Indigo Productions had the pleasure of teaming up with New York Road Runners on September 10th to film an amazing live sporting event: The 2017 New Balance 5th Avenue Mile race!
It was an exciting day as 7,664 runners (3,630 women and 4,034 men) competed side by side along 5th Avenue from the Metropolitan Museum of Art down to Grand Army Plaza on 59th Street.
The race was broadcast live by NBC Sports. The morning portion, filmed by the Indigo Productions team, was live-streamed directly onto a giant Jumbotron near the finish line.
So, what does it take to film a live sporting event right in the middle of New York City? It takes weeks of careful planning and pre-production, a crew of 20 top professionals in the industry, and perfect communication between the entire team on the day of the event.
For comprehensive coverage, we provided 4 broadcast-quality cameras: One cameraman on a motorcycle to film the runners, a stationary camera at the host area, and two cameras at the finish line. We then live-switched between the four cameras on the fly so we could be sure to capture the most important action minute by minute.
Filming a live sporting event requires flexibility, and the experience to troubleshoot at a moment’s notice. For example, an unexpected challenge occurred when we discovered a dead spot in the cellular coverage for the camera on the motorcycle.
Luckily our technical team came up with a quick solution: We put a cell phone in the mobile cameraman’s pocket and used it as an impromptu hot spot. Problem solved! The entire day went seamlessly and we had a wonderful time covering the event.
Of course, we’re looking forward to many more productions with the New York Road Runners!
If you’d like to know more about New York Road Runners and the race itself, please visit the NYRR website. To learn more about our live streaming video services visit our website. You can get in touch with us through our contact page or call us with any questions at: (212) 765-5224