Mask finds the back of the net with Premier club’s kit video

Hollywood? Munich? Try Batley.

Mask Creative, which is based in the West Yorkshire mill town, has produced a film to mark the launch of Norwich City’s 2011 Premier League kit.

If you’re not a fan, then this might not sound like the most gripping subject, but Mask’s film attracted 150,000 viewings within three days of going live on the internet. According to the firm, it was the world’s most highly rated sports video in the first few days of its release, and it is still ranked inside the top 40.

Staff at Mask, who have produced promotional work for supermarket chain Asda and Sheffield Hallam University, were approached by Norwich City’s marketing team to develop a film, and a series of stills, to launch the new Italian-supplied kit from Errea. The outline brief was to work and develop an idea based on the concept title ‘A little bit of Italian viral’.

Johnny Carr, Mask director and the producer of the film, said: “We were presented some scenarios to develop, such as players feigning injury, looking at girls passing by, the manager having his shoes polished and drinking cappuccino. We had no idea what we could achieve until we visited the training ground and met the players. Certain suggestions were replaced and eventually we had a story and a shot list to work from.”

Mr Carr carried out a “reconnaissance” for the day before the shoot, and the storyboard and script was created that evening in a Norfolk hotel with input from Matt Emmerson of Emmerson Marketing, who also sourced a Vespa from a dealership in Norwich.

Mr Carr added: “I wanted to find the right music for the film to help balance the jocularity of the action, so after a day’s research into varying Italian opera pieces I found ‘Funiculi Funicula’ an Italian folk song about funicular railways, and nothing else in particular.”

Will Hoy, head of sales and marketing at Norwich City, said: “We’re delighted with the results; we have had well over 200,000 hits and record pre-season kit sales at the club.”