E:60 Liberian Amputee Soccer tes feat. Nas

E:60 Liberian Amputee Soccer Tease feat. Nas from E60 on Vimeo.

Tuesday May 4th E:60 presents the story of the Liberian Amputee Soccer Team, featuring narration and music by Nas.

Second Impact

Sports Science and Second Impact from E60 on Vimeo.

Last November, LaSalle University in Philadelphia settled a multi-million dollar civil lawsuit brought by a former football player. His name is Preston Plevretes, and his story highlights in vivid detail the dangers of athletes playing with concussions that have not yet healed.

The 24-year-old suffered a devastating brain injury, called Second Impact Syndrome, more than four years ago. His story highlights the need for athletic programs to treat brain injuries seriously.

To examine exactly what happened when Plevretes was hit by a Duquesne University player back on November 5, 2005, E:60 reporter Tom Farrey traveled to the Sport Science lab in Burbank, CA and met with John Brenkus. Farrey brought that actual helmet Plevretes was wearing in that game. Brenkus and his team analyzed the play that nearly killed the six-foot-two, 230-pound linebacker. They recreated the forces at work by having Jamal Allen, a former San Jose State football player, strike a crash test dummy approximately the same height and weight as Plevretes.

To learn about what Sport Science found, tune in on May 4, 2010, to ESPN’s primetime newsmagazine, E:60, to watch Preston Plevretes’ compelling story of lessons learned.

Art of the Reveal

In the morning producer T. Sean Herbert showed colleagues a rough cut of his feature about Preston Plevretes, a college football player whose career was cut short in 2005 by Second Impact Syndrome – brain damage from a second concussion that occurs before a first one has healed.

The E:60 staff wanted more details on the game, the surgery, context on similar injuries,  and involvement of team trainer and physician.  It wanted more of Plevretes after the injury and fewer ‘specialty’ shots.

Someone suggested a “reveal” – an editing technique in which crucial information is withheld until the middle or end for a surprise.

A reveal was used in the E:60 investigation of retired wide receiver Marvin Harrison, and his alleged role in the shooting death of Dwight Dixon.   E:60 built its piece on a 2009 interview with Dixon, and then revealed that Dixon later was gunned down in North Philadelphia.

Herbert used a reveal in his 2008 feature on MMA fighter Lee Murray, which held back that Murray was the mastermind of a bank heist in England and had fled to Morocco.  In his piece on sprinter Oscar Pistorius the reveal was that Pistorius was a double amputee.

“It’s a tool to keep the viewers interested because the story is being told in an unpredictable fashion,” Herbert said.

In the afternoon Herbert huddled with editor Andre “Dre” Ninchritz over the suggested changes.  Herbert also consulted with reporter Tom Farrey.

They decided to go with a reveal.  Ninchritz began the search for pictures and sound to fill the front of the piece vacated by the information to be withheld until later. 

Herbert’s ‘reveal’ won’t be revealed here – you have to watch May 4.  That’s my reveal.

Posted by Steve Marantz, April 26, 2010

Scratch tracks for Nas.

The MC drops by the edit suite Monday afternoon. After watching the piece, Nas takes 20 minutes for his voice over.  Not giving anything away yet. But trust me, you'll want to hear him.

Michael Jordan's Race Team

Frame by frame, producer Matt Rissmiller built his feature on Michael Jordan’s motorcycle race team.

The basic story was laid out in a day and a half.  Now, in the fourth day of edit, Rissmiller and editor Paul Carruthers hurried to complete a rough cut to show supervisors.

About three minutes into the 10-minute feature Jordan’s introduction to the sport is explained. The section involves Hannah Storm’s interview with Jordan. Three cameras had been deployed.  The “A” camera, a traditional shot without production equipment in the frame, had been on Jordan. The “B” camera, a/k/a “Rover”, had moved to several positions and captured wide shots that included production equipment and monitors. The “C” camera had been on Storm.

Why three?

“ If during an interview the subject is describing a story that takes him or her five minutes to tell you can cut up the answer,” Rissmiller said.  “So you would use maybe one or two sentences on the A Cam and then you can cut to the B Cam later in the story as long as their inflection sounds natural.  This allows you to condense the story. 

“ If you had just one camera focused on the interview subject then you would have to cover that cut with B-roll.  However, in E:60's case, since we have multiple cameras on the interview subject we have the option to cover the cut with B-roll or go right to the B Cam.”

          Rissmiller and Carruthers came to Jordan’s most startling byte, and watched it over and over.

“Well, at first it was scary because some of the speeds that I was going on the streets ....they were not quite safe,” Jordan said.

“Like how fast?”  Storm asked.

“Uh, I think on one straightaway we got up to like 157...which now thinking about it I must have been nuts.”

Jordan’s uber-celebrity, and his frank admission of a daredevil experience, shaped Rissmiller’s approach.  He stuck with the A Cam for most of the interview.

