the shot, doesn't block any fans, and then gets out of the way, so it works out very nicely.
A 1080p Skycam is in the mix for ESPN in both Boston and San Francisco.
ESPN is working with all-Canon glass, including a mixture of UJ122x8.2, UJ111x8.3, and XJ95x8.6 field production lenses and a variety of Canon UHD ENG handheld lenses.
In addition to the army of cameras, ESPN has deployed Viz Arena virtual court signage, SMT/Vizrt virtual overlay over the Skycam and one slash camera, and three AR virtual-graphics systems with TrackMan (for the show open and third-quarter rejoin).
On the audio side, ESPN has boosted its total microphone complement for the 5.1 discrete audio mix for the Finals and Eastern Conference Finals, including more Q5X player/coach/referee microphones, more DPA 5100 surround-sound mics, and plenty of SoundField mics and processors.
Fletcher provides all the robotics for ESPN's above-the-rim and through-the-glass angles.
Inside the Compounds: ESPN Goes Coast to Coast Game Creek Video 79 mobile unit (A and B units) and Victory (A and B) were on hand at San Francisco's Chase Center to serve as the home for ESPN's Games 1 and 2 productions - along with Game Creek Gotham for the onsite studio show. Tonight in Boston, NEP EN1 (A, B C, D, and E) kicks off its NBA Finals shows with Game 3 and is joined by NEP EN3 (A and B) to handle the studio show.
Producer Tim Corrigan (left) has been a part of all 20 of ESPN's NBA Finals productions.
Although ESPN has a sizable crew onsite in both cities, all graphics (including inserts, scorebug, and virtual signage) is being done REMCO-style by operators in Bristol, CT. In addition, four EVS replay operators are controlling servers remotely from Bristol (with 13 replay operators onsite).
ESPN also presented an NBA Finals: Celebrating 75 alternative broadcast during Game 1, which was produced with a REMI workflow using the onsite Game Creek Video infrastructure. The show was hosted by CJ McCollum and Tim Legler at ESPN's Seaport Studios in New York City and was integrated in a control room in Bristol. All remote interviews with guests were conducted via Zoom or TVU IP uplinks (with the exception of the Magic Johnson-Spike Lee interview at Chase Center, which came from the truck onsite).
The front bench inside Game Creek Video 79 mobile unit in San Francisco
In addition to ESPN, the compounds in San Francisco and Boston also house Turner Sports' NBA TV, the NBA world feed, and a bevy of international broadcasters. ESPN's techn
