Teachers notes

CONTENTS
Text Page 7 Video

Video Times

Teachers Notes 1 A first activity

Football does it turn you on? a preliminary talk activity

10

Clip 1.1 Talking about football outside a tube station Clip 1.2 Talking about football Nick Hornby, Julie Welch and Roddy Doyle

0:21 4:13

2 England v Chile a language case study

Introductory activities About the game The title sequence The opening montage Introducing the match The start of the game 11 16 17 18 18 19 Clip 2.1 Ron Manager The Fast Show 6:54 Clip 2.2 The Big Match title sequence 8:43 Clip 2.3 The Big Match opening montage 9:36 still frame of the studio Clip 2.4 Bob Wilson introduces the match 10:53 Clip 2.5 Kegan and Moore begin their 11:35 coverage no sound Clip 2.6 Keegan and Moore begin their 14:36 coverage sound and vision Clip 2.7 The game underway Kegan 17:37 and Moores commentary Clip 2.8 The goal on TV sound only 19:47 Clip 2.9 The goal on radio sound only 21:58 Clip 2.10 The goal on TV sound and vision 23:31 Clip 2.11 The penalty incident no sound 25:40 Clip 2.12 The penalty incident sound and 27:16 vision

The game underway The goal

24 27

The penalty incident

29

Julie Welch writes about Jonathan Pearce

31

3 England v Chile a case study in newspaper reporting

Introductory activities 33 Clip 3.1 Nick Hornby and Julie Welch on 31:02 reading football news Clip 3.2 Julie Welch on match reporting 33:34 Clip 3.3 Julie Welch on Gills go for broke 35:54

Match reports on England v Chile Headlines The first paragraph Writing about the goal A whole match report The full page Writing suggestions

35 35 36 37 39 42 44

Clip 2.10 The goal on TV sound and vision 23:31

4 England v Chile media activities

Did you know? The title sequence Constructing the game 45 46 Clip 2.10 The goal on TV sound and vision 23:31 Clip 2.13 Action replays of the goal in 28:52 the match coverage Clip 2.14 Action replays of the goal in the 29:25 post-match analysis

Representation or interpretation Producing and editing on TV Football and Digital Television

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47 47 48

Clip 2.15 Ad for Sky Digital

30:12

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Teachers notes

CONTENTS
Text Page Video

Video Times

5 Personal writing about football

Fever Pitch introducing the book Extract 1 Boring, boring, Arsenal Extract 2 Boys and girls Extract 3 Adapting Fever Pitch for film 50 50 51 54 56 Clip 4.1 Nick Hornby introduces Fever Pitch Clip 4.2 Nick Hornby talks about Boys and girls Clip 4.3 Nick Hornby talks about Extract 3 Clip 4.4 Nick Hornby on adapting Fever Pitch for film Clip 4.5 An extract from Fever Pitch, the film Clip 4.6 Nick Hornby on the film extract 41:16 42:54 46:11 49:17 52:13 58:15

Heroes and villains Charlie Cooke Roddy Doyle on his childhood hero How I love United and hate sport Emily Barr on life with Bloke Women in the press box! JulieWelch on being a football reporter Gazzas World Cup sacking My World Cup Story by Glen Hoddle Addicted by Tony Adams

58 60 62

64 67

6 Hot issues reading and writing argument about football

Reading argument Suzanne Moore on Gazza Writing argument Pricing fans out of the game Racism in football Football and gender Football violence Other topics 70 73 74 75 77 79 80

7 Media assignments on football

Media coursework assignments for the NEAB English syllabus Analysing televised football Creating converts, finding fans a new TV football show Football and TV quality or quantity Media Studies GCSE coursework assignments Representing the World Cup Production assignments for Media Studies GCSE Selling Soccer on Satellite Your own football show A radio news report Create your own football fanzine A fans response Making your own Edited Highlights 81 81 82 82 86 86 Clips 2.1 2.14 Extracts from The Big Match

Clip 5.1 The Big Match 1st Half Clip 5.2 The Big Match 2nd Half

1:00:26 1:14:32

88 89 89 90 92 92 93 94
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8 Wider reading and viewing

