There are many different ways to create a scene depicting a soccer match. Through my research of this type of scene I found some interesting and creative ways that were very individual, and some strategies that became more common as I watched more, as well as some scenes that I don’t see as having such a successful approach.

The research path I decided to take for this project was to see what aspects and scenes were successful in conveying what a soccer game is actually like. Before diving into what I have found, I believe it is important to define what successful is in this context. For the purpose of this research I have made a definition for myself to base my research around. ‘A successful soccer game scene is one that shows more than just the goals in a wide shot and more than just faces of the players in a tight shot. The scene will show either how it feels to be in the audience watching the game or how it feels to be a player.’

As I was progressing through this research I thought a few conventions needed to be loosely laid out as well. The scene needs to involve at least a few shots of the whole bodies of players while in contact of the ball, that lasts for more than a couple of seconds. And the scene also needs to show more than just the goals.

Something I would like to acknowledge before I begin my findings of this research is that even after having looking at each of these scenes closely I can’t know exactly why each shot choice was made. A lot of these choices may have been made because of actors inability to play soccer or use of doubles, which would change what can be done in terms of camera coverage. But in my research I have decided to mostly put this aside.

One of the first game scenes I studied for this assignment was This scene from the film Kes (Loach, 1970). What I enjoyed most about this scene was that it wasn’t focussed on being too fast paced and thrilling, as some others did. It was quite a lengthy scene with slow paced cuts, wide shots with pans, and showed a lot of the play, which is why I would consider that it would fit into my ‘successful’ definition. The audience has time to see the player act out the play of the game and you get a grasp of what is actually happening. The beginning of this scene was the coach warming up and then set in the locker room, I feel this really set the scene. It created a mood of being on a team. All of the shots in this particular sequence were quite simple long shots and allowed the audience to soak in the conversation and what was happening in the locker room.

Something that lacked in a couple of the other scenes that I viewed, which I believe Kes successfully employed, was the starting kick off of the game – this was absent in a number of the other scenes. The kickoff is used at the beginning of the game or after a goal. I believe this is quite important in the game and an important plot point in a scene that is specifically about a soccer game. And it is important to be shown in a wide enough shot for you to see what is happening around as well.

Something else to note in this scene is there was no employment of slow motion or sped up shots. Originally when watching this scene I decided that the fact that they didn’t use these edits meant that it was more successful in creating an authentic scene. I think in this case it did create a more realistic feeling to this scene. However, as I did more research I have found quite a few scenes, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait for example, that employ slow motion that doesn’t detract from the realism of the scene, but adds emotion to the scene.

This shot of the free kick in Kes is quite important to note. It is quite an interesting position for the camera to be as most other scenes seem to do it as more of a  side on action or from closer to the kicker and showing the goalie face on. This shot really puts the audience into the position of the goalie as the camera is right in the goal. Personally I felt that this shot type gives the audience the same type of stress of how it feels to be in the goalies position, which is absolutely terrifying!

An great use of camera movement in this scene from Kes was the fact that the camera didn’t just follow the player with the ball, it also followed players who weren’t in possession. This is quite an important factor to make sure the scene feels as if you are playing it. When you are playing a game of soccer, of course you aren’t always in possession of the ball, so it is important to show this, if the scene is meant to have this effect of course. Although if you are watching the game in the audience, it’s not as important to have this effect. But considering the shot types in this scene, it seems this scene is trying more so to show how it feels to be playing rather than watching.

Something I thoroughly enjoyed in this scene was how they showed the score of the game in type at the bottom of the screen. It seems that most films show a shot of the score board to indicate the score, which by all means is a fine way to show it and is a simple and effective way to show the score and the time left. But at least while I was studying this topic, the score board shot became a tad repetitive. In Kes the effect of having the score at the bottom of the scene meant that it looked more like live television and more ‘serious’ than the game actually was and makes the audience forget we are simply watching some young boys play a social game of soccer.

