SuperSport have recently redesigned and rebuilt their flagship production
centre, Studio 6, just in time for the kick-off of the FIFA World Cup 2014, taking
place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July.
As the country’s premium sports broadcaster prepared for the airing of the
world’s most watched sporting event, the decision was made to completely
refurbish Studio 6, which is the heart of SuperSport’s pre- and post-match,
analysis and entertainment broadcasts. The idea was to give it an entirely new
look and feel that would take the broadcaster forward into the next few years,
as well as adding some technological upgrades.
Bigger, better and more modern
SuperSport called upon award-winning set designer Michael Gill and his team at
Michael Gill Designs to create the new set, asking him to make it “bigger, better
and more technologically advanced,’ to accommodate the growth that
SuperSport has seen over the past few years, the needs that have arisen from
the growth and the current and projected expansion in the broadcaster’s
programming.
“Previously we had just one single set, which had to be used for multiple
purposes, but the thing was that it always looked like one and the same set,’
Gill explains.
“What we have put into the new design is a number of smaller “sets within a
set’, which will each suit different purposes, and look like separate sets while at
the same time still looking very much a part of the bigger picture. On the wide
shot you’ll see the set in its entirety but then we can go in close into the smaller
sets. We have the main presenter set, an entertainment stage and some
interview areas.’ This adds variety and provides for multiple purposes.
“Another thing we’ve added is that now we can shoot 360 degrees around the
set. On the previous design, we could only shoot more or less in one direction
but now, particularly with the interview areas and the entertainment stage, we
can turn around and shoot from the opposite direction, we can reverse shoot,
offering a different background,’ Gill says.
“That’s one of the biggest differences between this set and the previous one,’
adds SuperSport director and producer Ryan Toerien, who is also the project
manager for the construction of the new studio. “Now, from anywhere in the
space, we can shoot in, through or across the set. The number of cameras
hasn’t changed – it’s six or seven cameras – but the versatility of the area has
been dramatically improved. The depth we can achieve through that is just
going to be phenomenal.’
In order to create the aesthetic for the studio, Gill researched the attributes of
stadiums around the world. “Stadiums are common to all sports,’ he says. “I
went and looked at the shapes and designs of stadiums currently in use, as well
as the shape of stadiums to come, so as to future-proof the look of the studio.
So in four years’ time, when the next World Cup rolls around, our set will still
look current. We also have a much cleaner and brighter look as opposed to
what is currently in place.’
Just off the main studio is an enclosed garden area, which many people may
recognise both as the garden for the original Big Brother house and the bush
lodge set that was used in the last Rugby World Cup. This is also being
overhauled, and will suit the new look and feel, as well as offer interview
spaces, and grandstand seating for 60 people.
Augmented reality
No modern sport studio would be complete without the augmented reality (AR)
technologies that are now becoming commonplace in such settings. Studio 6 will
be well-equipped with this technology, courtesy of SuperSport’s partnership
with UK-based graphics company Alston Elliott. Since AR is attached to, and
synched with, the cameras, there is really no need for anything to be built into
the set. All that was required from Gill in this regard was for sufficient space to
be left around the studio for the insertion of AR elements.
“The AR equipment is probably the biggest technology jump in this studio,’
Toerien says. “We’ll be adding all kinds of AR elements into the set. One of the
ideas is to have ticker columns, like you see in American newsrooms with stock
prices. We would have scores and other stats on those. On this area on the
floor in front of the presenters we can create an AR model of the pitch and the
camera will actually go between the players to show the different lines and
movements – defence, attack, midfield. You can put a virtual, full-size, fully
detailed Formula One car here and bring the camera right down onto it on a jib
and examine this virtual car, the wheel, the engine and go all around it. Those
visuals are rendered in 4K so there is so much detail that you can show.’
The studio will also include a new 70-inch touchscreen, a total of 86 monitors, a
new jimmy jib to go with the AR and a substantial amount of new LED lighting
accommodated in a grid that far exceeds in size any previous one in
SuperSport’s studios.
The World Cup and beyond
The new Studio 6 will make its debut during the broadcast of the FIFA World Cup
but is designed to suit all the sports on SuperSport’s schedule. Naturally, all of
the broadcaster’s current efforts are going into preparing for the FIFA event. It
has spared no expense in securing celebrity experts for the tournament.
Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs is among the slate of international
football stars that will be taking their place in Studio 6 to analyse the
tournament as it develops, along with Marcel Desailly of France, former England
and Liverpool left winger John Barnes, Spanish star Gaizka Mendieta and South
African players Andre Arendse, Neil Tovey and Doctor Khumalo.
Next year, the studio will host broadcasts of the Rugby World Cup, the Olympics
in 2016 and so on. “In 2010, we established the new Studio 6 with the legacy of
the World Cup, and all the events that followed took up that legacy,’ says Sifiso
Mbambo, who heads up football programming at SuperSport. “The same thing is
happening now again with the new studio. Studio 6 becomes our nerve centre
with the football and sets the tone for all broadcasts that follow.’