9 After working on this publication

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Teachers notes

Teachers notes
Using the material
The resource offers several different units for English and Media, each of which take the world of football as their focus. Each unit could be taught discretely, or a combination of activities could be taught from within different units. The resource is not organised as a sequence and can be used flexibly, dipped into and adapted. It is unlikely that any one class would want to study all of the units in the pack. Different classes and teachers in a Department might want to focus on different units and may even want to use one unit at the end of Year 9, as a transition to GCSE. For instance, the language case study on the England v Chile game would make a good introduction to close analysis of texts (verbal and visual, as well as written). In order to teach these units, the teacher does not need to have a detailed knowledge of the finer points of football. Firstly, the material has been written to provide all the information that is needed; it is not a pack about football, but rather a pack about the ways in which the world of football has generated fascinatingly rich language, non-fiction and media texts. Secondly, many pupils in the class will be experts and will happily supply information if it is needed. Finally, it has been written on the assumption that some pupils will not necessarily have a pre-existing love for the game. The activities themselves are designed to draw in even those who start off declaring a lack of interest in or knowledge of football. With the exception of Nick Hornby, whose love for Arsenal is well-known, the material has avoided focusing on particular teams and the core of the pack, the case study, deliberately uses an England international game, to avoid partisan feelings dominating the classroom.

Possible routes through the material

Route 1 Language of commentaries + the Gazza story + argument writing
1. Preliminary talk activity based on Video clip 1.0 2. The England v Chile language case study (Section 2) a) the poem by Gareth Owen (page 13) b) trying out a commentary on a simple classroom game (page 11) c) the whole sequence of activities on the video clips, except for Julie Welchs article on Jonathan Pearce and the penalty commentary simulation 3. Work on Glenn Hoddle and Tony Adams autobiographies, as an introduction to work on argument 4. Work on reading argument writing Suzanne Moore on Gazza

Route 2 England v Chile case study language + newspapers + a media unit for English
1. A focus on the key moments in the England v Chile game in the language case study, followed by more detailed work on newspapers, leading to the writing of a match report as original writing for coursework. Opportunities for set piece En1 assessments. Preparation for reading non-fiction and media texts in terminal exams. 2. Media activities on page 45 3. Media assignments on page 81 leading to a Media unit for GCSE English

Route 3 Personal writing En2 and En3 (coursework)

Personal writing about football, focusing on 2 or 3 examples from Section 5, leading to a piece of original writing for coursework and a piece of critical writing as preparation for the reading requirements of the GCSE exams.

Route 4 Media Studies GCSE

1. England v Chile case study (Section 1) a quick romp through the language activities, focusing particularly on the title sequence, opening montage and the goal. 2. The additional Media activities in the case study in section 4 (Page 45). The newspaper case study in Section 3 could be offered as additional support material or as extension work but has not been

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written specifically for Media Studies GCSE. 3. Choose from the Media Studies GCSE assignments in Section 7 (Page 81)

Route 5 Football reporting in the news En2 and En3

1. Watch the video extracts from the England v Chile game (Section 2). Do one or two short activities to give students a feel for the game e.g. the title sequence activity. 2. Move straight into the case study in newspaper reporting, as a focus for fulfilling reading and original writing objectives.

Route 6 Women and football non-fiction genres & argument writing En2 and En3
1. Julie Welch on being a match reporter, The Gills go for broke and on women in the world of football (Women in the Press Box!) 2. Emily Barr Why I love United and Hate Sport 3. A Big Issue article on womens football, Can We Kick It? leading to an argument essay on women and football.

