ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – It’s rare that the most viral moment of the MLB All-Star Game isn’t the game, but that’s exactly what happened Tuesday night at Truist Park.
After the 6th inning, a unique hologram/video tribute was paid to Hank Aaron, specifically his 715th home run, which broke the previous record held by Babe Ruth.
The plan was months in the making.
“The first step of this was storyboards,” said Caylor Escalante, the MLB senior manager of global events and game presentation.
The inception of the idea came from Yankees legend CC Sabathia. The league liked the idea and began studying numerous options for how to honor Aaron.
“We wanted to do so in the right way,” Escalante said. “We wanted to make sure that we hit the right mark.”
>> WATCH TRIBUTE:
Eventually, a rough idea was formed, and the MLB put out a bid for the work, which was put on by Image Engineering in Baltimore, which has significant experience in creating special visual performances.
But most of those shows don’t involve a worldwide audience.
“This was very much a different level than what we typically work on,” said Ian Bottiglieri, Image Engineering’s VP of operations.
Image and the MLB elaborated on those storyboards, fleshing out an extravagant show involving pyrotechnics, holograms, archival footage and audio.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: WATCH: Hologram recreation of Hank Aaron’s 715th home run played during MLB All-Star Game
“It carries a whole other gravity and emotion to it,” Bottiglieri said.
But the plan needed top-of-the-line equipment. For that, Image turned to Quince Imaging.
“Our specialty is projection-image mapping,” said Quince CEO Scott Williams.
Quince supplied more than a dozen precision lights.
“Eighteen of the world’s brightest imaging projectors,” Williams said.
The technology is brand-new, and it lit up the field with 50,000 lumens per light.
Together, the three parties arrived on June 6 to set up and test the equipment, running through the program and making minor adjustments.
In total, approximately 1,300 hours of work went into the show, and the result quickly went viral.
“Everything that we have heard so far has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Bottiglieri.
“The response has been overwhelming,” added Escalante.
“You get the normal, ‘How did you do that?’” said Williams.
Now it’s time to take a breather, because the next big show is just around the corner.
“It means everything,” Bottiglieri said. “That’s why we do this.”