Sands United x COPA90 & EA FC
Saved by the Ball Series
ROLEs
3D Artist, Motion Designer, Interviewer, Creative Direction, Edit Assistant and Narrative.
"It's a bond that comes from something nobody wants to go through"
Brief
Create a 60 sec short film for Instagram raising awareness for a collective driving positive change through football.
Each intern was tasked with creating their film as part of a four-part series that shone a light on different grassroots football teams who were not only helping people play the game, but were also inspiring change in their community. We titled this series ‘Saved by the Ball’, which we derived as a play on the phrase ‘Saved by the Bell’. This was due to the common thread linking our films and how football was used to support and provide escape for people when they needed it the most.
Sands United FC
Sands United teams are a part of Sands Charity, the UK’s leading baby loss charity, and offer a UK-wide network of teams providing a unique way for men who have experienced baby loss to come together. They allow a place for men to share in their grief, open up about emotions they would otherwise keep bottled up, or simply provide a healthy escape.
'Grief is something we don’t move on from, but rather something we learn to move forward with.' This was the message behind Nora McInerny’s TEDTalk and it became one of the foundations for this project. I aimed to show how, through Sands United, football can help these men manoeuvre through their grief and play a role in assisting them to move forward with their lives.
I connected with my local Sands United team, Sands United Solihull, who agreed to be the feature for my project. I presented to them my idea, vision, and overall aim for the project, which was to highlight the positive impact Sands United has on communities across the UK. My idea was to spotlight Sands United Solihull and interview one of their players who was comfortable with sharing their story. This project tells the story of Zane Murray, who had been a player for Sands United Solihull for just over one year at the time, following the loss of his daughter Ophelia shortly after she was born on May 22nd, 2022.
Moodboard
I knew early on in the project timeline that I wanted to visually portray the difficult emotions using animation. This would allow Zane’s words to be visually communicated respectfully and effectively, whilst also helping me break up the film into engaging sections to maintain viewership throughout. I created a mood board for inspiration stylistically and narratively, focussing on a rough or hand-drawn style of emotion. This style would help me to communicate the nature of emotions in Zane’s story.
Style development tests
Using Alan Wyatt’s tradigital filter, I began testing how it looked on a character, as well as how it reacted to light and animation. This allowed me to speed up a lot of time during production which was imperative due to the project timeline and deadline. I was happy with the overall look and how it created a ‘boiling effect’ attributed to hand-drawn animation, as this allowed me to communicate the turbulent nature of emotions attributed to grief.
Production
Working with the team, we established the fundamentals of creating a successful short film for social media that would initially grab, and then maintain engagement throughout. It all begins with a powerful hook, which would come naturally to me as this project progressed. I established a structure for how I wanted the film to flow, with a voiceover from Zane’s interview playing throughout, as he explained his story and how Sands United has helped support him and his teammates through their grief.
We agreed on a date with Sands United Solihull to film them during a training game. This also allowed us to spend time with the men, where we were able to hear their stories and gain a stronger understanding of the impact of Sands United. I conducted my interview with Zane before the game started, which I would later edit down from 17 minutes to 1:30, ensuring that Zane's story and the message for this project were told effectively. I then passed this over to the editor who was able to craft the final narrative within the 1 minute time, as per the brief. Whilst editing the interview, I would make notes of important quotes and begin roughly storyboarding for the 3D section of the film.
Storyboard
After receiving the final edit for Zane's interview, I was able to refine my storyboard for the animated scenes. I wanted to keep the subject of animation simple, focusing solely on a character that represented Zane in a dark space, rather than creating an abstract animation. I felt this would be better to connect the on-screen visuals to Zane, whilst also being a more effective way to impactfully show this part of the film.
Shotlist
3D Production
For the palette, I chose colours related to sadness and grief. I decided to wash the characters in blue to reflect the unimaginable depth of sadness that overcomes them. The dark environment represents this time of Zane's life, as he mentions in the film. I chose to incorporate purple into these surroundings as it is a colour I attribute to death and grief, whilst also complementing the blue for the character. I purposefully chose to not have any specific details for the character to reflect a loss of identity amid grief. Finally, I wanted the football to emanate a warm glow, reflecting the sense of hope and escape from the dark engulfment of grief.
Style Frames