Route 7 Fever Pitch work on a non-fiction text En2 and En3

1. Close work on extracts from the book, using the video interview, leading to critical writing and/or original writing 2. Work on the film adaptation of Fever Pitch

Route 8 Reading and writing non-fiction genres a close analysis of the work of Julie Welch, match reporter En2 and En3
1. Use the video clip of Julie Welch talking about the role of a match reporter and the writing of The Gills go for broke, (Video clips 3.2 and 3.3, text and activities page 33) 2. Activities on Julie Welchs article on Jonathan Pearce: Pearce gives TV viewers a fearful earful (page 31) 3. An extract from her autobiographical work, Long Distance Information (page 62)

The Big Match Conventions of a typical programme of highlights

This list of conventions may be helpful to teachers who are not familiar with the format and style of TV programmes about football. Commentators in the studio are usually shown sitting round a table, more rarely around a coffee table. A pair of commentators in the studio chat before the start of the coverage. One key commentator opens the programme. Theres almost always one professional commentator and one footballer/ex-footballer or football manager at the studio. Theres a separate commentary as a voice-over done by one or two other commentators at the match. On commercial TV theres a break for adverts at half-time. At half-time the studio commentators analyse the game. After the game the studio commentators analyse the game, using clips of the action, action replays already screened and additional shots, from a range of camera angles. After the game there are short, on-the-spot interviews with footballers and the managers of the two teams, often either in their kit or after the shower. Action replays are shown and commented on immediately after a key event, such as a corner, a goal, a penalty or a foul. Action replays are shown again at the end of the match with more commentary. Sometimes after the featured match theres a round-up of other important games, with brief highlights of goals, penalties, sending-offs etc. Some programmes have a regular slot for Goal of the month or other such features. More general programmes about football may have a woman presenter, such as Gaby Yorath, but when it comes to commentary on matches, its unheard of to have a female commentator.

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Teachers notes Transcripts of football commentaries

Where transcripts are included in the material, the following conventions have been used: Sentence punctuation has been omitted. It is standard practice to represent speech without the normal punctuation appropriate for writing. Short pauses are marked by a bracket, with a space inside the bracket. Longer pauses are marked with the number of seconds in the bracket e.g. (9 ) Volume and intonation have not been marked but this could be an additional exercise for students, for instance, underlining stressed words or highlighting loud speech.

More suggestions for football coursework assignments

The ideas listed below are for other possible assignments or angles that go beyond the scope of this pack. 1. Computer football games A review article on the computer football games that are currently available on the market, such as FIFA 99, Championship Manager and so on. The article could include some general analysis, as well as comment on the strengths and weaknesses of individual games. For instance: the audience for these games and why (male? female? young? old?) what the pleasures of football games are how the games have changed and developed over time predictions about how they might develop in the future rice and value for money, as compared with other ways of enjoying football-related activities 2. Computer websites There are lots of Internet websites devoted to football. Students could surf the net to find the ones devoted to their team, set up by fans, by the club itself or by other organisations. They could: write and design a few pages for their own football website, about their team or about some other aspect of football write a review article on all the different football websites they have visited write a letter to one website provider with detailed comments on what they thought of it and suggestions for changes and improvements. Answers: Newspaper headlines Page 35 CHILE CON CARNAGE ALL SYSTEMS GO WRONG IN GLENNS MIX AND MATCH SALAS DAZE FOR SOL ENGLAND CHOKE ON CHILE SALAS SOURS OWENS SWEET DAY NIGHT THE HYPE WAS RUMBLED BOYS OWEN TALE ENDS IN DEFEAT LETHAL SALAS RIPS UP ENGLAND BLUEPRINT ENGLAND LEFT IN AWE OF STUNNING SALAS SUPER SALAS TWO HOT AS CHILE BURN HODD CHILEANS SHOW ENGLAND ARE LONG WAY FROM CONQUERING THE WORLD YOU CHILE BILLIES OWEN MAN ENOUGH TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD Sky Digital Ad on Page 48 is titled: Some things.

Daily Mail Daily Mail Daily Mail The Express The Express The Express The Guardian The Guardian Independent The Sun The Guardian The Mirror The Mirror

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A first activity

1 A FIRST ACTIVITY
Football does it turn you on?
Video clip 1.1 (351) Talking about football outside a tube station
In this clip ordinary people, interviewed outside a tube station, give their views on football. q Watch the clip, then talk briefly about: what aspects of football they chose to talk about (you could make a short list of headings) which comments you found most interesting any words of phrases that stood out for you as being particularly good descriptions of football.

