The folks at Fox began game planning for Super Bowl XLV before Cowboys Stadium was off the drawing board. The network, which televises NFC games, knew it would be its turn to air the year's most watched event in 2011 and senior producer Bill Brown said preparations were made easier because Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is perhaps the most TV-friendly owner in the National Football League.
Brown said that Fox was consulted on camera placements and given other considerations when the layout of the stadium was being configured. And after having broadcast Cowboys games last season and this, there is a familiarity with Jerry's Place that is invaluable.
As with all Super Bowl productions no matter which network is showing it, Fox will throw all its resources at enhancing the presentation, although Brown said it is not "a macho thing," but aimed at providing superior coverage of the game for football fans and non-fans who watch the Super Bowl.
Whereas most regular season games use 12 cameras, Brown said 24 will be used for Super Bowl XLV and that producers will build up to that number during the playoffs instead of simply having twice as many cameras on Super Sunday. He said that in addition to three main field cameras on each 30 yard line and at midfield, Fox will have a robotic camera on each goal line so that viewers will have a head-on view of the end zone and be able to determine whether the ball broke the plane for a touchdown.
There will also be a robotic camera on facade of each zone zone that will give a clear view of the sidelines. These cameras are expected to more clearly show whether a player has stepped out of bounds before getting both feet in, and whether he had possession of the ball as he went out of bounds.
"We want to get questions answered and the officials will have access to all our replays," Brown said. "We're covering the game, not showing off new toys."
The big attraction at Cowboys Stadium in the super-sized video screen, and oddly, the replays fans customarily see during regular season games are not necessarily the ones provided by the network. "Every stadium now has its own TV control room and does its own production," Brown said. "But they can use our replays too."
What might also surprise fans is that the NFL employs its own producer and director during the halftime show, and has its own camera placements. Once again, although it can also employ the network's cameras.
Fox will have seven production trucks situated under the stadium. It will have an outdoor set in parking lot 5 for its Fox NFL Sunday pre-game show featuring Curt Menefee, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw. But then the commentators will move inside where one of the end zone field level suites will be converted to an indoor set. Fox pregame show starts at 1 p.m. CST. The game will start about 5:20 p.m.
Fox will also have its red carpet for celebrities and dignitaries set up at the NFL's big tailgate party the morning of the game, although Ryan Seacrest will not be the host this year because of a previous engagement. No one has yet been named. Brown said that because of fly over restrictions imposed for security reasons by Homeland security, he is hopeful that the network will be able to put one of its cameramen in a police helicopter for aerial views of Cowboys Stadium even though the roof will be closed.
Pete Alfano
