Behind the scenes with the Texans for 'Hard Knocks'
— -- RICHMOND, Va. and HOUSTON -- Inanimate objects have become characters in Texans coach Bill O'Brien's life at work lately. They follow him around. They peer at him in his office. They cling to him, recording his words.
He talks to them sometimes.
"Hey you Hard Knocks guys, don't put that in there," he'll say into the microphone. Sometimes he'll talk to an unmanned camera stationed inside his office in Houston.
"I look up at the camera and I say, 'Are you filming me?'" O'Brien said.
The camera will nod.
"When it says yes, I usually leave the office," O'Brien said.
It's Drew Matyas, the robotic camera operator, who makes the camera answer O'Brien. He works from a windowless room in the annals of NRG Stadium previously used as a media work station before NFL Films settled into the building.
Tonight HBO will premiere the first episode of "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Houston Texans". The show is produced by NFL Films and many members of its 32-person crew will stay in Houston for the entire grueling six weeks of shooting. The first show comes from months of planning and weeks of constant filming. They'll shoot 350 hours for every one hour that airs.
For the past few seasons the Texans have been exempt from the show -- last year with a new head coach and prior because they were coming off playoff seasons. This morning, O'Brien sat down with director Matt Dissinger to review the show and make sure nothing in it affected their competitive advantage. Even hours before the show airs, scenes can be removed.
Five camera crews, one without sound, shoot most of the time. A sixth crew helps shoot practice. Fourteen robotic cameras are dispersed through O'Brien's office, general manager Rick Smith's office, the staff meeting room and four different position group rooms.
"I think in the beginning you really do notice them," O'Brien said. "They're there and it's hard not to notice them. But as time goes on, they definitely blend in. The director, Matt Dissinger, has been a really good guy to work with. It hasn't been an issue at all. Well, we'll see when the first show comes out. But to this point, it hasn't been an issue at all."
If O'Brien was apprehensive about the descent of Dissinger's crew into his facility, Dissinger says he hasn't seen it.
"The perception of what Hard Knocks is, is always worse than the reality," Dissinger said.
