The Official Bulletin - Quarter 2, 2019

the equipment manufacturers. They’re providing
technology at the request of the client. But
then you have to add in the reality part. A lot
of people would rather push the envelope of
what is possible for one person to do. They’ve
done such a good job with this technology, it’s
almost seamless and that’s the scary part for
the technician.”
One consequence of the explosion of video and audio data
that can be obtained, transmitted and played back at the speed
of light is that some sports networks have established remote
hubs to produce their broadcasts. Rather than sending a truck
to each event covered, they establish central control rooms —
also called bunkers — in one location to handle multiple broadcasts.
In some cases, broadcasters have placed these bunkers
outside the geographic jurisdiction of IATSE contracts and attempted
to staff them on a non-union basis.
“When I work the trucks, our collective bargaining agreement
specifies the number of camera inputs I handle and
matches the wage to the job requirements,” Colwell said.
“None of these standards apply in non-union bunkers. But that
creates organizing opportunities.”
Colwell was a lead organizer in Local 762’s successful
campaign to win representation for technicians at the Big 10
Network’s hub, known as MICR (Multi-Insert Camera Remote).
The workers are now in the process of bargaining their first
contract. “My goal with organizing is open and straightforward,”
he said. “If it’s going to help you, you’ll vote yes. If not, you’ll
vote no. And everybody gets to make that decision — that’s
the wonderful thing about democracy. You supply people with
information and you leave it there. They get to decide.”
Another technological advance in broadcasting — albeit
one with fewer downsides to IATSE members’ work demands
— is the growing use of robotic cameras placed in strategic
locations, such as on top of a basketball backboard, in the
corner of a soccer goal, or flying on cables above a football
field, all placing viewers closer to the action than ever before.
“You can be in a truck or located by the camera to operate
it,” said Jesse Madison, a past Executive Board Member
of Local 745 in Minneapolis and robotic camera operator. “It
depends on the space available. They’re so versatile. You can
put control panels in many different places and you move the
camera with a joystick. Today, there’s usually one or two for a
regional broadcast, and more for national broadcast. The idea
is to get the lens as close to the action as possible.”
Perhaps the biggest breakthrough is the application of virtual
reality technology to create 360 degree, three-dimensional
stop animation. “You place cameras all the way around the field
all working in unison, treating the field as a 3-D box,” he explained.
“In a football game, you can start the play right behind
the quarterback, seeing what he sees as he looks downfield.
Then just as he throws, you freeze frame it and the perspective
circles around to the opposite side of the field. Then you
hit play again and see it continue from a completely different
vantage point.”
This same technology is already being used for virtual reality
applications, placing the viewer right in the middle of the
action. “You set up virtual reality cameras on the baskets and
up against the court,” Madison said. “There are six lenses and
six cameras in one unit. A video operator is correcting images
in real time and stitching them together so you don’t see any
seams. The viewer puts VR goggles on and is right at courtside
with a 360 degree views no matter which way he or she turns.”
Tying all of this together, both literally and figuratively, is
another technological revolution: The rise and ubiquity of fiber
optic cables. “The bandwidth required to transmit an HDTV
digital signal — especially one capable of producing super
slow motion or from a 4K camera — is far greater than traditional
copper wire can handle,” O’Hern said. “You need fiber
optic cable, but this is a completely different beast requiring
very different care and handling. And it’s needed for audio, too.
For example, to broadcast a game at Wrigley field, you have
the announcers’ booth with five microphones, two mics in each
dugout for interviews, and multiple mics around the stadium
to capture the sounds of game. What used to take multiple
cables with multiple feeds can now be handled by two or three
fiber optic cables, which are much lighter and easier to handle
but take a lot more maintenance.
“That’s why the Broadcast Department developed a fiber
optics training course,” O’Hern explained. “And since this technology
is being used not only in broadcast but also in our other
crafts, whenever we offer training in a city, we try to partner
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