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SOUNDS OF STEEL
2024-2025
Documentary project (currently in post-production).
The murmurs of match day crowds have long replaced the roars of the blast furnaces. A once-thriving Welsh rugby club seeks to upend their post-industrial decline & build beyond the legacy of the town's shuttered steelworks.
NOTE: This is a spec edit and is not reflective of the final film.
Plot Summary:
Ebbw Vale RFC, are 'The Steelmen'.
We begin an uncertain season as the once pro-level club, attempts to use grass roots rugby to establish the foundations of a new identity. Can they find voice in a post-industrial setting defined by social deprivation and the closure of its once-iconic steelworks?
A story of tentative hope, jumps between eras to illustrate the club's historic ties to the town's long demolished steelworks. The long-lasting community bond shows rugby as a social convocation.
As attendances plateau and facilities deteriorate, a post-pandemic landscape exacerbates Welsh rugby's woes at all levels. Despite threatened prospects, the team finishes strong, exceeding expectations. We end on one last lifeline, the promise of renewal with funding secured for stadium redevelopment & the announcement of a new, improved league system.
The community is forging its voice beyond post-industrial decline, exploring themes of class identity, brotherhood, & tender masculinity.​
A Portrait of a Town:
‘Sounds of Steel’ is not a sports documentary; the film is a portrait of Ebbw Vale through the lens of the rugby club.
Sporting action will be presented through its impact on the people in the stands, not just the players on the pitch. The story does not hinge exclusively on capturing moments of sporting victory or defeat.
Beyond rugby, filming is focused on capturing stories of individual and working-class community connections through the use of multi-camera interviews and personal testimonies. These stories will combine to present the story of the 2023/24 season, set against a breakdown of Ebbw Vale’s history with the Steelworks & the rugby club.​
​Background:
The Ebbw Vale Steelworks - They were once the largest & most pioneering steel production plant in Europe. At its peak in the 20th century, it employed 13,000 people but was downsized & eventually demolished in 2002. The ghost of which is unavoidable as buildings & geography all channel down the valley, looking towards the concrete scar where the works once stood. Archival footage & modern-day landscape shots will be key to visually expressing this shift. A landscape that was once looked at in awe, is now all too often dismissed as a “sh*t hole’ by those who know it, or completely overlooked by those who don’t. Interviews, behind-the-scenes moments & audio captured from match day chants/songs, will convey that this working man's legacy is carried with pride. Imagery of run-down club facilities, the empty high street & rows of jaded terrace houses, will highlight that this pride exists in a context of decline & deprivation. In a town defined by steel, how can the community establish an identity beyond the void left by the works? ​​​
Masculine Legacy
Rugby is inseparable from the history of both the steelworks and Ebbw Vale, and so for the town’s story to be told, Rugby must be at the forefront of this framing.
After 100+ years of industry, a legacy of tough manhood permeates the valley's culture. With no steelworks, young men have been left with the rigid & traditional masculine ideals of an industry that no longer exists. The rugby club provides an outlet for more tender masculinity, and personal expression from players & fans alike?
Team talks, changing room exchanges, & moments of humour, will present the club as a supportive space for players & fans, young & old, to express themselves.
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