Kicking off Fight Week was the public workout at Gleason’s Gym, situated in the popular Brooklyn neighborhood of DUMBO, ight under the Manhattan Bridge With a highly anticipated event, this meant a lot of people in a small space. Luckily, the Flypack crew compressedtrolrooand were ready to go during this fast-paced 10-hour workday. Instead of using jibs in this extremely cramped event, Flypack used ultra-wide lenses on handheld and stationary cameras to work the compact space. In addition, the crew was responsible for overall lighting, branded lighting, and audio production throughout the day.
On the second and third day, with the event moving to the large Barclays Center, the challenge was inverted: how best to capture the event from a wide range of angles across large distances while maintaining a sense of close proximity for the viewer. Flypack used five of their own Panasonic cameras, four camera chains, a jib on a camera chain, and JitaCam. One broadcast camera was attached to a 24-foot jib to capture dynamic aerial shots.
Day four necessitated yet another change in our workflow. With a number of undercard fights to cover on the arena's central floor, Flypack switched to ST fiber pathways to be able to exchange content directly with the Barclays Center, and collaborated with the arena's crew on the use of their camera sheds. A real fight needs live commentary, so we created a commentator booth with interview pits that included announcer stations with all necessary video and audio inputs in order to achieve the optimal commentary space.
At Barclays, the Flypack crew brought additional Fujinon UA46x13.5BERD, UA46x9.5BERD and UA13x4.5BERD 4K UHD high-powered lenses in order to achieve beautiful, crisp long shots.
Finally, for the fights on the last day of he event, we added 3-Play 3P1 Tricasters and a Panasonic AW-UE150 4K RoboCams to our broadcast arsenal. We relied upon Dante for audio throughout the week
We used much of the same broadcasting equipment during the first three days, transferring all necessary material from Gleason's Gym to the Barclays Center. Once at Barclays, the Flypack crew had to set up a new master control area, and repurposed the cameras to fit the new space. All cameras were rebuilt on the spot, reconfigured with 46x stabilized lenses for long shots. When the event moved from the main arena to the atrium, we we able to keep the master control room in place, while reconfiguring our camera and audio kits to fit the new environment. A glimpse of REMI production in the same venue!
The undercard fights on the final day were not directly broadcasted via Pay-Per-View, so Flypack streamed them via our PPV truck, utilizing both our client's camera's and additional cameras of our own. Flypack also successfully blended cameras with client production workflows, providing ringside cameras on the apron as well as commentator camera views.
Our crew was consistent across the four days, following Flypack’s standard procedure of ensuring continuity of crew throughout productions. For an event of this size, there were bound to be challenges. For one, traveling between locations in dense urban environments with loads of equipment is no easy task. Yet the Flypack New York crew provided smooth transitions each day and ensured a seamless production from start to finish.