Archer's Mark Shoots the Rugby Alphabet for The Times & The Sunday Times

Grey London has created a series of 26 short films ahead of the Rugby World Cup to celebrate The Times & The Sunday Times’ coverage of the tournament and to act as a glossary to both rugby aficionados and casual fans alike. 

The A-to-Z of the Rugby World Cup sees the papers’ all-star team of former players and expert writers debate key tournament topics like ‘All Blacks’, ‘Home advantage’, ‘Quick ball’, ‘Underdogs’, ‘Rules’ and ‘North vs South’.

Myles Desenberg of Archer’s Mark shot the films over two days in studio, with a bespoke-built changing room set. Commenting on the style and the tone intended for the series, Desenberg explains: “The goal throughout these films was for these incredible personalities to come across as natural and informal as possible. We wanted to draw from their own personal experience, insight and understanding of the game in a candid, uncontrived way. Thanks to its familiarity, the setting allows for both a dramatic and visually engaging space where the journalists had the freedom to forget the cameras and open up about the sport that they love. 

“As a part of the brief, each person being interviewed was asked to wear whatever they felt most comfortable in. We didn’t want to shape or change their personality in any fashion, as these films are all about the characters openly and plainly representing themselves, their knowledge and their passion in a simple, honest way.”

Working on all aspects of the production process, and interviewing 15 journalists in total, the Archer’s Mark team had a vast amount of content to work with after two days of filming. Desenberg adds: “We made a pretty concise plan from the get go with regards to who would be asked what. Sometimes you have to be pretty ruthless in terms of what stays and what goes to highlight the strongest elements and create a natural ebb and flow around the single, unifying central idea. But that symbiotic nature of collecting pieces of knowledge from here and there and then combining them to tell the one story is often my favourite part in creating these type of films.”

Myles Desenberg comments on his experience directing for sports brands: “For me, personally, it’s the human element within these films that is the most important aspect. The physical nature of sport offers fantastic opportunities to capture visually rich content, but by marrying this with honest, heartfelt and inspiring stories these types of films have the potential to be an amazing sensory experience.”