Phase 3 - Proposal

The main idea for this project is to create an ’Anti-Racism In Football Campaign’ to increase awareness about the racism that still exists not only in this contemporary society but in a sport that boasts a diverse ethnic race. Whilst racism has always been a part of football for countless years the Football Governing Bodies are starting to take these matters seriously after the increase in racial abuse towards players. The main reason I chose this path is because over the last decade or so FIFA, UEFA and The FA have been encouraging football clubs in England, Europe and all over the world to join their campaign to clamp out racism in football. Some of the campaigns include; ‘Lets Kick Racism Out Of Football’, ‘Give Racism The Red Card (SRTC)’, and ‘Football Unites, Racism Divides. It’s not only the football bodies who are encouraging these campaigns, Nike have taken a stance by introducing their ‘Stand Up, Speak Up’ campaign showing their opposition towards racism.

The campaign ideas include a wide range of sources, by getting professional players, and staff involved to promote these campaigns by wearing merchandise, visiting schools, and advertising it in stadiums. SRTC have a more hands on approach by using top footballers to educated youngsters about this issue. Whilst there are many hands on approach campaigns led by leading footballers, when researching for adverts, or commercials promoting anti-racism within football I came across a couple of adverts which do so. The adverts that made the most impact from my point of view was the one which Thierry Henry led, ‘Stand Up Speak Up’ involved some of footballs top and most known players including Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Rio Ferdinand and Ronaldinho. Another campaign by the ‘Lets Kick Racism Out Of Football’ campaign is led by the Manchester United legend Eric Cantona and this advert aims to reverse the roles with a narrator targeting the ‘white’ footballer.

This is where my influence came from, after viewing the adverts that had an impact there was not one that involved football being played, or any ‘live’ action. As I wanted to create something different and unique that would stick in the minds of the target audience, creating an advert which involves football would be something that would not only be easy to follow when thinking about the ideology and narrative behind it, but it also is will have more of an effect on the audience. Being a loyal national football fan, in addition to, a keen international follower I feel that racism in football is scarring a sport that is followed by millions worldwide. It is unfair that if you are not a ‘white’ football player or you’re from an ethnic background you may be target to racist abuse. It is particularly unfair when you are one of the world’s best players such as Thierry Henry or, simply a player in one of the minor leagues. All types of racial abuse should be banned not only in football, but in all sports. Being part of this campaign will help the cause for fighting against racism in football. My target audience for this project are noticeably football fans who share the same view in racism within football, however it is not just football fans who may be interested in this campaign, those who are against racism in society as a whole will be proud to see a range of people involved in trying to stop racism. As this campaign is looking at the cultural side of things, the theoretical framework of this campaign will be based around the cultural study theory of identity within a modern society.

The aim of this campaign is to produce a 2 minute TV commercial which I will also post on internet networking sites such as Facebook, and upload onto YouTube for a more global response. Whilst I want to keep this short clip very simple I will try to incorporate two different styles into this campaign. I plan to video record certain scenes and editing this in FinalCut Pro, as well as using Stock Motion Imaging where I would edit this in After Effects. Using video recording would allow ‘live’ football action to take place, and stock motion imaging would bring a new dynamic to the clip. I have decided to use both methods after receiving feedback from peers. Additionally, wanting create a complete new idea was also inspired by opinions of others. After researching I have found that using a high-speed digital SLR camera can up capture 8 – 10 frames per second. In terms of recording a high definition handy cam (which uses either HDD, Memory Stick or Tape) will allow the audience to view the clip not only in good quality but the mobility of the camera will allow the director (myself) to get different angles of action.