A video by a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) graduate which spotlighted an England football mural went viral after being picked up by a major national newspaper.
After Media Production graduate Tayla Miller spotted the artwork, celebrating the success of the Three Lions at Euro 2020, on a wall in Nuneaton, he decided to interview the artist behind it.
The resulting video was picked up by the Daily Mirror and within 36 hours of the video being uploaded to the paper’s website, it had gained more than 500,000 views.
Tayla said: “It still hasn’t sunk in how well the video has done. I am astonished by its success and I think the Daily Mirror has been too.”
Street artist N4T4 (Nathan Parker) started painting the mural on the evening of Friday 9 July, two days before England faced Italy in the tournament’s final.
Homeowners Paul and Kate Williams were keen to paint the large stone wall beneath their Bull Ring property to raise money for the community to purchase a defibrillator, after seeing Danish footballer, Christian Eriksen suffer a cardiac arrest on the pitch earlier in the tournament.
Tayla said: “The mural is going to make a huge difference to the town. I think this video displays the community spirit in Nuneaton and I’m incredibly proud to have been able to demonstrate that.”
Tayla was so impressed by the artwork and the family’s reason behind creating the mural, that he immediately knew there was a story worth telling. He said: “I was sat at home and thought, ‘this thing hasn’t gained enough traction’. I had built up some good contacts in the media while studying at DMU, and I asked the Daily Mirror if they wanted me to do something on it.
“It was a case of perfect timing. The Mirror was really pushing content ahead of the final, and they asked if I was able to go and capture some footage.”
With his own nine-year-old video camera in hand, Tayla headed down to the mural, interviewed the family and spent time filming locals visiting the mural.
Keen not to take credit for the mural’s charitable success, Tayla’s video – which has had more than 653,000 views to date - has certainly helped.
He said: “There were definitely a lot more people visiting the mural off the back of the video. I know that the money raised by the family had tripled in less than 24 hours.”
Tayla started studying at DMU in 2018, and says that the last three years have been “so much more” than he expected. “It was such an enjoyable experience and I learnt so much at DMU. The university allowed me to elevate myself to a point where I felt comfortable to produce this video.”
When he first started studying Media Production, Tayla felt like he was extremely shy and credits the course and university for enabling him to gain the confidence necessary to produce national news worthy content.
He said: “When I started at DMU, I had never used the equipment before and had no journalism experience. Without studying Media Production, I would never have had the skills to create a video that, before I have even graduated, has more than half a million views!”
When asked about his advice to current students, or those looking to get their name and work noticed nationally, Tayla said: “You have to always use your initiative. In this industry you have to make chances for yourself. If you can go out and do your own thing it proves that you’re willing to work hard and find those opportunities. If something falls in your lap, go and do it and I’m delighted that I did just that.”
Speaking of Tayla’s efforts, Simon Walsh, Programme Leader, Media Production BSc (Hons), said: “Tayla walked into DMU with a clear sense of direction and ambition. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he has taken the initiative here, both with his story-sense and production skills, and has already stuck his flag in the sand with one of the UK’s most-read tabloids. Tayla is definitely one to watch.”
Posted on Friday 23 July 2021