Presenting Tareq and producer James' production diary from the 2013 FA Cup Final/Budweiser "To The Dreamers" film
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Originally posted on Shots (where it was also made a Contender), we thought we'd also put it up here on our blog for all you non-subscribers to read, laugh over, maybe even cry over, but mainly enjoy.
When London ad agency Anomaly called Nice Shirt Films to enquire about a football-loving director who could work on a huge Budweiser spot, the multi-talented Tareq stepped up.
The two-minute film would run once during ITV’s coverage of the FA Cup Final and the idea was for football fans to submit their photos from the competition’s earlier rounds to tell the story, with the director shooting original footage to join the dots. tenthree’s Billy Mead (ex-Millwall defender, now an editor) had agreed to cut the film and it was up to Tareq to use a small unit to make sense of the task and pull everything together.
What follows is Tareq’s diary from the three-month shoot with his producer James Graley (who before this job had never watched a match). An odyssey into the heart of the world’s most famous club football competition, there was heartache, heroism, agony and victory in the face of outrageous odds… and that was just trying to get the release forms signed...
Mission: To make a two-minute commercial for the Budweiser FA Cup - documenting the competition from the early rounds to the semi finals. This is about the fans and the clubs, not the professional footballers or the media circus. It’s about what it is to be a fan in the oldest football competition in the world; a journey from the smallest clubs to the premiership high flyers, the chance to witness giant killings, undying loyalty, highs, lows, passion, success and failure.
The guys at Anomaly had written a great script that needed visuals to match. We knew what we wanted but would the vagaries of fate give it to us? Would the score line play ball? Would the fans accept us? Would we make it past the Watford Gap? Would there be enough Ginsters pasties to keep us going? Do they do flat whites in Newcastle? All important questions that would be answered but in ways that were never expected.
A journey into the unknown hinterland of English grassroots football began; our journey started heading north, a journey that made us look at football and ourselves in new ways.
Day 1: Middlesborough vs Chelsea
Further up north than we thought, not really in the middle, more like two thirds of the way up England; far enough for four Londoners.
Chips and gravy, as pre-match supper, on with the thermals and despite our misgivings about being in the heart of the Boro’ massive, they turned out to a very friendly bunch of mentalists.
Before the game we filmed the faithful arriving and the traditional greeting of the visiting team using the universal stroking of the cat’s tail gesture. Funnily enough, half the pissheads we met outside the ground we then met inside the ground wearing stewards’ jackets.
The Boro’ stewards were keen to introduce us to the hard core Ultras. We had been briefed not to film anyone with visible tattoos or under 25 years old. The Ultras seemed to be exclusively made up of 15 year olds with inked necks smoking Lambert and Butler so we smiled, pretended to film them and ran.
Alex Reid (DP) had to fight off an opportunist 60-year-old thief who tried to nick his camera; Alex Reid is tough and can actually employ a Vulcan death grip when threatened.
A boring match but great home fans, then time to bug out. Back to a hotel with mattresses wrapped in plastic and hourly rates.
Day 2: Man City vs Barnsley
Fucking freezing and pissing with rain. That’s Manchester.
Great build-up to the match and the Barnsley fans were well up for it, great fun and very happy to be filmed. There seems to be a pattern emerging: small club = happy, friendly fans and willing to help; big club = miserable fans and not willing to help.
We decided pre-match to get some atmosphere in the pubs with mixed results. Well, not really mixed, just bad. This was mainly due to the fact that of the three pubs we visited on recommendations from supporters’ clubs, they were overrun with 12 year olds totally off their faces on MDMA. We know it was MDMA because they tried to sell us some.
Day 3: Millwall vs Blackburn
Down to South London and the infamous Den.
Pie and chips for breakfast and join the Lions for an important match, especially after all the recent negative press they’d received.
Met with general good vibes and there was a section of fans from Sweden and Norway who had made a special trip.
Once inside the ground the famous intensity of the Den was apparent, all the fans in unison let out a guttural monotone noise, unnerving to even the most seasoned visiting football fan.
With the words “don’t film the crowd”, our chaperone scarpered and left us to it.
An accommodating set of Blackburn fans behind us, who were up for being filmed, provided some great shots.
Day 4: Semi Final at Wembley. Wigan vs Millwall
A day of contrasts.
Pre-match curry at the Moore Spice Memorial Curry House? Go figure.
We get to hold the Cup and experience the stadium empty and the pre-match build-up, which starkly contrasts with the pissing rain and the playful banter between the Millwall fans.
Escorted on to the turf of Wembley with the Cup by a lovely girl from the FA. We get to hold it and film it. James is left slightly unmoved by this but I, as a lifelong fan, have a strange feeling that maybe this will be as good as it gets. I surreptitiously kiss the cup and say a prayer for my long-time trophy-less team (Arsenal).
