USD Football 1992

SMILI=' ,l:'OR THE CAMERA

Left: Tony Verna of CBS (at right) pioneered instant replay.

their eyes. It's gotten that refined. We (at NFL Films) can at least go back and look at what we have and make adjustments. The networks don't have that option. They have to get everything right the first time." And the pressure will only compound itself over the next couple of decades as large screens begin to carry life-size images into our living rooms and high– definition television presents more of the game in clearer pictures. Eventually, tele– vision, computers and telephones will merge into an electronic producer, allow– ing us to choose the replays and graphics of our liking. Undoubtedly, Dunlap will roll over in his grave and cheer as the line between the game in the stadium and the one in our living room blurs. However, there might be a small prob– lem. When producers ask for views of the stands, will there be anyone there to smile for the cameras? •• •

(Two days earlier, O'Neil had his troops prepare for the game by following a scrim– mage among college players who were shipped in and supplied 49er and Cincinnati Bengal uniforms.) "What you have now," says Howard Neff, director of photography for NFL Films, "is cameramen operating almost on instinct. You know what's going to happen by knowing the players and looking at

found out about what Verna had in mind, and then only during the cab ride to the stadium the morning of the game. Verna talked about isolating Navy quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach. But the "Dodger" showed none of his scrambling skills that afternoon, so Verna shifted to Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh and caught some deft ball carry– ing on a touchdown play. Verna promptly sprung his creation on the viewers, forcing Nelson to add, "This is not live. Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again." From that moment on, televised sports were never the same. With instant replay, the networks had the means to supply non– stop action. They could report, entertain, and educate. Even theatrical high-fives became worthy of analysis via replay. With this powerful tool, and the help of healthy competition that wou ld extend from the three networks to the cable chan– nels, producers evo lved into harsh taskmasters, demanding that their crews let nothing escape the viewer's purview. During live action, the six stationary cam– eras (50-yard line, both 25's and both end zones) fo llowed the ball, but between plays, the producer wanted to be able to choose anything from a minicam shot of the play for Telestrator analysis, from a super slo-mo clip of a pass catch to an iso– lation on a blitzing linebacke r. (Also known as Madden' s Crazy Pen, the Telestrator was first used by CBS during an NFL divisional playoff game with John Madden as the color commentator.) In his book, The Game Behind The Game, Terry O'Neil, then an executive producer with CBS Sports, recalls waking up at five in the morning the day of the 1982 Super Bowl with sweat pouring over his body. He had dreamed that the San Francisco 49ers had scored a field goal and no cam– era, God Forbid, had caught the emotional display of owner Eddie DeBanolo.

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