Video clip 1.2 (240) Talking about football Nick Hornby, Julie Welch and Roddy Doyle
Nick Hornby, Julie Welch and Roddy Doyle are all professional writers who have chosen to write about football. q Watch the clip. While you are watching try to summarise the key ideas being expressed by each one in a few short statements. For instance,

Nick Hornby football provides escape but also stress. Its not simple entertainment.
q

Use your notes from both of the video clips as a starting-point for talking about your own views and feelings about football. Now look at the list of questions below and talk about any that you havent already raised in your discussion. Do you enjoy talking about it/watching it/playing it/reading about it? What are the pleasures in each of these activities or what turns you off about them? Are you an addict or do you have to cope with an addict in the family? Whats that like? Is there a difference between the way boys and girls respond to football? Are you interested in the media hype surrounding particular stars David Beckham and Posh? Michael Owen? Gazza? Or do you wish theyd all just go away? Whats in it for the public? Why is it entertaining? Why does football generate such strong feelings? Is it more than just a game for people in this country? Is it our National Sport? Use the ideas generated in your discussion to do a 60 second presentation of your most deeply held feelings, ideas and attitudes to football. You could do it individually or as a small group. If you can, record each presentation on an audio tape or videotape and keep it safely so that you can listen back to it at a future date. When you finish working on the activities on football in this publication, you will make another 60 second presentation on your views to see whether your views have changed at all. You could use some of these opening phrases to help you structure your presentation: I hate... I love... I think its ridiculous that... Other people seem to feel/believe....but I... I wish... I wonder why... I really enjoy... What really annoys me is...

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England v Chile Language

2 ENGLAND V CHILE A LANGUAGE CASE STUDY

In this sequence of work, you are going to explore language in the world of football, focusing particularly on the language of TV and radio commentaries. You will be watching short clips from one game to look closely at football commentaries, their use of language, the way they are organised and what they choose to focus on.

Introductory activities
s Commentating on a simple game a one lesson classroom activity
q

Get into groups of four to set up the televising of one of these two-person games: Dominoes Poker Snap Battleships A simple board game like Snakes and Ladders or Scrabble.

Two people will play the game, one will be the commentator and one will be the sound-recordist or camera operator.

Create a context for your game

Make sure you know the rules of your chosen game. Agree on fictitious track records for each player, (for instance, one was last years UK champion and is a member of the Olympic team, while the other is a rank outsider, a teenage genius destined for higher things). Identify any specialist vocabulary for your game, (for instance Royal Flush and so on). Invent your own terms for moves or strategies to be used by the commentator.

Think visually about how to televise your game

q

Devise your own graphics and icons for the televising of the game, such as a logo for the game, miseen-scne (decor, colour schemes, clothes and so on), table, score-board and so on. Decide where cameras would be placed and how many youd need this is a problem-solving exercise. Produce a few sample storyboard frames to demonstrate what would be seen by each camera.

Playing the game

q q

Play a trial round of the game, with commentary, to identify the problems. Now play the beginning of a game, within a time-limit of say 23 minutes, and record the commentary onto audio tape. (If you have access to video cameras, record both sound and vision).

What youve learned about commentating

q

Play back the tape and make a list of the difficulties, problems with timing and so on. If you recorded your game on video, what difficulties, if any did you face? If you recorded sound only, how effectively did your groups commentator report the action? Use your list to compile a list of golden rules for commentating on this particular game.

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England v Chile Language

q

Now look at the rules for sports commentating suggested in a recent TV programme.

1. Do your homework research all the key facts about players, clubs and past fixtures and form before the game. 2. Communication is the key its all about making contact with the audience and getting things across well. 3. Predict at your peril dont predict whats about to happen. Its almost certain that the opposite will take place! 4. Dont take sides a commentator needs to be a neutral observer rather than obviously supporting one or other team or player. 5. You need to be able to fill if nothing much is happening, a commentator needs to fill the silences, by chatting, inserting little bits of information or whatever they can come up with. 6. If in doubt, improvise commentators need to be good at thinking on their feet and making things up on the spot.
q

Talk about whether you agree with all of them. How similar/different was your own list? How many of these rules did you find yourself observing in your own commentary? Devise a job description for a commentator for your game, in which you explain the qualities a successful candidate will need.

