Fletcher Chicago became part of national history when its small, unobtrusive robotic cameras were used as part of the international coverage of President Ronald Reagan’s funeral. Eleven of its cameras were hidden around the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. where notables from throughout the world gathered with Mr. Reagan’s family to mourn his passing.
ABC News had been designated to provide the feed and it called Fletcher on noon Friday, a full day before the official announcement of Mr. Reagan’s death was made. ABC’s original call was for three robotic systems, “but once they saw what the cameras could do they added more systems,” said Tom Fletcher.
Nine cameras were hidden within the Cathedral to provide shots of the guests and two were placed outside to capture the crowd. Three East Coast cameramen, who had worked for Fletcher on sports assignments where the robotics are popularly used, operated three to four systems at a time.
“The control room was literally in a closet in the basement,” Fletcher said, where two top ABC News executives directed and approved the shots of guests in the audience.
Dan Grange, VP/sports operation, who went to Washington for the funeral coverage, had supplied ABC News with cameras for political events for the past 10 years. “But this was the most challenging, given the small, tight environment of the Cathedral and the need for many different camera angles without being obtrusive,” Fletcher said.
Robotics have been part of Fletcher’s inventory since the first Hothead in 1989 and are used mainly for sports coverage.
