So all this content that nfl films puts out and always looks great, who else would love the cfl to do the same, they make great videos but I think they can do more, the “journey to the grey cup? series on YouTube is really good but they need to do more I think and would help a lot in the off season and to allow new fans to see the tridition and Ritchard history of the cfl and the players, documentary and video content on teams and story’s from around the league has always been a marketing down fall,
I hope that changes!!! Cause I know they can make great content
There is nothing better then watching old games thru a story tellers eyes and without the announcers
constantly talking. I’m really surprised some filmmakers haven’t bought the rights.
I’d suggest that part of the success of the NFL is in large part due to NFL Films. They have created a style over the past ~60 years that immediately invokes a sense of awe of the game and players, no matter how crappy the game or players. Even minutiae was covered as some great revelation and insight into how important the game is (Vince Lombardi examined the frozen field before the 61 championship game and selected ripple-soled cleats! Insight!).
I remember being a kid in school and watching the game films. Apparently, school coaches could get the films easily, and every coach I ever had for a regular class invariably showed one at some point; more often if it was health and PE class. They were more interesting in some cases than watching the actual games, particularly because of the baritone narration and specialized shots (the tight spiral is one we’ve all seen). Everybody watching those films felt everything the players felt, rooted for the winners, and felt bad for the losers.
At any rate, we all watched, transfixed, as one team or another mustered their forces, prepared for battle, entered the field, and fought for glory! Every play battle, every player warrior, was described in glowing terms.
Over the years, NFL Films has grown and expanded their productions, but have kept essentially the same style. The result is a collective mindset among fans that the NFL is the pinnacle of sport, and we all watch to see those images and have those feelings.
NFL Films has been a major factor in the popularity of the NFL. I don’t see any similar effort from the CFL. If there is, they’re keeping it quiet.
1 - Who at the league office is in charge of archival video/film?
2 - How much of the league’s film assets have been digitized/catalogued?
3 - Is the league going to try to start monetizing what it has in the near future?
4 - Perhaps a Twitch channel?( For the Gen Z’ers)
I know the Grey Cup from 1950-1981 was bid out to be filmed(See Below).Sadly the league decided to stop that practice.Many of the leagues games over the years were never even televised thus no video
documentation exists let alone film.I recently saw some film footage of the Alouettes(Green French Horn)uniforms in the uniform launch video.There is stuff out there.
1979 Grey Cup
Dick Thornton - Student Film not done by the league itself.
A number of years ago NFLFilms did a season recap for the CFL, and it was AWESOME! Same booming voice describing every aspect of the game in flowery detail and everything, but with names I recognize!
I forget what year that was, but it was back when the CFL and NFL had an agreement where the NFL helped teach the CFL how to market itself. Of course, once that agreement ended, so did everything they should have learned from it.
There are so many great players and dramatic games that could be covered — even if they are done with still images using the Ken Burns effect, but seriously, where is the greatest documentary service ever built — the NFB — when it comes to this sort of thing? All the talent and resources are broadly available in Canada.
I’m actually tempted to put together a Canada Council grant proposal and make a few calls to the NFB. There really should be an ongoing documentary unit for the CFL.
The one thing that the NFL dose do that make them have a “NFL films? is that they have cameras everywhere, in every game, every stadium, and every practice just everywhere, I’d the cfl could just get more cameras pretty much and recorded 24/7 across the league we would have enough content, I’d partner with TSN presents, and then they have loads of content for off season and during the season,
[ol]- It’s floated between a few people but I’d say overall the VP of Content is.
We have every Grey Cup from the late 40s onwards, plus recent full seasons of games. We could have a deeper archive, but there was a decisions a decade or so ago to not split the cost with TSN to digitize and catalogue old footage, and now they have more footage than we do.
We’ve talked about it; via YouTube (free and ad-supported or pay for access) or more likely with a video monetization platform that the folks athttp://cfl.yaretv.com/ would provide us. We were talking about this in December of last year; they’re in the process of upgrading their infrastructure so we’re on hold until that completes.
I really want this; one of the biggest strengths of e-sports is that there’s a “clean” feed that anyone can “cast” (commentate) over. You often have 4-5 different commentators doing the same game and you pick your favourite. I’d love to give even amateurs the ability to commentate over a CFL game. It’s tied up in the broadcast rights package for now, at least.[/ol]
Why is almost every idea shared here some pathetic idea about copying what the NFL does. There’s a big enough lack of originality in the world already.
Forget NFL films. Kaepernick’s lawsuit against the NFL just settled so I think the CFL should see if they could get a company like Nike to pay for Kaepernick’s salary and “sponsor” him to play in the CFL.
Picture diversity is strength 2.0 campaign.
He wouldn’t even have to play the first year if they used the guise of Kaepernick having to “learn” the Canadian game. That way they can just use it as a campaign angle if he never really wanted to play…
I would love to see something like that. I watch so many videos from NFL films and different youtube creators. It would go a long way to expand the brand. TSN or CBC could step up and contribute.
A reason why the CFL suffers from this image issue in comparison to the NFL is because in too many cases the stakeholders in the league have just copied whatever is being done south of the border. Halftime acts, cheesy TV intro song etc…
Focus on the game and clean up that presentation. Logos off the field. Ads consolidated to quarter breaks. Do more things that are original and simple and let the athletes do the talking.
You didn’t need to say it to imply it, however intentionally. Besides, you just came right out and said it anyway.
Just because NFL Films exists and has made hay with their format doesn’t mean that nobody else can also make docs with their product. You denigrate the idea but offer nothing as an alternative.
I can just see it now: the CFL finally makes a Madden-style football game and some criticize it for copying Madden; the CFL makes docs to dramatically tell the story of some of the greatest football games ever played and some automatically default to “it’s not…” (or rather is) “…NFL Films.”
I do agree on one point; the CFL can do whatever it wants to do and doesn’t need to worry about what the other pro league is doing. If they look alike so what. The games are different enough that the stories will ALWAYS be different. That’s what counts most of all. The CFL is full of drama that is begging to be showcased. If not in a documentary, then how?
I don’t think anyone is saying to copy the nfl, but the nfl has had a lot of success with the cinematic style theyve developed.
It looks like a slow motion footage with a slower frame rate and it adds to the aesthetic of any documentary or even promo they produce. And there are a lot.
The CFL just needs to create content and then develop a style that makes it “theatrical” and grabs peoples attention. Thats one thing the nfl does well.