Screen play a winner at
It takes two dozen employees and a well-orchestrated plan to operate the scoreboard that keeps Leafs and Raptors fans informed and entertained
Joffrey Lupul snaps home a onetimer from the edge of the goal crease, lifting everyone in the Air Canada Centre to their feet with a collective roar. Well, almost everyone. Inside the control room for the arena’s massive scoreboard, it’s a much quieter scene. A calm voice issues instructions into a headset. Keyboards are tapped. Large switches are flipped. Dials are quickly turned and pushed.
Barely a minute passes between Lupul’s goal and the resumption of play. But during that time, two dozen men and women come together behind the scenes with an efficiency and teamwork matching what the Maple Leafs just showed on the ice to open the game’s scoring.
The result is a rush of sights and sounds — from spotlights, exploding graphics and replays of four different camera angles, to a horn, the goal song “Turbulence” by Steve Aoki and Laidback Luke and the familiar baritone voice of public address announcer Andy Frost.
All fans’ needs are available, in real time. All they need to do is look up.
“Our goal is to enhance the experience fans have at a live event,” said Jim Steele, the director of live production and venue technology with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Leafs, the Raptors, Toronto FC and the Air Canada Centre. “And we use technology to do it.” The focal point of the technology is the $6-million scoreboard. It features a four-sided set of screens that are five metres wide and three metres high as well as four other sets of smaller screens, which over the course of a game do everything from push products to display the score and tell fans when to cheer.
The Star spent Wednesday afternoon and evening with the ACC’s live production crew, 23 people who while out of view give life to the scoreboard and all other non-game electronic entertainment the 19,000-plus fans instinctively look to immediately after each whistle.
“Every game is some fan’s first game and maybe their only game,” David August, the manager of venue technology and production with MLSE, said before the Leafs dumped the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. “And we want to make sure it’s special for them.”
The show begins when the doors open an hour before the opening faceoff. But for the crew, which is centred in the south-end gondola on the sixth floor of the ACC, the day starts long before the fans, or even the players, get to the rink.
Game operations is the stage manager of this production. They provide a rundown, or script, which breaks down the evening into blocks as small as 30 seconds and details what’s to happen pre-game, during in-game commercial breaks and at intermissions. The live production crew is responsible for executing the technology within that plan. It requires videos, still pictures and graphics to be prepared in advance that day, operators of the six in-house cameras to be briefed on the location and timing of planned contests and video montages such as Kiss Cam and an electronics engineer to make sure everything keeps running. Just like on the stage, this is a live production. Anything can happen. Early in the first period, the script calls for four randomly chosen fans to participate in a contest impersonating play-by-play man Joe Bowen’s catchphrase “Holy Mackinaw!” But as director Ian MacMillan prepares to throw to it at the next commercial break, he’s told the contestants aren’t ready. He audibles, and an item scheduled for later in the period is moved up. But before that can happen, Lupul scores. “I’ve heard it described by some as controlled chaos,” MacMillan said. “We have a plan setting out specific duties, but then if something happens, we just have to adapt. “The best situation for us is when the game takes over.” And on this night, the game sets an upbeat tone. The Leafs are in command throughout and the team’s five-game losing streak ends. When Nikolai Kulemin makes it 4-0 near the middle of the second period, the goal celebration graphic atop the scoreboard features Leafs mascot Carlton the Bear dressed as a Jedi Knight and using his lightsaber to cut the Lightning logo to pieces. During one break, the crowd laughs as the song “Dream Weaver” is accompanied by live camera shots of fans with “dream bubbles” above their heads thinking random thoughts. Later, a stirring rendition of “The Maple Leaf Forever” is played as pictures and video of some of the team’s greatest players flash on the big screen. Finally, the show ends with live video and graphics for the game’s three stars — all Leafs on this night — and a comprehensive highlight package accompanied by the music of organist Jimmy Holmstrom. Post game, many of the crew quickly file out. They will return to the ACC for Friday’s Raptors game and Saturday’s Leafs tilt. “We strive to excite every fan,” August said.