This is NFL Films

Much has been made of the Films style. Salon.com television critic Matt Zoller Seitz has called NFL Films “the greatest in-house P.R. machine in pro sports history . . . an outfit that could make even a tedius stalemate seem as momentous as the battle for the Alamo.”[5]

NFL Films productions follow certain patterns. Film is mostly used, one camera is dedicated entirely to slow motion shots, microphones are present on the sidelines and near the field to pick up both the sounds of the games as well as the talk on the sidelines, and narrators with deep, powerful, baritone voices are preferred. Narrators have generally been from the Philadelphia metropolitan area, with well-known announcers such as Jefferson Kaye, Harry Kalas, John Facenda, Andy Musser, Jack Whitaker, William Woodson, and current announcer Scott Graham all having narrated NFL Films presentations at various points in time. J.K. Simmons was tapped to narrate the company’s one-hour recap of the 16-0 regular season of the 2007 New England Patriots, while actor Burt Lancaster was tabbed for narrations during 1969. Burl Ives narrated the 1971 Washington Redskins highlight film.

Team-specific films such as year-in-review films have occasionally been narrated by broadcasters or personalities involved with the team in question. Examples include the 1985, 2000 and 2001 Oakland Raiders season reviews being narrated by actor and former Raiders player Carl Weathers. Former Giant Frank Gifford periodically narrated New York Giants season reviews (notably the company’s throwback-themed 2013 season recap) until his death in 2015, and ex-Giants teammate Pat Summerall narrated highlight films for many teams until his death in 2013. New England Patriots play-by-play announcer Gil Santos narrated the year-in-review films of the 1974, 1976, and 1978 seasons, and New Orleans Saints films from their inception in 1967 through 1979 were narrated by Don Criqui, who called Saints games for the NFL on CBS in the team’s early years, and radio announcers Al Wester and Wayne Mack.

The style has been called tight on the spiral, a reference to the frequently-used slow-motion shot of the spinning football as it travels from the quarterback’s hand to the receiver. This shot usually consists of showing the quarterback throwing the football, then the camera zooming in to focus on the spinning ball, then, as the ball starts to descend, the camera zooms out, showing the end result of the ball traveling into the receiver’s hands. NFL Films also dubs sound bites of local radio broadcasts over key plays, because radio announcers are typically more enthusiastic about their home teams than are network television broadcasters. In addition, NFL Films often uses multiple camera angles (with an emphasis on close-up shots that often exaggerate the speed of the players in real time). The company’s films also employ muscular orchestral scores from a wide variety of musicians, notably Sam Spence, Johnny Pearson (whose “Heavy Action” became the theme for Monday Night Football) Frank Rothman, Ralph Dollimore, Udi Harpaz, Malcolm Lockyer, Jan Stoeckart (under his varied stage names such as Jack Trombey), Peter Reno, Paul Lewis, Prameela Tomashek, Dave Robidoux and Tom Hedden. The company’s use of KPM Musichouse tracks also notably included Syd Dale; tracks include “Malestrom” for the company’s 1968 Minnesota Vikings season highlight reel and also the psychedelic-flavored jazz track “Artful Dodger” on the film recap of Super Bowl V, specifically during the montage which shows Johnny Unitas’ 75-yard touchdown pass to John Mackey which was tipped in flight by Eddie Hinton and Mel Renfro before bounding to Mackey.

The company also makes prolific use of footage of players and coaches in the locker room after the game. With these techniques NFL Films turns football games into events that mimic ballet, opera, and epic battle stories. Among the company’s most famous creations is the poem and accompanying music cue “The Autumn Wind”, which have become official themes for the Oakland Raiders.