Arsenal ‘Fans from afar series’ – just clearing the lines…

http://player.arsenal.com/programme/4/fans-from-afar (Possible login required)

In this post I wanted to look at an example of the more direct material which connects my film with content which is already directly linked with global Arsenal supporters. Previous research has been focused on football and sport but now I wanted to compare potentially my film and what is already doing things directly in the same field. – think same solar system, different orbit.

For this then on the official Arsenal media channel comes the ‘fans from afar’ series. This series as is quite explained in the name, looks exclusively at supporters from around the world which includes brief talking heads around their background, how long they have supported the team and why, or where they are.  The nature of the series is why I felt like it was worth noting down because being so close to home in terms of content, makes me wary and protective about what my film will be doing and making sure it’s still original and unique.

As I haven’t completed my film yet its hard to truly, physically compare the two but what, from my carefully thought out parameters, is to first compare that of what it is.  The ‘Fans from afar’ series is online series of short videos, where as mine will be a film. Secondly is it’s duration, these are around a couple of minutes long, mine will be a lot longer – Immediately the obvious comparisons are picked away.

Editorially, things get more blurred, the series is focused on the fan base and is therefore like my own but because there are so many videos, there are constraints which include time, money and having to cater for everyone, the series is spread a lot more thinner, but wider and unlike my film, will lack strong meaning and punch, they are just simply two sets of different products.

Styling too is different, the series offers generic kind of shot selection because it has too, the film will look more cinematic and visual, again two different pieces of media but because it’s the closest thing to what I am creating, I need to take a look and note it down.Above are two links to the Hungary and Philippines excerpts of the series, the points above I have made are clear as day here too but ultimately it’s good to see how they are presented and crafted to the world currently.

At the moment I still feel confident about what I am creating as an Arsenal first, if not a film first. I will keep looking and trawling the web for similar items, at the moment, this is this closest I’ve got, let’s hope it stays that way!