INTRAMURAL DEPT.MET VS. MET

A typical Metropolitan Opera production employs at least nine high-definition cameras for the company's "Live in HD" and "On Demand" streaming series.

- —Dan Greene

The other day, as the opera's softball team, the Pitch Hitters, readied for an evening game in Central Park, a bespectacled, bearded opera employee stood on a red plastic box affixing a GoPro camera to the backstop. "I videotape all the games, for quality assurance," Mike Panayos, who oversees the opera's titles (similar to closed captions) and coaches its softball squad, said. For this game, he was shooting three cameras in 1080p resolution at sixty frames per second—"So I can do a little slow motion," he said. He spends about three hours editing the multiple angles into a single cut, complete with a score overlay, that he uploads to a private YouTube channel. Today was lucky: with no preceding game on the field, he had a full hour for setup. "If there's someone on the field before, that's a one-camera game," he said.

Panayos peered through the viewfinder down the first-base line. "This is the shot," he announced. GoPros were also aimed at third base and the dugout, for reaction shots. An opponent once objected to the practice. "I said it's a public event with no expectation of privacy," Panayos recalled. "The guy said, 'What are you, the company lawyer?'"