You want to get on the stadium big screen? Here’s how (and how not) to do it

Bob Brunk scanned the loud and rowdy crowd inside Kauffman Stadium. His eyes moved down rows and up into the mass of people.

Sure, Game 1 of the World Series was going on. Even the beloved Salvador Perez was up to bat, causing a roar of clapping and yelling. But Brunk, he was immune.

He was on the hunt.

“I like the lady with the crown flashing,” he said. In seconds, with a massive video camera resting on his right shoulder, he was off. Ready to capture his next subject.

Brunk, in his 20th season working the crowd inside Kaufman, is part of the Crown Vision camera crew. Fans see his work during Royals games, up on the big screen inside the park.

He’s one of the videographers who scours the stands for happy, crazy fans who will light it up — dance and holler or just shake their bodies — the second he aims his camera in their direction.

It’s what some fans dream of. It’s why they make creative signs, wear blue wigs or funky costumes. Or dress like Waldo from “Where’s Waldo?” (Joel Dryden of Hesston, Kan., did just that. And guess what? Tuesday night, in the second inning, he made the big screen.)

Forget that cliche 15 minutes of fame people clamber for. Just give these fans two or three seconds up on that screen. Heaven.

“It would be an awesome thing to be on the big screen,” said Tammy Carter of Westwood. She came, ready to make that happen with her blue wig and glittery eyelashes and homemade sign.

The sign for Game 1 had a Frank Sinatra theme. “Start spreading the news. New York’s gonna lose.”

What she didn’t know is the jinx factor.

Brunk says they try to stay away from signs predicting a win. And never, ever get a shot of a broom until the game sweeping a series is over.

Indeed, there are rules.

Videographers stay away from opposing fans. Who wants to see a cheering Astros, Blue Jays or Mets fan?

And a calm and collected Royals fan, who’s not much into the hoopla and dancing and going a little crazy? Probably not going to make the cut.

Also, during the postseason, forget about seeing a Grandma and Grandpa kiss. And it’s a no on the crazy guy with the mullet who’s a tad embarrassed, yet a little proud to be on the Hairdo Cam.

You won’t be seeing any contests during the playoffs. It’s all about energy, keeping it lively and happening.

The contests are cute. Fun, even. But when fans are watching, they’re quiet, there can be a lull. None of that for the postseason.

“We don’t want to bring them down,” said Don Costante, senior director of event presentation and production for the Royals. “We want to keep fans into it.”

Costante and his staff work hard, and plan even harder, to make sure everything clicks. He wants high energy.

On Tuesday, he and the staff met nearly two hours before game time to go over the plan. The goal, Costante said, is to react to the emotion of the crowd and take them on a roller coaster ride they won’t forget.

Basically, capture all the fun.

“I usually don’t respond to, ‘Hey cameraman,’ ” said James Moore, 25, who with Brunk works the game with a hand-held video camera on his shoulder. “I usually see it with my own eyes.”

A life-long Royals fan, who grew up coming to games, likes fans who are unique. Moore’s the one who captured Dryden in his “Where’s Waldo?” garb, with “#BeRoyal #TaketheCrown” written between the red stripes.

And Moore, he likes signs. The more creative, the better.

It’s why Carrie Bachmeier caught his eye. She held a sign declaring her love for NY (Ned Yost).

In the third inning, Moore focused his camera on her, in the midst of a swarm of Royals fans. And indeed, she made the big screen.

Giuliano Mingucci is the one with the Crown Vision power. In seconds, he chooses who gets up on the screen. He admits it’s quite fun.

“It makes my job and all our jobs so much more fun when people are having a good time,” Mingucci said.

He shared a few do’s and don’ts.

▪ Do be excited.

▪ Do be animated, dance a little and wear that Royals gear.

▪ And definitely do be positive, and creative signs are a nice touch.

Now for the don’ts:

▪ Don’t use profanity.

▪ Don’t be vulgar.

▪ Don’t have a disparaging sign about the other team. Basically, don’t be negative.

At the end of the second inning, Brunk got to the lady with the flashing crown. He aimed the camera and waited.

Problem is, Cindy Breau — who bought the “killer crown” online — didn’t really move much. She was next to her daughter Mary, 12, and well, Mom kind of just stood there for a few seconds.

“I was a little nervous,” Breau, 36, of Leawood, said later. She wasn’t sure what to do.

Brunk had to be patient. Just aim the camera and wait. The flashing crown was too good to pass up. He knows what he likes, and what’s likely to get up on the screen. (Brunk admits he likes to hear Camera 5 get picked.)

Daughter Mary got into it, holding up her sign she made just to get on the big screen. And a stranger saw Brunk’s camera and jumped into the shot, dancing and wiggling.

It worked. Mother and daughter, and the fun stranger fan, made it up on the Crown Vision.

“That was my main goal tonight,” Mary said, smiling wide.

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 10:06 PM.