Attack On Wembley co-director Kwabena Oppong gives his advice after using social media content extensively for documentary

Netflix The Final Attack On Wembley (4)

The Final: Attack On Wembley came out on Netflix this month, telling the story of fan trouble at the final of Euro 2020, when England made it to the set piece match to face Italy.

The documentary film, produced by Rogan Productions, extensively takes advantage of the reams of user-generated content that was produced on the day, as people filmed themselves and what was happening on what was meant to be a momentous occasion. When the atmospphere turned sour at Wembley Stadium, they also began to film more unsavoury incidents.

Co-director Kwabena Oppong spoke to Broadcast Sport about the production, and use of user-generated content (UGC). This content was event part of the inspiration behind the film, Oppong explained, “Like everyone, I was seeing lots of of UGC on my phone. I was travelling to south London to watch the game and just getting message, message, message, and thinking, ‘what is going on?’ It was really quite crazy. Then I obviously followed the aftermath and what happened in the days that followed. It’s something that stayed in my head for some time, and then I hadn’t thought about it for about a year until I was approached about this film.”

Netflix The Final Attack On Wembley (3)

When it comes to sourcing good and usable content, as well as interviewees, from social media, plenty of time is obviously needed. Another key aspect is the team involved, and Oppong pointed to assistant producer Jonathan Welch and the team of archive producers that helped in this regard. Editors Ferg McGrath and Danny Collins also played a key part in pulling out stories from the archive footage.

In this case, there was a lot of archive to sift through, “I wish I could say there was a magic approach to finding the UGC, but I think we were lucky in the sense that this was a very well documented event. How many times do England make the final during your lifetime? Therefore everybody was recording themselves on this day, and so for us narrowing that down was the process.”

“Persistence” and “patience” were key, Oppong noted. He added, “You want to watch through as much of the archive as possible. And really think about it ahead of your, ahead of your edit and ahead of your shooting if you can.”

Netflix The Final Attack On Wembley (1)

To do this, there are several questions that the production team should be trying to answer. “Which are the bits that stand out? Which are the bits that make you feel something? Which are the bits that you really were immersed in as a viewer? These were the questions that we were asking ourselves as a team. Which are the ones that show you the gradation of what was happening that day?”

Emotion was a key angle, with Oppong adding on the subject, “Does it make me laugh? That’s always a really good start. Or does it make me sad or am I shocked? Do I feel fearful? Am I worried about what’s going to happen next, is there a war of those core human emotions? Is that clip pushing a button?”

Netflix The Final Attack On Wembley (2)

When it comes to the storyline he pulls out, Oppong looks to both, “What story can I tell with the archive and what the story that archive is telling me,” with speaking to those who were there on the day a key part of the process.

Indeed, having some crossover between the people you speak to and the archive is a, “dream scenario”. “You’re looking for the emotion. You’re hoping you’re one of your characters is in the archive, and  then you’re thinking about why it makes you feel the way it makes you feel? Then you’re thinking about what your vision is for the film, and you’re thinking how does the UGC inform our collective vision for the film and vice versa?”

Overall, Oppong believes when it’s best is when the archive speaks for itself. “You’re always looking for archive that you can live in for an extended amount of time without the interjection of your interviewee or another voiceover. Sometimes you just want to live in the archive and spend as much time in it as possible. I’m always looking for opportunities to do that.”

The Final: Attack On Wembley is now available to watch on Netflix.