“On this piece, I wanted to be conscious of just allowing the audience to see MJ,” Rissmiller said.  “People most often see him on the sideline at a basketball game or fans remember him during his playing days in a jersey...we rarely get to see an all-access piece on MJ so in this case just seeing him on camera in this setting is more interesting than showing motorcycles. 

“With that in mind, it's not necessary to cover the entire piece with B-roll or music...people just want to see MJ in an environment that they've never seen him in before.”

Posted by Steve Marantz, April 20, 2010

Opee the Motocross Dog

Production assistant Max Brodsky was almost finished with a short feature about a dog who races motocross bikes.   Actually, the dog, Opee,  a 70-pound Blue Merle Australian shephed, rides with his owner, Mike Schelin, as they careen over California dirt tracks.

There’s no dog in Brodsky, who won’t quit on a piece until it’s just right.  And something was wrong with the music.

He had started with “spaghetti western” music evocative of Clint Eastwood in “A Fistful of Dollars”.

“I looked for music that matched with the desert and dirt where they race,” said Brodsky.

It worked, to a point.  Until one of Opee’s fans described him as “the fastest dog on wheels” as Opee and Mike gunned their bike.   Then it didn’t work, observed producer Brian Liburd

“Right there - it needs something faster,” said Liburd.

Brodsky was dubious but searched the music library and found an up-tempo country rock sound.  He, Liburd and editor Rob Berman tried it out.  Doggone if it wasn’t better. 

“I’ll buy that,” said Brodsky, and rolled over.

Posted by Steve Marantz, April 16, 2010

Yaron Deskalo Liberia Journal: Nas

So part of the excitement about returning from a shoot - as you may recall - is looking through the footage.
The not-so exciting part? Transcribing interviews. It's not any easier when the interview subjects are a bit tough to understand: listen, scroll back, type, scroll back, listen again.  It's a process that takes about three times as long as it should.  That being said, nothing prepares you for the right soundbytes by actually hearing them say it, listening to their inflection, and watching their body language.
Still, after two full days, I've only gotten through four tapes.  It's going to be a long week.
So that discussion is exactly why I've neglected to update you on the meeting last Friday.
If you've had any chance to watch the trailer that Brian Liburd (our webmaster) posted on the blog last week, you likely heard a familiar voice. Or at least a familiar voice, if you like my type of music.
The song - over a section we cut on the brutality of the Liberian civil wars - was called 'Shoot 'em up'. The artist: Nas.
When I thought about somebody who could lend his voice to this piece, Nas was one of the first that came to mind.  Beyond the fact that he cut a remix with Statik Selektah called "Blood Diamonds are Forever" about the civil wars in West Africa that created a need for an amputee soccer league, Nas has the voice that bolsters the piece's credibility.  For those of you who listen to his music, it carries a rich blend of rhyme, storytelling, and flow, with more than just a hint of grittiness. Not that you need his credentials, but it's why he's regularly considered one of the best MCs and his first album, Illmatic, is often cited as one of the greatest hip hop albums.
So after discussions with Nas' manager a couple conference calls and emails, I put together the four-minute trailer and asked if those guys wanted to see it.  They would be in New York Friday. Good. I'll be there.
At the Standard Hotel, in New York's Meatpacking District, I pulled my laptop out, and in my 'makeshift office' in the hotel's restaurant, Nas joined me as we watched the trailer.  He knew what he was getting into (we'd spoken on the phone before I went to Liberia).  But this was a way for him to see what I'd shot, and most importantly, how I'd use his music in the piece.
From all indications, it seemed like he loved the direction.  He was particularly struck by the images we used from the civil war to his music. He told me 'Shoot 'em up' was the right music cut for that part of the piece, which was music to my ears since I couldn't agree more.
So the next step? Transcribe. But after that, I'll write the script and start putting together the piece.  Nas' manager suggests the best way for Nas to not only lend his music to this piece, but also voice the piece would be to have him up in Bristol, CT at ESPN and spend a day working on the piece.  More music to my ears.
I've told people time and again that my vision for this piece - more than anything - is to transport people to Liberia for the 12 or so minutes of this piece.  It's likely that no more than a handful of people who watch my piece in this country have ever visited Liberia, and another handful who ever will.  So my task, in telling you the story of the amputee soccer team through the eyes of one of its players is to have you experience what Liberia is like.  How desperate is it?  How much does this team mean to the country and represent change?  And most importantly, how does Liberia's past influence its present and plant seeds for what they say is a hopeful future?
Nas will help take us there. If there's one thing about his music - even though I grew up on Dre and Snoop - it's his ability for him to sound honest through his music.  He's more poet than rapper. And that's a compliment. That's why I hope his voice can help translate that message and answer those questions.
Oh yeah, and it doesn't hurt to have a multi-platinum selling artist lending his music.

-YD