Bunch of Amateurs

JiMMy 85

Hi all,

I've posted this in a couple of other threads but hopefully it's worth having its own! 

I've spent the last six months working on a documentary project about amateur football. What I've got so far is a proof-of-concept edit that's 40 minutes long. While I can't really promote this (because of music rights), I have got it unlisted on YouTube to share, and figured I'd share with the CL family.

I haven't pirated my own film and given it away - the purpose of this edit is to sell the idea to people, get feedback and figure out what I need to do in the future. While some bits of this footage may get used eventually, the actual doc begins shooting this weekend for the next 12 months. 

You can follow Bunch of Amateurs on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/bunch_amateurs

And you can watch the proof-of-concept edit here: https://youtu.be/0fjirupvpaI



I'm going to be following three teams of varying levels - Dorking Wanderers who are on the verge of turning pro, Charlwood FC who are much lower down but no-less serious, and a third team I am currently in talks with (with a minor celebrity as their manager, so praying this comes off!). 

As mentioned in the 'Got Any Stories' thread, I am keen to hear about your experiences as I look for good stories and characters that might be worth getting on film. I'm taking notes from that thread (and anything mentioned here) and may come approach you in the future. I welcome any suggestions you might have for subjects to cover. 

If I am really lucky and work hard enough, I might be able to sell this thing. But mostly, I just want to make a film I am proud of that people enjoy watching. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this! 

Edit: I did mean to add my standard caveat that this is quite a raw edit - my equipment took time to build up so the early match footage is shaky and messy. It also needs colour grading and sound mixing. Basically, there are shortcomings I am all too aware of! 

Addickhead86

Hi Jimmy, fellow filmmaker here. Good luck with the project, looks like a lot of hard work has gone into it already. I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching the POC this weekend. I had a skip through and it looks great, really interesting. I always think, with documentary (actually with anything), if you are interested in your subject and the people around it, then people will be too. And that certainly seems to be the case.

i_b_b_o_r_g

Look up Milldean mate, that weren't a bad documentary, even though they are Millwall. And the manager bloke used to come in my shop up Grove Park

i_b_b_o_r_g

Part 1, if youre interested, the other 3 parts are on there, I just scrolled through and see em -

https://youtu.be/IjvLR3NMDRA

JiMMy 85

Addickhead86 said:

Hi Jimmy, fellow filmmaker here. Good luck with the project, looks like a lot of hard work has gone into it already. I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching the POC this weekend. I had a skip through and it looks great, really interesting. I always think, with documentary (actually with anything), if you are interested in your subject and the people around it, then people will be too. And that certainly seems to be the case.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate that. What have you made!?

Cheers Rob. I am trying to consume all the football docs I can find for research. The one I cannot get through is the Man City one. I think it was directed by Leni Riefenstahl. 

iainment

JiMMy 85 said:

Addickhead86 said:

Hi Jimmy, fellow filmmaker here. Good luck with the project, looks like a lot of hard work has gone into it already. I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching the POC this weekend. I had a skip through and it looks great, really interesting. I always think, with documentary (actually with anything), if you are interested in your subject and the people around it, then people will be too. And that certainly seems to be the case.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate that. What have you made!?

Cheers Rob. I am trying to consume all the football docs I can find for research. The one I cannot get through is the Man City one. I think it was directed by Leni Riefenstahl. 

Because of Trautmann?

Carter

That was really, really good 

BeckenhamAddick

Really enjoyed that. There’s a big market for showing football at grassroots level as shown by the success of the class of 92 Salford city stuff. Keep it up 

Ferryman

Really enjoyed that, Jimmy. If you continue with this theme maybe include some struggling teams. The two there had very successful seasons, which added to it as well, but not things in general.

RodneyCharltonTrotta

i_b_b_o_r_g said:

Part 1, if youre interested, the other 3 parts are on there, I just scrolled through and see em -

https://youtu.be/IjvLR3NMDRA

That's quality....saw that years ago but good to watch again.  The 90s is like a different world now!


Great film too @ji@"JiMMy 85"

TEL

Enjoyed watching that. Impressed with the Dorking story, would love to see more of their story. 

guinnessaddick

i_b_b_o_r_g said:

Part 1, if youre interested, the other 3 parts are on there, I just scrolled through and see em -

https://youtu.be/IjvLR3NMDRA

Used play against them in the London & Kent Border on Sunday morning.

Chizz

https://twitter.com/itvanglia/status/1140579991161364483

RodneysMiddleName

Nice one, Jimmy - really enjoyed that. Built Charlwood's story nicely and interesting to see the Dorking bits. Planning to see our game there on the 25th as they are one of my local teams. If you're looking for other clubs to talk to then FC Romania are good value. I've only seen them once but their fans treated the game like a full international! Lots of noise, flags etc, all from 30 or so ex-pats. I can also put you in touch with Hadley who have an interesting story and are hoping this will be a good season. With Barnet moving out of the borough they've done some clever marketing to get people along and there's a good bunch of guys running the club. Their half-time tennis ball challenge is a unique and popular fundraiser and they even brew their own craft beer. I did make a short film about one of the guys involved some years ago called 'Sub'. It covered his entire football career when Martin Allen brought him on for the last 5 minutes of a pre-season friendly between Barnet and Arsenal. He touched the ball once, and that was only when the ref took pity on him and told the keeper to give him the ball. His only other action was at a corner when Martin Keown stuck a finger in his eye, dislodging a contact lens... Give me a shout if you want any contact details for them and look forward to seeing more of your stuff. 

JiMMy 85

Thanks @RodneysMiddleName. FC Romania sound v. interesting, I need to follow that up. Is your short film available anywhere? 

