A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be granted exclusive access to an Amazon Prime interview which was being held with Real Madrid’s summer signing, Trent Alexander-Arnold, ahead of Los Blancos’ clash with Liverpool in the Champions League.
Although the experience itself was incredible, the weather conditions were anything but, and all those present at Ciudad Real Madrid that day found themselves being forced to contend with bitterly cold conditions. Due to the broadcaster’s insistence that the interview should take place outside, I therefore found myself – along with three of my coursemates – wrapped up in a hoodie, battling against the elements for several hours. Thankfully, we were at least undercover, which prevented us from being soaked by the torrential downpour that visited the training ground shortly after we arrived.
As I have already suggested, while the interview itself only lasted around 30-40 minutes, the meticulous preparation that goes into ensuring camera positioning, lighting and sound levels are all perfect is a considerably longer process. Indeed, it was nearly four hours after we had entered the training ground at 10:30 that Trent was given his microphone and sat down in front of the cameras.
That lengthy wait, however, was certainly not time wasted. We had the chance to speak with the extremely talented Alex Aljoe, the reporter leading the interview, who works for several major broadcasters including Amazon Prime. During our brief conversation, we discovered that her path into sports journalism was not dissimilar to the one that we are currently undertaking, having previously worked at Real Madrid TV in the early days of her career. I also found out that she grew up less than an hour away from where I’m from – what a small world we live in!
When the interview started, I found myself absolutely captivated while also feeling, admittedly, slightly starstruck – something that I am definitely going to need to improve upon as I become more experienced in the industry. Ahead of his return to Anfield, Alex initially spoke to Trent about how his acclimatisation to life in Madrid was going and the process of adjusting to a new club with a different culture, manager and teammates. After the more professional, formal part of the interview was finished, there was a more light-hearted quickfire segment where Trent named his Real Madrid teammates who exemplified a certain question, label or description.
Once Alex had finished her questions and the director was happy with the footage that had been captured, our programme leader and the club’s first team press officer, Juan Camilo Andrade, was generous enough to offer to take individual photos of each of us with Trent. It’s safe to say that those shots found their way onto my Instagram in virtually no time!
Despite the weather conditions, I would not have changed the day for the world. Having played as a right-back in football teams for my local club and school, getting an opportunity to meet and come face-to-face with one of the world’s best is a memory that I shall carry with me forever. From a more professional perspective, being able to observe from behind the scenes provided me with a far greater understanding of the adaptability that is required from all involved to ensure that unforeseen circumstances, such as the weather, do not derail the outcome of a pre-recorded interview.