Although the Wizard of Oz was great and powerful, perhaps he misspoke when he said “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” With productions of the scale that take place in Rupp Arena, perhaps it is the ‘people behind the curtain’ who should be given the most attention (except for the event itself of course). When you go to an event keeping the video production in mind, it can seem almost daunting at the amount of well edited videos that are displayed on the LED screens. As a good example, take note of the eRUPPtion Montage I posted up yesterday. Numerous montages like that are made for nearly every event that happens at Rupp Arena (be it a basketball game, concert, truck pull, etc.).

Each event definitely has it’s fair share of video production, but compared to a UK Basketball game, all our other events fall short. Of course that should not discredit the amount of work that goes into each show at Rupp Arena, but is more to emphasizing the amount of video production that goes into a single basketball game. This past Sunday, during Senior Day for UK Basketball, I was able to step inside the video production room and take some photos and a short video. Below is a clip from during the game where there are many tasks being done without a hiccup by our experienced crew.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxtC5Jg_uwQ]

It is one thing to have to produce a bunch of videos for an event and play them in the right order. It is another thing entirely to have to capture and play video on-the-fly, switching between multiple cameras, and getting the best shot for a particular situation. On top of that, there are trivia, montages and replays that have to be done and inserted into the gaps during the game. Not only is this done once, but for every UK Basketball game, men and women. That is a total of twenty-five times just this season.

To get a better sense of being in the room and seeing all the action happen, as well as the many knobs, switches and buttons that I strategically avoided to prevent meltdown, have a look at the Video Production Room set on our Flickr page. There are quite a few shots there for you to feast your eyes on. Next time you attend an event at Rupp Arena, pay attention to the many elements that go into that show. Who knows, if you like the event a lot, maybe you can treat the video production crew to a hotdog from the concessions stand.