WORKING WITH “EL GUAJE”

The Spain national team won back-to-back European championships in 2008 and 2010, as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup crown to cement themselves as one of the greatest collection of players in history.

A central piece of Spain’s success was David Villa, the team’s all-time top goalscorer. In 2014 David Villa joined New York City Football Club citing the move from Europe as “an irresistible project”. I joined New York City Football Club in 2016, and worked ‘alongside’ my childhood hero David Villa for over 2 years. I created hundreds of content pieces that feature Villa. Below are two such pieces.

THIS CITY | A Letter from David Villa

New York City Football Club (NYCFC) was to play New York Red Bulls, cross town rivals at a pivotal moment during the season. A victory had potential to propel New York City Football Club to the top of the Eastern Conference.

I pitched the idea to do a letter from NYCFC’s captain and international football legend, David Villa, to the fans of the Club. I was tasked with bringing the idea to life. I wanted to capture the grit of the city, the diversity of our fans and the players’ unwavering desire to rep the city and the badge on their chest. When creating a piece like this, I learned to asked myself “Why are we making this video”, instead of “What is this video about”. While this video was a piece to promote our football club’s upcoming rivalry match, the reason for its existence was far beyond that. It was a testament to our diverse community and a reminder of our Club’s mission to stand by and unify it in everything we do.

I worked with our Managing Editor on the script, meant to be a slow-paced yet high-intensity ode to the City. In editing the video, I drew a lot from the city’s landscape and the people that the Club represents. I wanted this to be much more than a hype video—it needed to be a bridge between the Club and the city. An example of the bond between the players and the fans, the stadium and the five boroughs, the game of football and the daily hustle in the streets of New York.

Script: Mark Booth
Audio Recording: Jose Medrano

MAKING THE VIDEO | Processing the City of NY

My thought process in compiling assets and creating “This City” was to always have one to two non-football shots for every shot of a New York City Football game. I needed to make sure that I was not only telling a story of the club, but of the community around it. I included individual fan shots that I filmed during our 24 hour game, scenes from City in The Community initiative events, footage of our Academy players who aspire to one day become pro, shots of our own players hanging out at various sites in the 5 boroughs and more.

To show perseverance I showed footage of our depressed players moments after out notorious 7-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls two years prior. To show grit I showed confident faces staring deep into the camera’s lens. I added a darker, de-saturated and a slightly grainy filter to underline the merciless Gotham City aura that opposing sides sensed when they stepped on our turf.

DAVID VILLA FAREWELL VIDEO

David Villa was the center of New York City Football Club. A legend since his first game. I was asked to create a tribute video for Villa’s departure from the Club in 2018. I wanted to show everything David Villa did for the city of New York through his acts both on and off the pitch.

David Villa was a huge spokesperson for NYCFC’s community initiatives, scored his 400th career goal at NYCFC, brought NYCFC to their first ever playoffs, received the Major League Soccer MVP award and accomplished countless other feats throughout his career.

[From official NYCFC Press Release] A dedicated contributor to City in the Community programs, a man who carried the team on his back as Captain on countless occasions, and now a New Yorker for life, David leaves NYCFC with the gratitude and the warmest wishes from everyone affiliated with the Club.

THE REACTION

I had the pleasure of working on a plethora of player tribute videos and this was a truly difficult one to make. It was amazing to see the reaction and how quickly the video got picked up, amassing hundreds of thousands of views. David Villa’s impact on the New York City Football Club, the City of New York, and millions of football fans around the world is incredible. Creating content pieces like the two above, pushed me to grow as a visual storyteller. I was determined to hold my videos as close to the standard of David Villa’s footballing as possible.