The language of your commentary

q

Listen to your tape again, this time focusing carefully on the language you used. Make a list of anything you notice about the way you used language. For instance, were you using lots of verbs? Did you keep repeating names? Were your utterances very long or very short? Were there lots of exclamations? (You may need to play back the tape a few times to pick out interesting aspects of your language.)

A homework activity
q

Watch a few minutes of three or four sports events being covered on TV. Try to catch examples of very different sports, such as horse racing, golf, cricket, tennis or rugby. Listen carefully to the commentaries. While you are listening think about what differences there are between them and how these differences relate to the nature of the sport. For instance: how many commentators are there how much, or little, is said how quickly does the commentator speak how many pauses are there how loud is the speech how easy is it for someone who doesnt know much about the sport to follow what is going on?

s Radio and TV commentaries a parody

q

Read the poem on page 13 by Gareth Owen, in which he writes in the voice of a young boy, Danny Markey, pretending to be a football commentator. Read it aloud, in the style of a real commentary. Listen to one or two performances in front of the whole class. Now annotate the poem to show what you notice about the typical features of football commentaries. Draw on what you learned about commentaries from doing your own. One or two jottings have been done for you to get you started. From the language, decide whether you think Danny Markey is imitating a TV or a radio commentary.

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England v Chile Language

The Commentator

t ng commen al welcomi Typic tor commenta

from the

Good afternoon and welcome, This is Danny Markey your commentator Welcoming you to this international Between England and Holland, Which is being played here this afternoon At four Florence Terrace. And the pitch looks in superb condition s As Danny Markey prepares kick -off i To kick off for England; specialis t And this capacity crowd roars cabular y As Markey, the England captain, vo Puts England on the attack. Straight away its Markey With a lovely pass to Keegan, Keegan back to Markey, Markey in possession now Jinking skilfully past the dustbin And a neat flick inside the cat there, What a brilliant player this Markey is And still only nine years old! Markey to Francis Francis to Markey, Markey is through... No, hes been tackled by the drainpipe; But hes won the ball back brilliantly And hes advancing on the Dutch keeper now, It must be a goal He comes off his line But Markey chips him brilliantly Its a goal... No. Its gone into Mrs. Spences next door. And Markeys going round To ask for his ball back. The Crowd is silent now If he cant get the ball back It could be the end of this international. And now the doors opening And yes, its Mrs Spence, Mrs Spence has come to the door, And wait a minute, shes shaking her head, She is shaking her head, She is not going to let Markey Have his ball back. What is the referee going to do? Markey looks very dejected here, Hes walking back, hanging his head... Whats he doing now? He seems to be waiting And my goodness me Hes going back, Markey is going back for the ball, What a brilliant and exciting move; He waited until the front door was closed And then went back for that lost ball. Hes searching now,
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Hes searching for that ball Down there by the compost heap And wait a minute Hes found it! Hes found that ball And thats marvellous news For the hundred thousand fans gathered here, Who are showing their appreciation In no uncertain fashion. But wait a minute, The doors opening once more; Its her, its Mrs Spence! And shes waving her fist And shouting something But I cant make out what it is. Shes obviously not pleased. And Markeys off, Hes running round in circles Dodging this way and that With Mrs Spence in hot pursuit, And hes past her, What skills this boy has. But Mr Spence is here too And Bruce their dog, Markey is going to have to Pull out something extra To get out of this one; Hes only got Mr Spence and the bassett To beat now. Hes running straight at him. And hes down, hes down on all fours; What is he doing? And Oh my goodness That is brilliant, That is absolutely brilliant, Hes gone between Spences legs. But hes got him, This rugged tackler has got him, Hes got him by the jacket, And Bruce is in there too, Bruce has him by the seat of the pants, Hell never get out of this one. But he has, He has got away; He wriggled out of his jacket And left part of his trousers with Bruce; This boy is absolute dynamite. Hes over the wall, hes clear, Theyll never catch him now, Hes on his bike and Through the front gate And I dont think well see any more of Markey Till the coasts clear And its safe to come home; So this is Danny Markey... Handing you back to the studio.

