MUTV is Manchester United’s dedicated TV channel. We designed and prepared a virtual set for a greenscreen studio – equipped with a Newtek Tricaster – to be broadcast from the club’s greenscreen studio at the Carrington training complex.

Challenge

For the weekly broadcast of MUTV’s Thursday Focus, our design brief was to create a set that looks like a fan’s front room, to accommodate two presenters and two guests.

Action

Co-presented by former Manchester United player and treble winner David May and Helen Evans, Thursday Focus takes a light-hearted look at the week’s events on and off the pitch. All levels of the club are covered, from the first team through the Under-21s to the Under-18s, with a host of May's old team-mates.

Because of the eclectic nature of the show, we decided to give it an eclectic look, which we felt entirely appropriate to its style and content. We took the ‘fan’s room’ concept a little further to create an obsessive fan’s front room. We ensured that the backdrop to every shot is packed with relevant memorabilia, which added interest and relevance. We borrowed and adapted items for sale in the club shop, such as the wallpaper. We also added trophies, photos of legends and a retro style TV at the centre of the set to introduce video clips.

Result

Former employees rang up the project manager to congratulate them on the new set, but couldn’t believe it wasn’t real. We convinced TV professionals that it was real and not virtual.