Every trip to a ballgame promises a unique adventure: witnessing stolen bases, home runs, lively antics caught on kiss and dance cams, and fly balls reaching the stands, all while indulging in hot dogs and popcorn. This unpredictability excites baseball fans but poses challenges for those attempting to film a scripted TV show in such an environment.
Undeterred, “Abbott Elementary” director and executive producer Randall Einhorn took on this challenge. He and the ABC mockumentary’s team ventured beyond their Warner Bros. sets to capture the fifth season episode “Ballgame” amid a live Philadelphia Phillies game.
The gamble paid off, earning Einhorn an Emmy nomination for comedy series directing. Despite meticulous pre-planning, the dynamic nature of a live event necessitated on-the-spot improvisation.
Weather conditions presented one of the main challenges. During the first of two filming days, wider shots were captured with 400 extras. Silk screens ensured optimal audio and lighting for the cast. However, wind issues on the actual game day rendered the screens unusable, which Einhorn found serendipitously beneficial for the narrative.
“I needed to show passage of time, so they start off in the shade, they go into full sunlight, and then they go back into full into shade. Then, it’s the nighttime,” he says. “I mean, that sold passage of time better than a clock could.”
Continuity posed another challenge.
“I shot 14 pages the day before the ball game, and basically, we had all these connected pieces,” Einhorn explains. “So, I’m shooting a scene with some with our cast. Something is supposed to happen on the ball field, and then I go back to my cast, who are commenting on what happened on the ball field. The next day, I had all these pans to the ball field that I needed to do the pan off and the back.”
Overall, the script required approximately 70 pans linking the ball field to the stands and the Phillies’ jumbotron, PhanaVision.
Einhorn relied on his actors, including non-regulars. The script by Ava Coleman called for Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to hit a home run during the game.
Schwarber exceeded expectations, hitting four home runs.
The mockumentary format of “Abbott” typically employs three camera angles: two for coverage and one master shot. This episode also used PhanaVision footage. As Schwarber’s hits soared, cameras tracked them like a documentary and panned to the scoreboard.
This approach kept actors in a state of constant reaction, capturing genuine surprise and delight, such as Sheryl Lee Ralph’s character, Barbara Howard, a known Schwarber fan.
After the game, Schwarber filmed a scene with the characters, expressing uncertainty about his role. With a tight deadline due to impending stadium sprinkler activation, Einhorn advised, “You do whatever Kyle Schwarber would do and we’re going to be good.”
The scene was completed in four takes.
Remarkably, Einhorn remained calm during filming.
“I’ve gotten so worked up in my past, I don’t do it anymore,” he laughs, acknowledging that malfunctioning equipment required him to shout directions. He adapted, stating, “it’s just not worth it; it doesn’t help.”
Einhorn’s credits include mockumentaries like “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “Modern Family,” as well as traditional shows like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Wilfred.”
Early in his career, he received cinematography Emmy nominations for “Survivor.” The “Abbott” episode was his most meticulously planned project.
“I always have to have a plan … but for this episode, I really needed to have a plan,” he says. “I do these top-down graphics of where people are looking and where their nose is and where they walk to. I need to do that because it’s a mockumentary and it’s a lot trickier to film a mockumentary than it is just a normal comedy where you don’t need to worry about seeing another camera.”
Asked if he would tackle a similar episode, he confidently replies yes, but with adjustments.
“I think I’d probably just be a little bit slower to say, ‘This is impossible,’ because the initial reaction is like, ‘How?’” he says. “It was really challenging. I really looked at it and thought, ‘This can go wrong in so many ways.’ I think what it has done is it’s made me even more of a planner.”
Aware of the obvious pun, he adds, “It was a big swing.”
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