U.S. Open Tennis for ESPN
Sports Commentary
FLDA has been lighting the US Open Tennis Coverage for ESPN for a number of years now. In addition to the exterior desk for the ESPN commentators there are a multitude of satellite locations they light for other networks including ITV, WOWOW, and SKY Sports. Since all the backgrounds for these sets are exteriors it was important to balance the lighting of the talent against the wide-open background. A challenge was that ESPN shoots in High-Definition and does not like the look of using a net in back of the commentators, a practice often employed to reduce the amount of light in the background. Without the net behind the setup Ferri and the FLDA team had to overcome the noonday sun and ensure that the commentators were lit brightly enough so that they would pop out from the outdoor background.
Press Release - 2014
New York, NY — Ferri Lighting Design & Associates (FLDA) announced that it has designed and installed 100% outdoor LED lighting setups for ESPN’s 2014 U.S. Open telecasts. The expanded installation includes four outdoor locations, which include the ESPN Domestic and International announce booths; and three locations in the main stadium at the U.S. Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens in New York City.
The FLDA design for ESPN is notable for its ability to leverage a green production standard, using a completely LED installation, and creating enough light to counteract the sun’s brightness for the outdoor interview set. This year marks the sixth U.S. Open that FLDA has collaborated on with ESPN.
“The U.S. Open has been a mainstay for our production schedule the past sixteen years, with a few different cable networks, but ESPN has always been very receptive to breaking new ground with production technology, and it is this mind-set that has helped deliver an all-LED set,” said Mick Smith, lighting designer. “We have learned, over the past few years, how to use LED lighting to augment our design so that we can maximize the firepower of lighting to work with the power of natural sunlight. This year, I feel that – with ESPN – we have laid the foundation for a new outdoor lighting paradigm.”
FLDA’s Emmy Award-winning team has achieved renown for its sports studio installations over the years, including multiple designs for ESPN, and for NBC Sports and the MLB Network, among others.
“We have a strong working relationship with ESPN, and have been proud of our work for them, so it makes sense that we would have the opportunity to create the first all-LED outdoor set of this kind for them,” said Bruce Ferri, CEO and founder of FLDA.
Source: http://soundandpicture.com/2014/09/flda-serves-led-lighting-espns-u-s-open-telecasts/#prettyPhoto