10 hours ago
1
Mets fans are paying plenty of attention to the man-power behind the curtain.
Although the Amazins’ on-field play is anything but classic lately, the SNY production team is going viral for its jaw-dropping in-game cinematography that mimics scenes from iconic films like “The Wizard of Oz” and “Planet of the Apes.”
The cinematic sorcerers of Citi Field, the SportsNet New York crew is enjoying a moment of extra virality in its 20th season as fans soak in the movie magic peppered throughout the telecast — a trend the team is dubbing #baseballiscinema.
“You want the show to be the main event, and I’m told that some of the devices that we have implemented sort of make baseball the primetime main event,” John DeMarsico, SNY’s broadcast director, told The Post.
“It’ll give people a reason to tune in other than just the X’s and O’s that they’re going to get with our great broadcast as it is.”
SNY has long been considered the best sports broadcasting network in the game, but viewers have recently caught on to some extra flair thrown in between plays, including many moments that eagle-eyed fans have noticed are nods to silver screen classics such as “Kill Bill.”
This season alone, SNY referenced the moment Dorothy walked into the colorful world of Oz by transitioning relief pitcher Edwin Díaz out of black and white as he stormed the field from the bullpen. The team also pointed to the shocking ending of the original “Planet of the Apes” by filming the field from behind a fan’s foam Statue of Liberty headband.
SNY innovators developed a three-player split screen that mimicked the climax moment of the 2024 “Challengers” blockbuster.
The genius comes directly from DeMarsico, a self-described “film buff” and baseball nerd.
“It’s me consuming way too much film,” he said. “I’m not a passive viewer — when I see something on the big screen or watching at home, I literally take out my phone, take a note, take a screenshot and put it in my back pocket for something that may come up later.”
DeMarsico added that he has notebooks stacked with future ideas.
Technical Director Seth Zwiebel creates the effect and plugs it into his massive control center and is at the ready to deploy it at the perfect moment — which sometimes means keeping the bullet in the chamber for months.
The Post was invited to Queens Thursday to witness the magic unfold inside an unassuming, slender production truck stationed behind Citi Field, which is outfitted with dozens of tiny TV screens streaming the action on the diamond.
Inside, a team of eight, led by DeMarsico and Senior Coordinating Producer Gregg Picker, fervently make calls as fast-paced as the game they are blasting out to millions of viewers.
Picker serves as the “coach” and DeMarsico the “quarterback,” the veteran producer explained.
Picker cultivates the overall vision for the program — a job that includes queuing up player packages for broadcasters Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen to chat about in the booth — while DeMarsico executes which shots are aired and when.
The team speaks their own language in the production truck, and the members can cut through the constant chatter coming through their headphones to smoothly translate otherwise nonsensical orders like “ready 4, take 4,” or “dissolve gold” into the television show streamed live.
It’s a collaborative effort, referencing former Mets’ pitcher Ron Darling’s famous phrase: “It takes a village.”
“The exact same connectivity that you see with teams that have played together for years and years, whether it’s baseball or football or whatever it is, we’re the same as a team on the field,” Picker said.
“And I’m proud of that.”
The team described the energy in the truck as “kinetic” and one that encourages creative risks — something that has bled over to the camera crew.
While it typically takes weeks for DeMarsico’s film reference ideas to be utilized, ones taken by the videographers in the heat of the game are pounced on — and have gone viral in their own right.
At Thursday’s game, SNY cut to one incredible shot of the field being portrayed through a fan’s eyeglasses as he unwittingly watched on — an angle DeMarsico saw come through on the feed and broadcasted during a brief lull in the game.
The point is to take advantage of unique opportunities — like when a cameraman noticed a pink heart-shaped balloon romantically floating across the waxing moon during golden hour, or days later when the team perfectly overlayed a shot of the full moon onto a baseball lying on the field.
“How can you not be romantic about baseball?” DeMarsico wrote in a tweet that garnered the attention of film director Edgar Wright and even film-based social media app Letterboxd.
The goal for every telecast is to offer fresh ideas that stimulate the diverse array of viewers and, more importantly, get people into the game.
“You never want to force things down people’s throat. … But sometimes we do some things just to sort of jar people out of their seats once in a while,” said DeMarsico.
The production gang is always searching for something unique in its pregame, whether it’s the cinematic camera angles, running a 50-year-old clip of Bath Ruth, or a surprise interview with ex-Met Jose Reyes.
“Baseball is a sport that affords us … the opportunity to try stuff and to hold the viewers for as long as possible, because that’s ultimately our goal,” added Picker.
And most importantly — keeping on par with the Mets well-loved history of whimsey — the SNY team is always looking to have fun.
“The most important thing that we all try to do is do one extraordinary thing every broadcast,” Picker continued, “find time to laugh every broadcast and have some fun and constantly push one another past our comfort zones.”
English (US)