'Baseball is Cinema': An MLB Broadcast Director Is Creating Some Beautiful Shots
It all started with a tweet that caught my eye. It was a shot that featured both the batter and the pitcher, and many people on X likened it to the work of Brian De Palma. And when you see it, you feel an emotional swell as you witness the inherent beauty of the game. How did we get here? Enter Mets Director for SNYtv John DeMarsico, who is a self-described film junkie and who has been putting some of the most insane shots into broadcasts of Mets games. Shots that are so beautiful and cool that they have sort of reignited people's love of the game, and have also encouraged them to explore the movie homages. — (@) DeMarsico tweets with the tag #Baseballiscinema, and he's living up to it. Just cruising through highlights, I was in awe of shots with shallow focus, shots that homage Lord of the Rings, split screens, cross fades, and many more neat ways to edit, cut, and shoot America's pastime. It really is cinema. The only downside is that, as a Phillies fan, I hate that the Mets have this guy, and I demand we find our own auteur to step things up. But that's beside the point. Honestly, all of Major League Baseball should be lauding these efforts. Sports are often shot in boring and standard ways. But it is a game rife with emotion and tension and stakes, so we should have these edits. We should lean into the story of the game and get different angles. The touch here is flawless. It doesn't distract, it only enhances. It makes a sport with 162 regular-season games feel important, and it gives gravity to shots that sometimes can bear no weight. Mets or not, my hat goes off to DeMarsico. I really do hope all of baseball and the sports world takes notice. This is one of the coolest innovations I've seen for a game I love to watch. Criterion should have him in the truck. Let me know what you think in the comments.
It all started with a tweet that caught my eye. It was a shot that featured both the batter and the pitcher, and many people on X likened it to the work of Brian De Palma.
And when you see it, you feel an emotional swell as you witness the inherent beauty of the game.
How did we get here?
Enter Mets Director for SNYtv John DeMarsico, who is a self-described film junkie and who has been putting some of the most insane shots into broadcasts of Mets games. Shots that are so beautiful and cool that they have sort of reignited people's love of the game, and have also encouraged them to explore the movie homages.
— (@)
DeMarsico tweets with the tag #Baseballiscinema, and he's living up to it. Just cruising through highlights, I was in awe of shots with shallow focus, shots that homage Lord of the Rings, split screens, cross fades, and many more neat ways to edit, cut, and shoot America's pastime.
It really is cinema.
The only downside is that, as a Phillies fan, I hate that the Mets have this guy, and I demand we find our own auteur to step things up.
But that's beside the point.
Honestly, all of Major League Baseball should be lauding these efforts. Sports are often shot in boring and standard ways. But it is a game rife with emotion and tension and stakes, so we should have these edits. We should lean into the story of the game and get different angles.
The touch here is flawless. It doesn't distract, it only enhances. It makes a sport with 162 regular-season games feel important, and it gives gravity to shots that sometimes can bear no weight.
Mets or not, my hat goes off to DeMarsico. I really do hope all of baseball and the sports world takes notice. This is one of the coolest innovations I've seen for a game I love to watch. Criterion should have him in the truck.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
