DOCUMENTARY: Final Group Idea & Research

We have decided that we will carry on the documentary unit with Callum's idea, his was about a LGBT football team in London. He chose this subject because it's interesting that there are no major footballers who have come out gay and even still to this day it can be seen as wrong for a footballer to be gay. It also aims for a teenage audience as we will be documenting the story of a teenager as well so it links in with the 'teen spirit' idea. An LGBT football team could either come under the family/relationships or the community/social affaires heading so we as a group thought this topic was a great idea. 


Research

Justin Fashanu
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/life_of_canaries
_legend_justin_fashanu_will_be_
remembered_in_new_book_1_964722

Justin Fashanu was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was the first professional footballer to be openly gay. Once he moved to America, he was questioned by the police after a 17 year old boy accused him of sexual assault. At the time of the accusation, homosexual acts were illegal in Maryland, which was the state he was in. He was charged and he had an arrest warrant issued on the 3rd April 1998. Sadly, he fled to England and killed himself in May 1998 as he feared that he wouldn't get a fair trial because of his homosexuality, according to his suicide note. (1)


- Fashanu was listed at number 99 in the Top 500 Lesbian and Gay Heroes in The Pink Paper.

- In March 2009 a football team, The Justin Fashanu All-stars, was named in his honour and was created by the Justin Campaign, which is a campaign against homophobia in football and promotes the inclusion of openly gay players in football.

- In July 2013, the French film composer Jann Halexander composed a short requiem in his memory

- In July 2014, London band Elephants and Castles released their first single, 'Fashanu' as a tribute to him. 

I found an article from Justin Fashanu's niece, Amal, stating that she knows of seven gay footballers in the Premiere League and who are all "trapped in a dark world". They are all concerned with the intensity of the media not only on themselves but their families. Amal's father is Justin's brother, John, who was another famous footballer. Amal revealed in the article what she felt like as a 9 year old school girl, under the spotlight of both media and public and fighting for a share of her dad's attention. "He used to come and present prizes at sports day. And I used to try and win them all just so that I could see him for a little while. I don't think people realise who much families of footballers actually suffer." Reading this article from a close family member of a footballer realise highlights the problems with being in the eye of the media. (2)


This is why we thought this would be a good topic to base our documentary about and we want to broadcast a message to people and footballers that it should be seen as acceptable to come out and be who you want to be.

Accessibility
Callum has a good relationship with some of the footballers in a LGBT team called the East End Phoenix and will be able to get access for interviews from the players and hopefully be able to get permission to film at their training ground. They also have their own website showing what they're about and their schedule of games at http://www.londonunityleague.co.uk/?s=League 

We have looked into the schedule as a group and have decided to get some early footage of the team playing a game on either the 19th or 26th of March as Zoe said it would better to have actual game footage rather than a friendly match or to have them just training.

Knowing we need to interview interesting people who relate to our idea, Callum recommended we interview a player who he knows and the manager who also plays sometimes. These people especially because the manager is straight while the majority of the players are gay and this could be quite interesting to find out why he decided to manage a LGBT team rather than a straight football team. The experiences we can get from some of the players will be good pieces of research into being gay and the problems they can come across when they were younger and during the process of coming out.

Camera position/angles
In my mind, I am thinking that the shots we have of the interviews should show the interviewee in front of an active football match or a training session. By following the 'rule of thirds', I like the idea of having the interviewee in the left or right hand side, leaving some space for us to see a game taking place behind them, even if it is blurry because of the depth of field we will still see the vibrant green grass and figures running around with a ball. Here is an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsGR89gzYhE

(1) Roads and Kingdoms. (2016). The Far Post Global Soccer Dispatches.Available: http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2014/the-life-and-death-of-justin-fashanu/. Last accessed 13th March.

(2) The Sun. (2016). Amal Fashanu : ‘I know seven gay players in Premier League all trapped in a dark world’. Available: https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/football/1075783/amal-fashanu-i-know-seven-gay-players-in-premier-league-all-trapped-in-a-dark-world/. Last accessed 13th March.