Soccer Movies Not A Genre
Soccer Movies. I picked up a novel about soccer from the dollar store, where most books die now. It is about a boy’s dream to make it at home in Argentina and internationally. The book can be a money maker for a producer, but chances of it being made into a movie are zero.
Soccer movies don’t exist because of production logistics. The producer needs coaching staff, a soccer stadium, uniforms, spectators cheering from the stands and the weather. The director he hires will need an army of support staff. He also faces scheduling problems, starting will just one game.
When and how do you light the star of the movie shuffling and dribbling the ball with someone at his heels? The camera must capture close-up shots like lifting his leg, and the foot coming in contact with the ball. The goal is the finale, that shakes the stands like thunder. How will the director stage such a shot?
There are indoor soccer stadiums in north America and computer graphics can simulate a soccer game, but that doesn’t cut it for fans in south America and Africa. They prefer the original open soccer field.
Countries are associated with a particular sport. Brazil and Argentina soccer. Britain, cricket for the upper class. Soccer, for British working class lads. Canada hockey. Cricket for India and Pakistan. Soccer for Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. Caribbean countries cricket. Soccer for Italy, Germany and France.
One soccer movie can add a lot of 000, 000, 000 to a bank account of any producer brave enough to try it. The audience is there, a hungry global audience.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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