What it takes to broadcast an IPL match

The production room looks like a cobweb of wires. They run over your head, beneath your feet and one has to be careful to avoid tripping over. But once you enter the room, the high-tech equipment is simply mind-boggling.

We first visit the director’s desk. He takes the call on what appears on your television screen. In front on him is a giant screen, and eight small screens providing different angles from 28 cameras, including the spyder cam in the stadium.

"Out of the 28 cameras, 14 are handled manually," informs cameraman Tony Bennet, popularly known as Tex in the IMG production crew. The director is connected to all the cameramen in the stadium through walkie-talkies, instructing them what shots are required. We then move where sound engineers are testing their equipments before start of the play at the Wankhede Stadium. There are tons of wires everywhere and the engineers are rushing to get everything tested. They capture the slightest sound to the crowd cheering in order to enable you to get a stadium-like experience in your living room.

It\'s an exciting job for the 50-odd production crew, who capture memorable moments for life.

Men at work

Tex then takes us to the six-member AVS team. They are the ones who show us the replays and simultaneously work on the highlights package which is beamed worldwide as soon as the innings is over. They also work on best catches, wickets and best batting packages. Their challenge is to fit it all in a given time frame.

We then move on to the graphics team, who are busy preparing players’ statistics, team logos, etc. They show us how everything is complied and accommodated into their design.

The brightness and contrast is different for every camera, so to avoid the fluctuation in the colour tone on your screen. It is here that vision engineer Julio Costa comes into play.

His six-member team ensures all cameras are in sync with respect to brightness. They are on their toes throughout the match, constantly monitoring the light factor. It's an exciting job for the 50-odd production crew, who capture memorable moments for life.

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