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England v Chile Language s Football language Radio and TV talk the clichs and the clangers
Football commentators (and footballers and managers!) have become well-known for talking in phrases that have become so over-used that theyve turned into a joke. These well-worn phrases are called clichs. Because theyre thinking fast, commentators often also say things that dont quite make sense. Private Eye, the humorous magazine, has a regular section (called Colemanballs after the famous sports commentator David Coleman), in which examples of silly language from sports commentators are collected.
q

Make a list of any words or phrases you have heard that have become clichs, such as the football manager who says, Im over the moon or the player who says, We was robbed. Look at these examples of football speak from Private Eye. In each case, try to explain what is funny about what was said. The first one has been done for you, as an example.

Theres Victor Fernandez (Celta Vigo manager)...just like an orchestral conductor mustering his troops. John Champion, BBC 1

Orchestras and troops dont go together!

There was a white shirted foot between Giovanni and the goal. Clive Tyldesley, ITV Manchester United are substituting Blomqvist for Giggs just to bring more legs into the game. Tony Gale, Capital Gold Its not what Ginola does when hes got the ball, its what he doesnt do when he hasnt got it. Andy Gray, Sky TV Theres only one place you want to be and thats Wembley, Old Trafford or Anfield. Mick Channon, BBC Its not just the money, theres financial problems as well. Gerry Francis, BBC Radio 5

s Ron Manager Video clip 2.1 (148)

Ron Manager The Fast Show
Ron Manager was created by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson for The Fast Show. He is a comic caricature of a football manager and appears as one of several different characters who recur on each show.
q

Watch the video clip, which shows one scene featuring Ron Manager, being interviewed as part of the TV coverage of a game. Talk about whether you found it funny. Use these headings to help you analyse where the humour lies: Ron Managers use of language the balance of talk between Ron Manager, the other studio guest and presenter body language joking about the conventions of TV match coverage any other aspects of the scene that you find funny. Work in pairs. Try making up a one minute comic scene caricaturing one type of football figure. Put your character into an interview situation and explore what happens. You could choose from some of

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England v Chile Language

these types or make up one of your own: the fast-living footballer who always hits the front pages for his wild life style the aggressive footballer whos always having punch-ups, both on and off the pitch the tough-talking manager who terrifies the life out of his team the glamorous French star player, whose English is still a bit shaky the gormless footballer who doesnt have much to say for himself.

Fighting talk the images used to describe football

Football commentators and writers have gone to other areas of life to find metaphors and similes to describe whats happening on the pitch. The areas listed below have been a particularly rich source of images. q Look at the headings and the examples given and try finding examples of your own. Think of images from other areas of life that are used in football talk and list some examples.
q

Keep this list and add to it while working on the material in this publication. war battle e.g. battling for the ball, a relegation battle food a banana shot criminal activities robbed e.g. we was robbed thrash e.g. they were given a good thrashing

Football talk entering the language

Some phrases from the world of football have become part of our broader use of language. For example, people talk about moving the goal posts.
q

Spend five minutes thinking of other examples of football language, or other sporting language, being applied to everyday life. Share the examples as a whole group.

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England v Chile Language

The England v Chile game

s About the game
q

Read this information about the game.

Box 1 Background information

On February 11th 1998, England played Chile in a friendly match, as part of the build up to the 1998 World Cup. All eyes were on the England team, to see how they would fare against a South American team. Who would Glenn Hoddle, the England manager, include in the team? What role would he give to some of the new young players, who, if they proved themselves in this game, might then form part of the England final World Cup squad? Hoddle, at the beginning of his World Cup campaign, had to show the public that England were on course for honour and glory in the Summer, when the team would go to France for the competition itself. The game was also particularly interesting for football watchers because it was the international debut of Michael Owen, tipped to be a star player of the future. How would he live up to these expectations in his first game? The game was screened live on Sky. ITVsThe Big Match televised highlights of the game later that evening. The commentators in the studio were Bob Wilson, an ex-footballer turned TV commentator and John Barnes, footballer. The commentators at the match were Kevin Keegan and Brian Moore. There was a live radio commentary on Radio 5 Live by Mike Ingham and Alan Green.

