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Many noted yesterday evening, a strange production trick on the broadcast, when the Braves came up and in with a heater that Alonso had to duck away from. The director cut to a camera shot of Buck with his all-business scowl tightening up, and they put a hot red filter over the shot and played an eerie music cue that sounded like demonic rage.
In the spirit of the Lou Brock graphic of underlining an ongoing broadcast theme, it was certainly clever and inventive, but I think it came up short because it missed on tone. Sure, Buck's grumbly slow-burn is funny. But it's sort of funny after the fact. In the moment, you're wondering if (a) somebody just got seriously hurt, or (b) somebody's about to get they ass kicked. Serious shit. Part of the viewer is burning along with Buck.
A few minutes later, when tensions may have released some, or maybe in a jomboy post-game wrap, yeah, it's fun to laugh in retrospect at somebody's game face and have fun with editing. But at the moment, it was quite a WTF moment, more in a class with that time somebody in the truck took a Family Guy soundbite about the season being over from the first pitch, than it was with the Lou Brock blip.
But hey, here's to taking a chance, thinking outside the box, and making the broadcast a little more distinct from the pack.
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