Film Leicester X Leicester Tigers – “Experience of a lifetime”

When an opportunity comes knocking at your door, secure it, and then make the most out of it.

New beginnings?

Andy, the Co-Founder of ‘Film Leicester’, where I intern as a Graduate Film Co-ordinator, informed me about an uptake opportunity. The uptake was to help Leicester Tigers with filming as a Camera Operator with one of their home matches on a Saturday.

I said, Yes!

After some time thinking about it, I responded “I’m interested”, and then the emails began coming in. Andy cc’d me into an email thread with the Content Production Manager at Leicester Tigers. We booked in a time the day before the match to discuss the filming plan and to inspect the recording equipment.

Getting to grips

I tested out their 4K Panasonic Camcorder on the Stadium grounds to get familiar with it, and to get creative with shots and camera movements. My camera skills were quite rusty because Covid-19 wrecked my experience at University, where I studied Media Production (BSc). To add, I don’t own my own camera (yet) to practice in my free time, so this was one of the reasons why I was so afraid of signing up for this uptake. I hate to mess up or seem incompetent.

Now, the big day.

I got to hold on to my Visitor’s Pass from the previous visit, so I was all set for arrival. Being told that parking at the Stadium was a nightmare on match days, I was referred to the free match day parking near British Gas off Aylestone Road, Leicester. Free bus rides were provided for the fans to get to the Stadium, which was a considerably moderate walking distance. Parking my car, I made my way to the queue of fans waiting for the bus. The bus arrived, and I boarded along with the fans. The majority of the fans were families that included lots of little children, and a few adults and couples. The experience of that bus ride to the Stadium felt special. I felt like I was about to be transported to some magical, unknown Kingdom.

On my way…

Arriving outside the Stadium, I walked towards the main entrance to meet up with my Tigers contact at the reception, who I was going to liaise with on filming. Before I walked in, I walked through crowds of people buying food & drink from stalls set up for the match day. It was like being at a festival or fair. The smell of hot dogs and chips filled the air and invaded my nose and senses.

Camera? Check.

Meeting up with my contact, we first collected the equipment from the staff offices, discussed the plan, and then made our way to the stadium with the gear to set up. Fans were still making their way to their seats, so there were large gaps on some sides of the stadium seating.

Damn you, Covid-19!

Because of Covid-safety protocols set up at the grounds, I wasn’t allowed to go pitch side, so I was stuck in the corners only. This didn’t stop me from filming, of course.

The match began with adverts on the big screen, followed by an introductory sequence for the match, before the Mascots, Tigers representatives and the kids mentioned before, brought out a massive, un-poled, Tigers flag out onto the pitch, and waved it facing the sky. What a huge celebration and introduction to the match.

Finally, both the Tigers and the Irish were brought out, brought into formation, and the match kicked off.

Lights. Camera. Tackle!

My job was to follow the action on the pitch, capturing the best moments, as well as getting shots of fans cheering when Tigers scored. A voice in my head started saying “get a shot of that player, as he just got tackled”, or “ZOOM OUT!”, as the action got closer to me.

Watching Rugby for the first time, the amount of tackling and pile-ups that I saw just really shocked me. And all just to get a ball, I couldn’t help but say to myself… “HOLY SH*T!”

I was reminded later on in that match, that planning and preparation was key, as my camera battery went down to half a charge, and the SD Card provided ran out of storage. I communicated to my contact, so she could try the new SD cards, which sadly refused to work. By that time anyway, the match had finished. It must’ve been around 2 hours for the entire match?

The day was done.

Post-match Results

So, how well did I do?

All I can say, is that I filmed to the best of my ability, but I was keen to get feedback on how I really did. So, I emailed the manager, thanking him for the uptake and any takeaways. I also asked if I could get hold of the footage for my portfolio of video work.

His response was music to my ears.

He reviewed the footage, and it was “spot on”. They ended up using the footage in their highlights reel online, and he mentioned that the contact I worked with was very complimentary of me when he spoke to her. As a matter of fact, he has written me in to film future matches.

After initially feeling nervous, this has given me the confidence to know that I can do it.

What makes this experience all worthwhile is that it shows Film Leicester’s accomplishment in connecting Leicestershire’s creatives and making Leicestershire a place for more Creative Film & TV opportunities. It truly shows what a meaningful and important company Film Leicester is for me as someone starting out in the industry.

Post Match Analysis

Now I’ve shared my experience with you, you may be asking “What was the point?”?

My main takeaway for you, to put it simply, is: Try new things, take every chance you can, meet new people, fight your fears by doing what scares you and if you work together, you grow together (Film Leicester’s motto)…