Box 2 Some facts about the game and the players

* Michael Owen was 18, the youngest ever player for England since Duncan Edwards in 1955. * Dion Dublin also made his debut for England, wearing the No. 9 shirt. * Among the England substitutes were top international players like Ince, Shearer, Gascoigne and Southgate. * Chile had only just managed to qualify for the World Cup. * Chile had never beaten England this was the 5th time they had met. * Marcello Salas, for Chile, was their star forward, expected to sign for Lazio of Rome the next day, for a huge fee, in the region of 10-12 million. * The referee was Ryszard Wojcik of Poland. * Chile won the game 2-0, with a first half goal by Salas and a penalty, taken by Salas after Half Time.

The England starting line-up

The Chile starting line-up

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England v Chile Language s The title sequence Video clip 2.2 (052)
The Big Match title sequence
q q

Watch the clip in full without writing anything. It lasts exactly 45 seconds. Now quickly list everything you can remember about the sequence, under the following headings: colours graphics/style of lettering visual images or symbols particular players football action music. Compare your lists with a partner to see whether you both noticed identical things.

The sequence is divided neatly into two: the first fifteen seconds represent the programmes title; the final thirty tell us that were about to watch highlights from an England international match. Watch it again to add further information to your lists. This time, look out particularly for: images which are repeated the timing of shots and the different ways they are joined together the relationship between the visual images and the music.
q

With your partner, pick out examples from each of your headings which you think are particularly memorable, and use them to talk about the following: what different images or visual effects are used to symbolise the drama and pace of football? how is the excitement of live football suggested by: action shots; camera angles; star players; sound; editing techniques what media techniques are used to represent the England team, and how are we encouraged to feel about it?

The following words may help you: fast tense

q

dramatic united

patriotic competitive

emotional friendly

aggressive erratic

triumphant skilful

Now practice writing a detailed commentary on the title sequence, using ideas from the writing frame below to help structure your analysis. You should end up with quite a detailed piece of writing. The Big Match is scheduled on.......... The title sequence is constructed from.......... It opens with.......... The main part of the sequence focuses on.......... Colour is used throughout the sequence to.......... The identity of the England team is represented by.......... The soundtrack consists of.......... A number of other techniques are used to draw us into the programme, such as (at least three examples)..........

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England v Chile Language

Compared with other football programmes, the sequence is.......... The title sequence tells us that football is.......... It prepares us for the programme to follow by.......... I like it/dont like it because..........

s The opening montage Video clip 2.3 (115)

The Big Match opening montage
This montage introduces the background to The Big Match. q Watch the montage once. Some analysts have compared this type of programme to a story, with a range of characters, a problem or conflict, and a resolution, reward or conclusion.
q

Watch the montage again and talk about the ways in which the words and images set up the beginnings of a story by: introducing the main characters who are they, and why are these particular players so important? posing some questions or problems giving us a glimpse of the reward or resolution.

Still frame of the studio

q

Pause the video at the end of the montage on the still frame of a long-shot of the studio. Talk about the decor, furniture, colour and lighting, and their effect on you the function of the studio for the viewer.

s Introducing the match Video clip 2.4 (041)

Bob Wilson introduces the match
q

Watch the video clip showing Bob Wilson, the studio anchor man for the programme, introducing the match. Look at the chart below, which gives Bob Wilsons utterances. For each one, try to decide what its function is. The first two have been done for you as examples.

Comment

Function
(Introducing other people, giving facts, setting the context,outlining whats going to happen in the programme and so on.)

Hello, good evening The countdowns well and truly on to the 16th World Cup finals And for members of both tonights teams the aim has to be to turn their possible involvement into a definite

Welcoming the audience Setting the context

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