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Saturday night.

Classic day.

As we approach nine o'clock at night and the

Real Madrid and Barcelona

footballers

finish their warm-up before the classic, the more than

600 million spectators

waiting for the start of the game are on television with the image of the sun descending between the

four towers of Madrid

.

A shot that would be impossible from the

Santiago Bernabéu

, further south of

Chamartín

, but that is perfectly executed from the

'Beauty

'

camera

if

placed in a

crane at 25 meters

tall in the

Alfredo Di Stéfano

, in perfect line between the sun and the tallest buildings in the city.

Saturday morning

.

Classic day.

That sunset is one of the most special circumstances highlighted by the managers and operators of

Mediapro

when they receive EL MUNDO at Di Stéfano, while they work on the preparations for the most atypical classic in recent years.

How to organize the overproduction of the most followed football match in the world, in the smallest stadium in the entire Santander League, in the middle of a pandemic?

"It's crazy. Being without an audience is like taking an arm off you," he told this newspaper.

Oscar Lago

, Head of Production of Mediapro, within "one of the best mobile units in the world".

4K, HDR technology, access to all 30 cameras

that surround the Di Stéfano, "many millions" of spending so that everything is perfect and a

severe Covid protocol

.

"The mobile units are the greatest danger that we have here due to the virus. The others are cameras that are outdoors. We have not had a single outbreak in all these months," say health officials.

A couple of years ago, LaLiga announced an investment of 30 million in "new technologies" such as 4K or the tactical camera.

Everything was yesterday in Valdebebas, where those responsible manage to try to make the spectators forget the stadium they are in.

"Is about

turn this stadium into a First

.

We changed the camera shots and placed some in the stands so as not to give the impression of a small field.

Opposite, the

virtual stand

, that there comes a time that

make the spectator forget that the stands are empty

", summarizes Lago. Of course, in Di Stéfano practically the same cameras have been used as if the game had been played at the Bernabéu: 30 in total." 10 more than in a normal league game.

In a Champions League final we can reach 35 or 40, but this is a first-rate production. "

A 35,000 euro drone

From the main control all the 'additions' that the broadcast has are coordinated: from the virtual stand to the

data graphism

, which is done live thanks to the platform '

Mediacoach

', which accumulates the data of each footballer and action and transforms them into graphs at the moment.

The number of

corners at the near post

, penalties scored, side by which a team attacks more ... Everything appears on the pitch of the television.

"The only thing that we have not been able to use has been the camera that goes with ropes over the field, due to lack of height, nor the one of the helicopter due to its proximity to Barajas."

This detail of the airport has forced Mediapro to request all the possible paperwork to use a drone that would fly over the stadium.

An apparatus of

35,000 euros, 4.5 kilos

and that with the current regulations it can ascend up to 120 meters high.

"We are in constant contact with the police and the control tower, it is geolocated and has the daily flight plan," Jesus Yunta, head of the service, explains to EL MUNDO.

The drone even has a parachute to avoid scares like the one experienced a few weeks ago in San Mamés: "

If there is a hostile drone, it can be inhibited

".

Foquistas and a harness for a 30 kg camera

Once near the lawn, the Di Stéfano becomes a cinema set for the classic.

"There are 30 camera positions and between 16 and 18 microphones. This is a challenge," says Sergio Sánchez, head of television production at LaLiga.

Among the trucks can be distinguished

two whole vehicles for the VAR

, which has access to the 30 available cameras.

"Although normally with 7-8 the decision is assured", remembers Sánchez.

Among the 30 cameras, the 4 ultra-slow, the 6 super-slow, the four tracking coaches and stars stand out (

Benzema and Messi

yesterday), the '

Pole cam

'from behind the goal for "

live the area life

", the '

Fam Cam

', to which the footballers go after scoring a goal and which "has created closeness between the public and the players", and the film camera, a spoiled child of overproduction.

A camera that LaLiga began using after observing how it was used in the

NFL

and that focuses the main shot and blurs the rest creating a movie-like feel.

Its premiere this year has been a success and for the Classic they have brought two for the first time.

Each one costs

200,000 euros

, weight

30 kilos

and the operator wears it tied in a harness on the back and hip while moving throughout the band.

"It is about transferring what nobody can see," he explains.

Diego Miralles placeholder image

, Director of Special Chambers of Mediapro.

To work with this camera they have had to hire focusers, professionals specialized in film and television and who for the first time have had to adapt to the sport.

"You already know me. The important thing is to anticipate you.

Luis Suárez at the Wanda I yelled at him to come and celebrate on my camera

", jokes Manu, operator." The players are marketing factories, they look for these cameras because they are good for social networks, "says Óscar Lago, who assures that they implemented this camera for video games:"

They are like Play Station images

It has influenced us, of course.

Viewers associate it with that. "

"I am the hobby"

One of the great handicaps of soccer during the pandemic has been the sound.

With the fields empty, the beautiful game has lost some of its charm, but

Dani

, Mediapro 'sampler', work so that doesn't happen: "

I am the hobby

"He jokes. On his computer are all the ambient and amateur audios that are heard on television.

20 individual folders

full of files from the 20 LaLiga teams.

Some tracks recorded before the pandemic and that Mediapro gave to

FIFA video game

, and that now he has recovered to try to make a more real football.

Every time something happens on the pitch, the 'sampler' decides what it sounds like:

applause, atmosphere, ovation, "oops!", goals

... "While everyone is silent I am in the middle of the virtual stands going crazy," says Dani.

Ambient sound audio, for example, is a

three minute track

which is repeated incessantly during the game, it has 12 clips for applause, 4 for goals ... And also for the visitors: "I don't think I've ever seen a job like this."

"

No boos

", Yes indeed.

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