Fox Sports MLB Director Bill Webb Says Emotions Rule During World Series
Baseball is considered one of the most difficult sports to direct, as the ball can go in a myriad of directions and plays on the field can develop in multiple points at the same time. So when it comes to defining a directing philosophy Bill Webb, Fox Sports baseball director, keeps it simple. “Video always follows audio,” says Webb. “All I am doing is backing up what our announce team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are saying and enhancing it.”
Fox Sports MLB Director Bill Webb says the key to a solid broadcast is delivering images that follow the story being told by Joe Buck (left) and Tim McCarver (right).
With approximately 20 cameras at his disposal and top-quality audio Webb says sometimes the best shots can simply be a matter of luck, like last night’s homerun by Alex Rodriguez that hit the camera located in the left field corner. “You can have a camera set up that doesn’t get any great shots for a couple of games and then all of a sudden it will have five great replays.”
The xMo super slow-motion system is a perfect example of a tool whose effectiveness is slave to where it can be put. Some stadiums do not have room behind home plate so the system can often find itself along the first base line. “Sometimes we luck out and sometimes we don’t,” says Webb.
During the ALCS Championship Series that luck struck during game three in Anaheim. “We happened to be in the right place at the right time,” recalls Webb.
With a wealth of bells and whistles at his disposal Webb cautions that sometimes those toys can get in the way of telling the story. “Viewers may like them the first time but then the toys become redundant,” he says. “The best way to cover baseball is to cover the baseball game. And the only real difference between a regular season game and the World Series is it’s more emotional. You need to make sure the technology never gets in the way of showing that emotion.”
But Webb does have one toy on his wish list. “I would love to have the ability to zoom in on something like the foot touching first base without having the video quality deteriorate,” says Webb.
