NFL Films
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NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows. Founded as Blair Motion Pictures by Ed Sabol in 1962, and now run by his son Steven Sabol, it is currently owned by the NFL.
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[edit] Founding
Founder Ed Sabol was a World War II veteran who worked selling topcoats after returning back to the United States. In his spare time, he often used a motion picture camera, received as a wedding gift, to record his son Steven’s high school football games. Inspired by his own work, Sabol founded a small film company named Blair Motion Pictures, after his daughter. Sabol won the bidding for the rights to film the 1962 NFL championship game for $3,000, double the bid for the 1961 championship game. The film of that game impressed NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who asked the owners of the NFL to agree to buy out Sabol's company. Although the owners rejected Rozelle's proposal in 1964, they agreed a year later and renamed Sabol's company NFL Films. He received $12,000 in seed money from each of the league's 14 owners, and in return would shoot all NFL games and produce a highlight film for each team. [1] [2]
[edit] Style
Much has been made of the style that NFL Films produces. All follow certain patterns: they are always shot on film, they have one camera dedicated entirely to slow motion shots, they have microphones on the sidelines and near the field to pick up both the sound of the game as well as the talk on the sidelines, and use narrators with deep and powerful baritone voices, such as Harry Kalas and the famous John Facenda, who some called "The Voice of God." The style has been called tight on the spiral, a reference to the frequently-used slow-motion shot of the spinning football as it travels from the quarterback's hand to the receiver. NFL Films also dub sound bites of local radio broadcasts over key plays, because radio announcers are typically more enthusiastic about their home team than network television broadcasters. In addition, NFL Films often use multiple camera angles, muscular orchestral scores provided by Sam Spence, Dave Robidoux and Tom Hedden and film of the players and coaches in the locker room after the game. Many say that through the use of these techniques NFL Films turns football games into forms which almost mimic ballet, opera, and epic battle stories.[3]
[edit] Television programs
NFL Films produces the Greatest Moments series, which details classic games from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; the Lost Treasures series, which uses old NFL Films footage which had previously never been shown on television to give an inside and largely uncut look at football players, coaches, and referees; and NFL Films Presents, which shows games of today that NFL Films produces in their traditional, dramatic style. They appear on either ESPN or the NFL Network.
Also, NFL Films' game highlights are a staple of HBO's Inside the NFL.
NFL Films is famous for producing annual highlight films for each team. If the team had a good year the film reveled in each victory while if the team had a bad year a viewer would never be able to tell that from the highlight film.
The Sabols' have used NFL Films to showcase their excellent senses of humor, as in the "Football Follies" series. The Follies used blooper plays, outtakes and silly narration.
[edit] Success
Although NFL Films earns more than $50 million in revenue a year and is expanding at a double digit rate, compared to the $18 billion in revenue that the NFL earns from television alone, most consider this to be minor.[4] The real value of NFL Films is how it packages and sells the game and many credit it as a key reason that the NFL has become the most watched league in the United States.
In addition to covering the National Football League, NFL Films has also ventured into other unrelated documentary films, such as documenting the Munich Olympics incident for one of NBC's Olympics telecasts, and serving as back-up film photography for other major events. It also produced the video for Journey's 1983 hit single "Faithfully".
NFL Films has made the National Football League the second-most documented subject on film behind World War II.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/26/60II/main595946.shtml
- ^ http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/managing/articles/0,15114,361371,00.html
- ^ http://www.techcentralstation.com/013004A.html
- ^ http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/managing/articles/0,15114,361371,00.html
- ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/26/60II/main595946.shtml