The final game of Pelé: Birth of a Legend (Zimbalist, 2016), was quite effective in combining both the excitement of being in the audience as well as feeling the thrills of playing. This last scene depicts a recreation of the 1968 World cup in which Pelé took the Brazilian team to victory. I believe in this scene there was effective use of quick shots, long shots and slow motion to not only create an exciting scene to watch but to also show exactly how the game plays out. With the inclusion of the commentary and live television-like shots, this game, at least at the beginning, feels very similar to one you would see on live television. As a general rule with live television sports filming, the camera will stay in a slight zoom and then pan around. Most of the shots in the beginning of this scene are similar to this, which I would describe as successful coverage under my definition. Although the difference between this and live coverage of sports are the insert shots of family and the spectators, which assist in creating the intensity and importance of this game in particular.

This scene also includes shots from on the middle of the field. For example this shot, which obviously could not be done in live television. This shot then followed the players in their celebration, which was very effective in showing the excitement of being one of the players on the Swedish team.

After this celebration shot, the scene’s mood changes quite dramatically, as Brazil was now losing. There is a slow pan from Sweden’s players celebrating, to Pele’s disappointed face. The commentary and cheering becomes dull and more muted through Pele’s point of view and through his facial expression we infer that Pele has decided he needs to play better and harder. At this point the pacing gets quicker, although the shot quality doesn’t change. You are still able to see everything happening with the ball and you don’t miss out on the happenings of the game.

This turning point in the scene also employs some more creative shots like the one above. And becomes less of a live television kind of coverage because the storyline becomes more intense. These more creative shots add to the drama of the scene, but don’t detract from the effectiveness of the coverage.

At about 11 minutes left of the film, everything slows down to show Pele looking around for someone to pass the ball to. I’m unsure on how exactly these shots would have been achieved, but it is as if everything and everyone around the Brazilian team has completely stopped still. Each player has their own single long shot zoomed into a mid shot of them looking at other teammates to see who is available to pass to. This is quite effective in showing how it feels to be a player in a game, looking around at who is available to pass to. The majority of shots after this scene are slow motion and more creative in comparison to the beginning of this scene. This is a very emotional and historic moment, so it makes sense for this section of the scene to employ more ‘exciting’ editing and shot techniques.

The next analysis I did was on the Netflix series called The English Game (2020). The show was centred around the history of soccer and how it was created and played in England in the late 1700’s. Throughout this show there are quite a few soccer game scenes, so this analysis will be a bit more general. Each game played in this series seemed, through shot choice, to be a lot more concerned about development of the story and characters, rather than what was actually happening in the game.

I would say that these scenes from The English Game did not fit into any part of my ‘successful coverage’ definition. The scenes only really showed the goals in a full shot. Otherwise it was very reliant on using close up shots of feet and faces and cutting these very quickly together. There was a huge amount of editing, which if you make a comparison to a film like Kes, is a drastic difference. I would say after watching The English Game, it almost feels as if Kes has no editing at all. Which can be a good or bad thing, but in this case I would argue the latter. The cuts and shot types in this particular show are not quite successful in showing how it is to be playing or to be watching the game.

The next scene I analysed was the last game of She’s the Man (Fickman, 2006), which much to my surprise, did quite a good job in creating a scene that is believable and quite successful in terms of coverage. The final scene of the film is successful in showing most of the play, it didn’t feel as if you were missing out on what was happening in the game. 

