In the Studio

The Director’s Chair


The director’s video board may seem like a chaotic jumble of screens, but in reality it is a meticulously organized overview of an entire broadcast.

To understand all of the facets of a typical sports production, one should first see the viewpoint from the director’s chair. Here, in the chair, the director can see every inch of the game and decides what the audience is able to view.


Every row of crew-members is organized by division: Executive, Graphics, and Replay.

Countless voices from every crew-member are ringing in his head and to an untrained ear, it resembles the sound of a beehive in a hailstorm.

Visually, there are around fifty screens, two feet from his face, and each shows the game from a different angle.

The challenge is deciphering the beehive, and using each shot carefully, to add another brushstroke in the masterpiece of the broadcast.


The replay department requires quick reflexes and skilled timing so that the audience can always relive that amazing dunk from the best angles.

Each screen corresponds to a particular camera or in-studio department such as replay or graphics machines.

The director must micro-manage each system to ensure that his vision for the game is executed flawlessly.

But there is hardly ever a game with no flaws due to the complexity of each station.

The Handheld Camera sits along the baseline, usually next to the goal. This camera is where posterizing dunks are most beautifully seen.

No matter how hard the director tries, at one point in the game there will be a misplaced camera, an incorrect statistic, or a microphone left open by an audio technician.

The “Slash Cam” is notorious for its spectacular angle of the court. It is consistently used to show highlights and can occasionally be used as an alternative to the traditional “Game Cam” angle.

Therefore, the greatest directors are not made by their lack of errors, but how they respond from them.

Managing all of these responsibilities may seem like a daunting task, but to a trained mind, it is just another day in the director’s chair.