A Winning Combination A Winning Combination

Opening to 1998 Atlanta Braves telecasts from Turner Production Effects and Triple Horse

Turner Sports Design Director Skot Linder selected Turner Production Effects Art Director Pat McNeely and Triple Horse Producer/Director Karl Horstmann to create the 1998 Atlanta Braves Open which will be shown prior to each telecast this season. Presented in a museum motif, the video portrays the Braves of the past as well as the current Braves squad. Famous moments, such as Hank Aaron's record breaking 715th home run swing, are displayed as moving video surrounded by historic objects used by the Braves over the years. The project was filmed at the Ivan Allen Jr. Atlanta Braves Museum at Turner Field, where many elements of the video are on permanent display.

Turner Production Effects' MILO motion control camera intricately moved through the museum displays framing each specific section of the open. Horstmann explains that every shot required motion tracking and matte work to create the seamless photographic quality for which they aspired. Turner's Butch Siebert, Senior Flame Compositor, made newspaper headlines, baseball cards, programs, and photos come to life in the interactive museum. Horstmann says that for the first time there will be more than one open for a Braves season, six in fact, since there are so many exciting historic clips in the team's history. Keys to the success of the project were members of both teams: Triple Horse's Production Manager John Hembree and Art Department Assist David Wilder; Turner Production Effects' Production Manager Tom Capello, Project Manager Laura Klene, and Maury Ingram and Alan Reese, who provided on set direction.