Day 5: Semi Final at Wembley. Man City vs Chelsea
A sunny day with a carnival atmosphere outside the ground. Well, the City fans are having fun anyway. I hesitate to make north/south divide generalisations but here goes: The northerners, or at least their football fans, seem to be a whole load more cheerful and helpful than their miserable, stand-offish, violent and smug southern counterparts.
We shoot outside and get to see the fans streaming up Wembley Way, a seemingly endless procession of two shades of blue.
A convincing victory for the Mancs and some wonderful celebrations by their fans who, on the whole, are a total laugh and up for us filming them; a few fake sheiks are in the stands dancing like nutters adding to the mayhem.
The rest of the crew; Alex Reid and Ben Chads (both DPs) and all our runners get off for a much-needed rest, but for James and I the journey has only just begun.
We head off to Boston, Lincolnshire. It’s dark as we set off and we have a strange foreboding feeling as we head towards the Fens, the flatlands of the UK. A land of strange and eerie quiet. Who knows what awaits? A banjo starts to play…
The tour: So I don’t have to repeat myself – everyone we met were super friendly and helpful, the grounds men had all been at the job for 30-plus years and they all had the best pitch in the league. They all struggled financially and the only way they kept going was due to a massive amount of volunteer help. The few thousand they might win for progressing in the tournament made a huge difference to their financial year. Almost all gate receipts were down but they keep going because they love it. Tickets were max £9 for an adult and £3 for a kid and in some places we visited that was too much for some fans due to the economic climate. They all love their clubs with a passion and are fiercely proud of them. It’s a wonderful thing in the face of the mercenary and frankly money-obsessed Premier League where teams are status symbols and glory can be bought.
Day 6,7,8,9,10,11…
At Boston FC we meet the chairman of the club and his kit man who open the doors and let us have total free reign. This is typical of everyone we meet at all the clubs at this level –passionate, proud, friendly and willing to help.
What follows is a whirl of small towns, cheese sandwiches and 100-seat stadiums. Great fun but so exhausting we start to lose our own identities and begin to communicate in feral whispers.
From this point on it all starts to get a bit Heart Of Darkness, an odyssey that threatens our sanity and physical wellbeing.
“But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad.”
Tour Synopsis:
1798 Miles driven
11 different beds
One epic Chinese meal in Manchester
17 football clubs visited
Seven matches watched
95 cups of tea drunk
10 bags of mixed nuts eaten
No Ginsters
Seven wrong turns
Hail, thunder, rain, snow, 55mph winds, some sun and a stunning rainbow in Colwyn Bay.
A hugely enjoyable job with a great agency and crew; that’s what it’s all about.
When London ad agency Anomaly called Nice Shirt Films to enquire about a football-loving director who could work on a huge Budweiser spot, the multi-talented Tareq stepped up.
The two-minute film would run once during ITV’s coverage of the FA Cup Final and the idea was for football fans to submit their photos from the competition’s earlier rounds to tell the story, with the director shooting original footage to join the dots. tenthree’s Billy Mead (ex-Millwall defender, now an editor) had agreed to cut the film and it was up to Tareq to use a small unit to make sense of the task and pull everything together.
What follows is Tareq’s diary from the three-month shoot with his producer James Graley (who before this job had never watched a match). An odyssey into the heart of the world’s most famous club football competition, there was heartache, heroism, agony and victory in the face of outrageous odds… and that was just trying to get the release forms signed...
Mission: To make a two-minute commercial for the Budweiser FA Cup - documenting the competition from the early rounds to the semi finals. This is about the fans and the clubs, not the professional footballers or the media circus. It’s about what it is to be a fan in the oldest football competition in the world; a journey from the smallest clubs to the premiership high flyers, the chance to witness giant killings, undying loyalty, highs, lows, passion, success and failure.
The guys at Anomaly had written a great script that needed visuals to match. We knew what we wanted but would the vagaries of fate give it to us? Would the score line play ball? Would the fans accept us? Would we make it past the Watford Gap? Would there be enough Ginsters pasties to keep us going? Do they do flat whites in Newcastle? All important questions that would be answered but in ways that were never expected.
A journey into the unknown hinterland of English grassroots football began; our journey started heading north, a journey that made us look at football and ourselves in new ways.
Day 1: Middlesborough vs Chelsea
 |
| An ex-player, Barney, made the visit to Frickley Athletic FC very hospitable. |
Chips and gravy, as pre-match supper, on with the thermals and despite our misgivings about being in the heart of the Boro’ massive, they turned out to a very friendly bunch of mentalists.
Before the game we filmed the faithful arriving and the traditional greeting of the visiting team using the universal stroking of the cat’s tail gesture. Funnily enough, half the pissheads we met outside the ground we then met inside the ground wearing stewards’ jackets.
