When Football Meets Construction: Skills Swap in Action

To ensure the challenges were captured in the most engaging way possible, we worked closely with both Sheffield United FC and Skills People Group during pre-production.

A key part of this planning was conducting a location recce, allowing us to assess the space, identify the best camera positions, and ensure we could capture both the scale of the environment and the smaller moments of interaction.

With multiple participants, challenges, and time constraints throughout the day, there were many moving parts to manage. We developed a detailed filming schedule to keep the shoot running smoothly and make the most of the players' limited availability.

Audio was also an important consideration, so we equipped four of the eight participants with lapel microphones, helping us capture authentic conversations, reactions, and genuine moments between the professional players and learners.

On the day of filming, our video production team arrived several hours before the players to fully prepare the set-up and ensure everything was ready to go.

We walked through each challenge in advance, refining our shot plan and adjusting camera placements where needed. This preparation allowed us to capture a strong mix of:

• Wide shots showing the full academy environment
• Close-up action shots highlighting the challenges
• Reaction moments between players and learners
• Behind-the-scenes footage that brought personality and warmth to the story

Throughout the shoot, we focused on creating a fun and energetic atmosphere while maintaining a professional production standard. By combining structured filming with flexibility on the day, we were able to capture both the planned key moments and spontaneous interactions that made the challenges so engaging.

The project resulted in a suite of content designed to maximise impact across multiple platforms.

We delivered:

• One main promotional partnership video, featuring interviews with learners and Skills People Group staff
• Four individual challenge-focused videos, cut down from the main shoot
• Social-first edits that were fully optimised, resized, and formatted for different platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn

Both Skills People Group and Sheffield United FC were delighted with the finished content, feeling it perfectly captured the energy of the day, the strength of the partnership, and the positive message behind the Skills Academy.