Behind the scenes in the FOX Sports Midwest truck

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"Camera 1… ready… TAKE!"
That's director Phil Mollica, telling the operator behind the primary game camera to be ready, because in a split second, that camera angle will be going live to hundreds of thousands of viewers watching the St. Louis Blues hockey game on FOX Sports Midwest or FOX Sports GO.
In fact, those kinds of commands come at a rapid-fire pace for the nearly three-hour game, which often creates a scene of chaos inside the TV truck.

Mollica, along with producer Tim Pabst, leads a crew of approximately 30 people working behind the scenes to get the game on the air. For home games at Scottrade Center, their crew consists of 12 camera operators, a graphics producer, one technical director, a scoreboard operator and a crew of audio engineers, replay editors and more.
Half of that crew works inside the TV truck, which is tucked away under the stands on the event level at Scottrade Center. The other half is scattered throughout the arena, standing behind cameras or sitting in the broadcast booth calling the action.
"The crew in St. Louis, I can't say enough about them. Seriously, they're some of the best in the country and they make me look good," said Mollica, who has been directing Blues games for 17 years. Before that, he directed hockey games for ESPN, Outdoor Life Network (which rebranded to Versus) and eventually, for NBC and the NBC Sports Network. "We have such a great working relationship, we have such a good team. I can't say enough about our producer Tim Pabst - I've never had a producer that I've enjoyed working with more. And the announcers - John Kelly and Darren Pang - our group is amazing!"
A lot happens before the game goes on the air. In the mornings, Mollica and Pabst sit down with Kelly and Pang to discuss the hockey storylines they will feature in the game.
Which players will they highlight? What video packages will they show? Which player is on a hot streak? Who will be interviewed on the bench prior to the game?
In the afternoon, they meet with the rest of the crew to discuss those storylines and what they need to be ready for.
"My role is pretty vast. I'm in charge of preparing for the game," said Pabst, who has been producing Blues games since the 1997-98 season. "That includes getting all the sponsorship information from the office, organizing the promotional items and any other storylines that develop that we want to show the fans for a given game. We have a rough game plan in place for what we think is going to happen, but what I've learned in my many years of doing this is once the puck drops, anything can happen. Once the game starts, I follow the trends of the game and support that through video, replays and graphics."
Check out the clips below for a glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes in the TV truck during a 4-1 St. Louis Blues win against the Vancouver Canucks on March 23.

ON THE AIR IN 3…2…1…

Pabst (left) and Mollica sit in front of an entire wall of TV monitors as the game gets ready to go on the air at 7 p.m. Pabst counts down to when they go on the air, and the FOX Sports Midwest intro graphic rolls before a pre-prepared video package opens the broadcast.
With the open rolling, Pabst and Mollica begin to plot out what camera angles they'll use to start the game. They begin with an exterior view of Scottrade Center while intermission host Scott Warmann introduces viewers to the game and a graphic showing the standings.
As Warmann speaks, Mollica puts Kelly and Pang on alert - we're coming to you, next.
Notice the in-arena lights go out while the camera is focused on Pang. The crew has to make adjustments as a result.
Watch: Youtube Video

THE OPENING FACEOFF

The players line up for the opening faceoff, but the TV truck and a whole crew of camera operators are ready long before that. Notice how quickly the broadcast goes from a graphic about the starting goalies, to a tight shot of a Blues player, to the main game camera in just a matter of seconds.
The top monitor director above Mollica (right) is what viewers are seeing at home. Below that, the many different monitors show him all the angles he has from his camera operators and/or footage from his replay editors.
Pabst (left) is responsible for coordinating the replays, and you'll notice there's a stoppage in play early in the game and Pabst is ready for it. "Curly" is the name of a replay angle he wants to use - and you'll hear him call for it at the 28-second mark of this video.
Watch: Youtube Video

BERGLUND SCORES

Patrik Berglund scores in the opening minutes, and as it always does when a goal is scored, chaos ensues in the truck.
Mollica is choosing his angles - in this case, he leaves the primary game action camera in favor of camera eight, which shows a close up of Berglund and the Blues celebrating on the ice. Then he switches to a close up of Canucks goalie Anders Nilsson digging the puck out of his net. Then he's back to a camera that follows Berglund as he flys by the bench to high-five his teammates.
Meanwhile, Pabst is on the headset talking to his replay crew, making sure to build the perfect replay package to show Berglund's goal from all angles.
Watch: Youtube Video

A COMMERCIAL BREAK

Pabst counts down to the first commercial break, and while the viewers back home patiently wait, the crew gets to work prepping to return.
Julie McQueen, who produces graphics for the broadcast, begins preparing a graphic showing the Blues' stats during a previous cold stretch vs. their stats during their current four-game winning streak. As McQueen builds the graphic, Pabst talks to Pang over the headset to tell him to be ready to provide analysis for that graphic when the commercial break ends.
It all plays out exactly as they planned it.
Watch: Youtube Video

THE FOX BOX

The scoreboard you see on the top left of your screen - called the FOX Box - is operated by one person in the truck. He or she is sitting in front of a computer, managing nearly every aspect of the scoreboard as it happens.
When the Blues score, that person is responsible for updating the score. When the Blues go on the power play, they highlight that so fans can see how much time is remaining in the man-advantage back home. When the period ends, they update the FOX Box to say "End of 1."
You get the picture - and the score - all thanks to this person.

SING US A SONG, DIRECTOR MAN

Amidst all the chaos, the crew in the truck somehow finds time to keep it light. In this case, it's when Mollica breaks into song - much to the enjoyment (but mostly not) of the entire broadcast crew.
Mollica's song of choice is the 1987 hit Luka by Suzanne Vega, and he doesn't really know the words.
My name is Luka,I live on the second floor,I live upstairs from you,Yes I think you've seen me before
Watch: Youtube Video
Watch: Youtube Video

SPECIAL GUEST(S) INTERVIEW

During a commercial break, reporter Andy Strickland tells Pabst that he has an interview lined up with USA Paralympic athletes Steve Cash, Josh Pauls and Billy Hanning, who had recently won gold medals in the sled hockey paralympic games.
As Pabst coordinates everything, it's Mollica who is planning every detail - like how the interview will begin tight on the USA jersey and the medal, and pulls back to reveal the athletes.
The crew initiates a split-screen as the action resumes on the ice. Eventually, Pabst has to tell Strickland to wrap up the interview because another commercial break is coming up.
Watch: Youtube Video

THE FINAL BUZZER

One major observation when watching the game from inside the TV truck is that the crew doesn't seem to "feel" the game. They can't turn their heads to follow the action - they only see what the camera crew is showing them - and it's hard to grasp the atmosphere and the crowd noise when you're in a sound-proof semi-truck trailer.
But most of the crew actually prefers watching the game inside the truck.
"I think we see more of the game than anybody," Mollica said. "We have more angles than anyone has at home and can see more than fans can see at the game. There are some nights I miss not going to games as a fan, but to be honest with you, I enjoy watching games on TV... To me, it's not really work. I love going to my job. How many people can say they love going to their job? Seriously, we have the best job ever."