Ferryman said:

Really enjoyed that, Jimmy. If you continue with this theme maybe include some struggling teams. The two there had very successful seasons, which added to it as well, but not things in general.

Agree with this, I didn't intend to follow two successful teams, so I am hoping to find a third team that will offer more of an insight into the slog of Sundays. 

JohnBoyUK

Utmost admiration for you amateur (and pro) film makers.  I'm a photographer and find that challenging at times.  Filming and keeping a camera shake free is a skill all in itself.  Will watch with interest later

JiMMy 85

JohnBoyUK said:

Utmost admiration for you amateur (and pro) film makers.  I'm a photographer and find that challenging at times.  Filming and keeping a camera shake free is a skill all in itself.  Will watch with interest later

The key to a steady camera is... spending 700 quid on a Ronin! 

JohnBoyUK

JiMMy 85 said:

JohnBoyUK said:

Utmost admiration for you amateur (and pro) film makers.  I'm a photographer and find that challenging at times.  Filming and keeping a camera shake free is a skill all in itself.  Will watch with interest later

The key to a steady camera is... spending 700 quid on a Ronin! 

Even so.  I bought a gimbal for my go pro and iPhone and it made all the difference but find it such a pain to get it set up each time but when it works, the footage is bloody brilliant.

JiMMy 85

The Ronin is a HUGE pain to get into action, so I don't pack it up properly - I very gingerly wrap it up and put it away without undoing any of the balance settings. And take photos of the balance numbers too. But woe betide me if I want to change lens or attach the mic! The worst thing is, if you get it wrong you break it. 

But as you say, once it's working it transforms footage so totally a necessity. 

RodneysMiddleName

JiMMy 85 said:

Thanks @RodneysMiddleName. FC Romania sound v. interesting, I need to follow that up. Is your short film available anywhere? 

Ferryman said:

Really enjoyed that, Jimmy. If you continue with this theme maybe include some struggling teams. The two there had very successful seasons, which added to it as well, but not things in general.

Agree with this, I didn't intend to follow two successful teams, so I am hoping to find a third team that will offer more of an insight into the slog of Sundays. 

Just found Sub on YouTube - forgotten I'd loaded it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_N9Xs9s4nQ. Looks like a home video compared to yours but was fun to put together!

JiMMy 85

Been shooting all season, figured I’d share some footage from last week’s game as it’s come out really nicely!

https://youtu.be/JtetRJlYVwM

Dazzler21

JiMMy 85 said:

Been shooting all season, figured I’d share some footage from last week’s game as it’s come out really nicely!

https://youtu.be/JtetRJlYVwM

8-1 is vert nice indeed. I do love the Charlwood pitch, set back across the road from the strip of shops. Always looks in fantastic condition.

JiMMy 85

The parish spent a lot of money on the pitch and club house, so it’s all on great shape. The shops make a brilliant backdrop, much more interesting than most grounds. 

Apparently the team that got tonked there were much higher last season, for walhatever reason had to drop down. The gaffer told me some of his players turned up and saw there were no stands/ dug outs and thought it was beneath them. Then got smashed by 8! 

Charlwood are flying. 6 out of 6 after their third successive promotion. I think I’ve picked the right season!! 

Nug

What type of camera/lenses do you use Jimmy? Footage looks really good.

JiMMy 85

I shoot with three Panasonic GH4s and a GH5 plus a load of GoPros and a Mavic 2 Pro drone. Lens wise, I’ve got a bunch of Canon lenses (24-105mm and another similar one) plus a beautiful 50mm Samyang. It’s funny, six months ago this comment would’ve been gibberish to me! 

CharltonToddler

Jimmy yo done my side last week. I’m chairman at Westfield. Terrible result for us but missing a few. Believe you interviewed our manager aswell. Got some great stories about getting Hastings to the 3rd round of the Fa cup 

CharltonToddler

JiMMy 85 said:

The parish spent a lot of money on the pitch and club house, so it’s all on great shape. The shops make a brilliant backdrop, much more interesting than most grounds. 

Apparently the team that got tonked there were much higher last season, for walhatever reason had to drop down. The gaffer told me some of his players turned up and saw there were no stands/ dug outs and thought it was beneath them. Then got smashed by 8! 

Charlwood are flying. 6 out of 6 after their third successive promotion. I think I’ve picked the right season!! 

We played at exactly the same level last year just in the Sussex version not the mid Sussex version, when your keeper has a medical emergency in the day also doesn’t help, anyway onto Petworth in the cup this week 

Nug

JiMMy 85 said:

I shoot with three Panasonic GH4s and a GH5 plus a load of GoPros and a Mavic 2 Pro drone. Lens wise, I’ve got a bunch of Canon lenses (24-105mm and another similar one) plus a beautiful 50mm Samyang. It’s funny, six months ago this comment would’ve been gibberish to me! 

That’s a lot of gear, must need a bit of help to manage it all. I’m trying to work on my shooting of my sons rugby matches and finding it difficult to find a single lense that works. I’m using a Canon 70d with 50-300mm but thinking an 18-200 might be better. Look forward to seeing more of this project.

TEL

Dazzler21 said:

JiMMy 85 said:

Been shooting all season, figured I’d share some footage from last week’s game as it’s come out really nicely!

https://youtu.be/JtetRJlYVwM

8-1 is vert nice indeed. I do love the Charlwood pitch, set back across the road from the strip of shops. Always looks in fantastic condition.

Sorry but Id have to smack the manager, he is such a big mouth. Good video

creepyaddick

Only just seen this and really enjoyed it!

creepyaddick

Is it ok to share with a couple of mates who both played and run teams here in Crawley?