One shot I think is particularly interesting is the one above; the camera tracked the ball for quite a few seconds. This shot was very successful in terms of showing intense play and showing the team advancing the field. Something I’ve realised while researching these films, more specifically the fictional films, is that some of the coverage choices could be because the actors aren’t soccer players. For example in The English Game, it seems that they are trying to overcompensate that the actors cannot play soccer. And my guess is that some of the poor shot choices and editing decisions were because they decided not to use stunt doubles. Although I can’t be sure as to which films did or did not, I have a feeling that quite a few choices from a few films were based around this. In She’s The Man it seems they may have stunt doubles, or at least actors who are able to play soccer, and I think this greatly improved the legitimacy of this scene. Quite a few full body shots of passing, tackling and so on were used in this scene, which really show exactly what is happening in the game. There was quite a fast pace of editing in this scene, which I don’t think detracted from the successfulness of the coverage. The speed of the editing only added to the intensity of the scene. I consider this was essential as this particular scene is the climax and resolution of the film.

A particular shot theme that I have noticed in most of these scenes and saw in She’s the Man is the shot of the score board which I agree is quite important in showing the time left in the game and score, for context. But I have seen this shot in almost all of the scenes I have studied, so it was nice to see the slight variation on that in Kes where the scores were written on the bottom of the shot.

She’s the Man Screenshot

Pele Screenshot

A shot that I noticed in She’s the Man that was almost exactly the same to one in Kes and also Pele was this shot from behind the net. I’m not sure if there is any importance or meaning behind this shot, but I found it quite an interesting shot and also interesting that these films, made at different point in 36 years, utilised the same creative shots.

A pivotal point in any soccer game, is the free kick, it could end in a goal for the team that is playing. I found the coverage of the free kick in this scene from She’s the Man successful but possibly a bit too overdramatised. The sequence of the free kick was around 11 seconds and roughly 12 different shot types. I suppose I have to excuse it partially as it is a fictional teen, comedy film and it was used as a dramatic effect, but it did almost feel too much. To compare this back to Kes, the free kick was very simple but effective, taken in one long shot. I don’t think I could deem one more successful than the other but they were extremely different approaches. Kes used only one shot for the free kick in comparison to 12 from She’s the Man, however they both did successfully convey what was happening at that point of the game, so I don’t think I can come to any conclusion on which is more or less successful. 

The final scene I looked at was this clip Here from the film Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (Gordon, Parreno, 2006). This is a super interesting scene, by far the most realistic feeling scene. The sound effects and ambience of the crowd, commentators and ball really add to the scene. The camera only focusses on Zidane. The scene very much emphasises how it feels to be a player in a game. Plenty of waiting around, but when you do get the chance to be around the ball it is very quick and exciting. The majority of shots in which Zidane is involved in the play, it is a full body shot with other players surrounding him, which gives great context; I feel that this is the perfect shot. In comparison to most of the other films, for example The English Game, when the ball is passed, the shot will change before it gets to the next player, which provides a bit of a disjointed viewing of the game. To give a more realistic feeling, this longer shot really allows for the audience to see what is happening in the shot, which in my opinion is more effective coverage.

This shot above, of Zidane’s and other players feet is a really great addition to the scene. The sound effects associated with the scraping of his boots on the ground, was something different to watch, that I haven’t seen in anything else.

As the commentary of Zidane’s voice comes in, the commentary of the game and audience slowly muffle out and become almost silent. With this shift, the coverage becomes slightly tighter onto Zidane’s face, creating a more emotional shift to the scene.

This is a really beautifully shot and edited scene and I would say it is the most successful coverage out of the scenes that I have researched. It quite perfectly conveys how it is to be a player in a game, while still being shot beautifully and conveying a story. 

Even though I have created my own definition of a successful coverage of this type of scene, I still don’t think I can set that in stone. I have done quite a bit of research into soccer scenes in films, but I’ve really only dug at the surface. Having only closely looked at 5 films, I don’t think I could be sure that my definition is correct, although I am happy to continue to loosely stick to it. In my opinion, a successfully covered soccer scene will include many wide and long shots, won’t be too fast paced in terms of cutting, and will show the players in full. The scene will either convey how it is to be a player in the game or an audience member. Under my definition most of these films achieved at least some aspects of this definition. But I would like to continue looking into this when I see a soccer film next and keep exploring what I consider to be successful coverage.