Fans star in their own Rugby World Cup movie

Jared Brandon. Photo / Christine Cornege

The World Cup may be over, but that isn't stopping more than 100,000 fans from reliving the nail-biting final through a movie by self-taught film-maker Jared Brandon.

Mr Brandon is behind Our World Champion All Blacks which shows fans' reactions - the flag-flying, face-paint, tears, gasps and eventual elation - at Auckland's Captain Cook Wharf fan zone during the final game. The clip has gone viral since it was uploaded last week, with 145,000 views on the Jared Brandon Productions Vimeo website. It was also played on TV3 and Prime news on Tuesday night.

Mr Brandon, a wedding film-maker, said he was proud to be part of the momentous occasion.

"I think one of the coolest things for me is that the World Cup will go down in history, and I managed to film the crowd reaction, so people will remember my film as a small part of the whole thing."

The film made missing the game worth it, he said.

"If I had gone to watch the rugby game without my camera, I would've been so gutted."

People had sent through overwhelmingly supportive comments about the clip, he said. Some said it tugged at their heartstrings, while one person told him they had enjoyed watching his clip more than watching the final itself.

The idea started when Mr Brandon witnessed a flash haka during the World Cup, and wanted to capture it on film. He then gave four of his photographer friends a "crash course" in videography so they could all film fans watching the final game.

The group used Canon DSLR cameras to shoot the footage, to give it a different feel from what was being played on the news, Mr Brandon said.

"TV cameras film in a really flat and boring way so I wanted to film it in a more interesting way.

"I was thinking, 'Man, if we can win the final, a video of fans would be really, really cool.' I wanted to do something fresh that no one has been doing."

Since the video went viral, Mr Brandon has received offers of work from independent production companies, and many more wedding film requests.

He was very proud of the attention the video had received, but said it would not have happened if the All Blacks had lost.

"The excitement everyone's getting from it, like everything else in the country, is all because the All Blacks won. It was just everything; the anticipation, the excitement. I'm not sure I would have put it up if we hadn't won."

Rugby fanatic Josh Hickford was one of the 622 people to "like" the clip and a follow-up on Facebook.

Mr Hickford said he had saved the video website on his computer so he could relive the feeling of watching the game at Eden Park over again.

"I liked it because it pretty much showed exactly how I felt at the time. It brought shivers down the spine and a tear to the eye."