Documentary on the web? - An analysis of the 'Deutsche 11 Backstage' (d11b)

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Communications - Multimedia, Internet, New Technologies, grade: 64% , School of Film and Television Studies (University of East Anglia (England)), course: Television and Reality, language: English, abstract: Which football fan or national team supporter is not dreaming of being as close to his or her favourite team as possible? Who would not want to be a mouse in the locker room and watch how the coach gives your favourite players an energetic pep talk. This dream can be fulfilled by the web spots ´Die Deutsche 11 Backstage` (d11b), which is a humorous account of the events happening behind the scenes of the German national team before, during and after the 2006 world cup. In this animated and creative version of Sönke Wortmann`s documentary Deutschland - Ein Sommermärchen (ARD, 2006), the enthusiastic team kicks footballs, makes jokes and drinks beer while coach Klinsmann aka ´Klinsi` is trying to motivate them in the locker room or even via web cam from his residence in the US. The name of the show, which is only available on the web or on DVD, is an allusion to the German Football Association dfb. The show was created by two football fans and animation producers who put it on their business website and caused a big fan base to emerge. Picked up by television and other media, the show became very popular. Thereby, it profited from the generally increasing popularity of German football immediately after the world cup.