It’s safe to say I am a huge Nottingham Forest fan. I’ve had a season ticket since I was a child and sit with half of my family at every home game. I’m just about old enough to remember our stint in League 1 – so our Premier league status is still a dream to me.

Writing this article, I’ve now done a few matchday shoots for Forest. It’s fun to look back on my first, so I thought it’d be fun to write about how it went and how wet my camera equipment was.

Even after recording & editing promotional videos for Nottingham Forest,
I didn’t expect to be asked to film pitch side…

I attended college for TV & Film, earned my degree at a film school in London and have shot videos for local heroes and big brands. When it comes to promotional work, adverts, documentary style projects and explainers – I’m in my element. Despite working on golf video projects with my friend Brady (he’s brilliant), I felt extremely nervous to film football – especially at this level. I offer affordable video production services, so I’m from a different world to the Sky Sports cameramen that have filmed hundreds of games of live football.

In a nutshell, I was a little nervous. Let’s fast forward to my first match:

I’ve watched Forest’s YouTube content for years. I was well aware of their ‘Match Day Pass’ videos and how great they are at capturing the day. The club media is fan oriented, well shot and edited to inspire fans and help them reminisce about the day. In the moment, ‘Match Day Pass’ is an alternative highlight video that covers more than the football. Long term, these videos act as nostalgic time capsules that tell the story of a match day through B-roll and ground level goal footage.

Here’s a rough shot list (clips I can remember) of footage I needed to capture before kick off:

• Establishing shots – wide angle footage of the ground, Trent Bridge, Lady Bay Bridge & West Bridgford.
• Match preparation B roll – groundsmen working, security briefing, corner flag checking, broadcast setup (TV cameras rigging up).
• Fan footage (outside) – gathering, eating, drinking, dancing, chanting, walking to the stadium, engaging in activates at the fan-zone.
• At a specific time: Forest team bus entering the ground to fanfare outside.
• At a specific time: Specific activities in the fan-zone in the Brian Clough stand (ex player interviews & team sheet announcement).
• Fan footage (inside the ground) – turnstile entering, finding seats, chatting.

First Half (The Run)

There are at least two camera operators needed to film a great matchday pass edit. This isn’t the full shot list! This is just a little of what I can remember from my specific pre-match brief. Ten minutes before kick off, I had to make sure I was in position to film the game..

When setting up my trusty Lumix rig near the Bridgford End (now named The John Robertson Stand), a photographer I spoke to pitch-side told me his first match was shooting for a national league football friendly. I’ve jumped straight to Forest in Europe for mine – not exactly reassuring.

Little did I realise until halfway through Mull Of Kintyre, that Forest had lost the coin toss and had to switch sides… We were attacking towards the Trent End. I had my back turned to film the fans sing our anthem at the time. I desperately wanted to join in I would in my seat as a season ticket holder but I knew my proximity meant I would dominate the cameras’ audio and spoil the footage. I had a lot on my mind and it was only when I turned to the game that I realised we were switching sides..

I ran towards the Trent End (some supporters cheering me knowing I was in a rush (“weeeey”) and quickly fixed my rig as we kicked off. my camera didn’t miss kick off – a miracle.

After the whistle had blown for half time, I moved my setup back to my initial spot at the other end. One photographer gave me a little smile that I knew meant “Yeah, I saw you running. You must be new at this, you didn’t think of watching the coin toss did you?”

Second Half (The Rain)

There was a bit of drizzle at half time. As was my first time shooting pitchside, I didn’t have a waterproof cover and I didn’t think I’d need one. A cloudy evening forecast according to Apple Weather. I should have checked Google.

About 15 minutes into the second half, it started absolutely chucking it down. Like… really chucking it down. Like… the kind of rain that absolutely nobody wants to stand in… the kind of rain people run away from and scream a little.

I endured about five minutes of it in full force until I realised my camera was suffering. I was completely soaked (even through my coat), but that didn’t matter at the time. All I cared about was capturing the game. I couldn’t miss a potential Forest goal or an exciting moment. I walked a few steps back into the stand and went handheld (a little more zoomed in) for about 10 minutes just to give my camera a break from the rain. I had a jumper in my bag that i used to wipe all parts of the camera whilst filming and it wasn’t enough. Those steps back into the stands only helped me escape the downpour, the stand itself was getting soaked due to the wind sweeping the rain inward.

It’s 80 minutes into the game now and my big V-mount battery had died due to water damage. I had to step back into the rain to find my bag and change it. I only missed about 30 seconds of the game and luckily nothing happened except for an away substitution (not on my shot list). It was one of the worst things that could happen at the best time possible – and I had a spare to swap it with.

My camera had survived through my sheer determination to protect it with my jumper, coat and by leaning over it. I wasn’t even thinking of myself at all throughout the 30 minutes of downpour. I had footage to handover and I still had a working camera. That was all that mattered at the time.

After the game, I handed over footage whilst drinking hot chocolate in the media lounge. I was thoroughly soaked and I thought about my stupid decision to take the bus to the game,. I knew I’d have to step onto the Trent Barton Mainline dripping everywhere. You could rinse me like a flannel.

After filming more matchdays for Nottingham Forest, I’ve since:

• Driven to every single one and parked close.
• Taken lots of measures to avoid wet camera equipment.
• Watched every single coin toss.

Filming videos for Forest is an absolute dream and I have been in my element from day 1 when it comes to testimonials, advert style videos and even documentary style project breakdown films for Nottingham Forest Foundation. It’s matchday filming that was new for me – and now it’s not. The Forest media team are friendly, organised, talented and simply brilliant at what they do. It’s an honour to assist them every time I’m called upon. I hope you’ve enjoyed this insight into my first time shooting pitchside!