The Boro’ stewards were keen to introduce us to the hard core Ultras. We had been briefed not to film anyone with visible tattoos or under 25 years old. The Ultras seemed to be exclusively made up of 15 year olds with inked necks smoking Lambert and Butler so we smiled, pretended to film them and ran.
Alex Reid (DP) had to fight off an opportunist 60-year-old thief who tried to nick his camera; Alex Reid is tough and can actually employ a Vulcan death grip when threatened.
A boring match but great home fans, then time to bug out. Back to a hotel with mattresses wrapped in plastic and hourly rates.
Day 2: Man City vs Barnsley
 |
| Motto of the entire shoot. |
Great build-up to the match and the Barnsley fans were well up for it, great fun and very happy to be filmed. There seems to be a pattern emerging: small club = happy, friendly fans and willing to help; big club = miserable fans and not willing to help.
We decided pre-match to get some atmosphere in the pubs with mixed results. Well, not really mixed, just bad. This was mainly due to the fact that of the three pubs we visited on recommendations from supporters’ clubs, they were overrun with 12 year olds totally off their faces on MDMA. We know it was MDMA because they tried to sell us some.
Day 3: Millwall vs Blackburn
 |
| Shooting sheep. |
Pie and chips for breakfast and join the Lions for an important match, especially after all the recent negative press they’d received.
Met with general good vibes and there was a section of fans from Sweden and Norway who had made a special trip.
Once inside the ground the famous intensity of the Den was apparent, all the fans in unison let out a guttural monotone noise, unnerving to even the most seasoned visiting football fan.
With the words “don’t film the crowd”, our chaperone scarpered and left us to it.
An accommodating set of Blackburn fans behind us, who were up for being filmed, provided some great shots.
Day 4: Semi Final at Wembley. Wigan vs Millwall
 |
| DoP Alex Reid getting down to some One Man One Cup action. |
Pre-match curry at the Moore Spice Memorial Curry House? Go figure.
We get to hold the Cup and experience the stadium empty and the pre-match build-up, which starkly contrasts with the pissing rain and the playful banter between the Millwall fans.
Escorted on to the turf of Wembley with the Cup by a lovely girl from the FA. We get to hold it and film it. James is left slightly unmoved by this but I, as a lifelong fan, have a strange feeling that maybe this will be as good as it gets. I surreptitiously kiss the cup and say a prayer for my long-time trophy-less team (Arsenal).
Day 5: Semi Final at Wembley. Man City vs Chelsea
A sunny day with a carnival atmosphere outside the ground. Well, the City fans are having fun anyway. I hesitate to make north/south divide generalisations but here goes: The northerners, or at least their football fans, seem to be a whole load more cheerful and helpful than their miserable, stand-offish, violent and smug southern counterparts.
We shoot outside and get to see the fans streaming up Wembley Way, a seemingly endless procession of two shades of blue.
A convincing victory for the Mancs and some wonderful celebrations by their fans who, on the whole, are a total laugh and up for us filming them; a few fake sheiks are in the stands dancing like nutters adding to the mayhem.
The rest of the crew; Alex Reid and Ben Chads (both DPs) and all our runners get off for a much-needed rest, but for James and I the journey has only just begun.
We head off to Boston, Lincolnshire. It’s dark as we set off and we have a strange foreboding feeling as we head towards the Fens, the flatlands of the UK. A land of strange and eerie quiet. Who knows what awaits? A banjo starts to play…
The tour: So I don’t have to repeat myself – everyone we met were super friendly and helpful, the grounds men had all been at the job for 30-plus years and they all had the best pitch in the league. They all struggled financially and the only way they kept going was due to a massive amount of volunteer help. The few thousand they might win for progressing in the tournament made a huge difference to their financial year. Almost all gate receipts were down but they keep going because they love it. Tickets were max £9 for an adult and £3 for a kid and in some places we visited that was too much for some fans due to the economic climate. They all love their clubs with a passion and are fiercely proud of them. It’s a wonderful thing in the face of the mercenary and frankly money-obsessed Premier League where teams are status symbols and glory can be bought.
Day 6,7,8,9,10,11…
 |
| Director Tareq heading to the bench |
What follows is a whirl of small towns, cheese sandwiches and 100-seat stadiums. Great fun but so exhausting we start to lose our own identities and begin to communicate in feral whispers.
 |
| Grub on the road. |
“But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad.”
Tour Synopsis:
1798 Miles driven
11 different beds
One epic Chinese meal in Manchester
17 football clubs visited
Seven matches watched
95 cups of tea drunk
10 bags of mixed nuts eaten
No Ginsters
Seven wrong turns
Hail, thunder, rain, snow, 55mph winds, some sun and a stunning rainbow in Colwyn Bay.
A hugely enjoyable job with a great agency and crew; that’s what it’s all about.
 |
| At the end, The End (perhaps) |
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