Stevie, Spock and a space-age set

The Liverpool skipper was on hand to film his part in a 90-second sequence which went global today - and will be broadcast on television screens around the world over the coming weeks.

We were there from the moment he entered the building - and below is an account of how the day unfolded...

Steven Gerrard heaves his shoulders, puffs out his cheeks and glances at the ceiling before surrendering to a smile that illuminates his features.

Hands clasped, eye-brows raised, he twists in his seat and arcs his head so he can survey the scene behind him.

This is what he sees. Three towering cranes, criss-crossed with metal bolsters climbing up to the sky, holding in place a 40-foot bright blue curtain which envelopes a make-shift football pitch.

Stewards with headsets and folders and files scramble around from station to station, wittering instructions back and forth and gesticulating orders.

Screens, monitors, wires and cables are systematically strewn about the scene beneath a labyrinth of pipes and vents which suspend spotlights from the roof.

Extras, decked out in Liverpool regalia, huddle nervously in one corner, eyeballing the England skipper with a mixture of trepidation and admiration.

Dozens of cameramen man their stations, dozen more electricians, stage managers and runners stand in wait, arms folded and eyes flitting from Gerrard, to the set, to each other, to Gerrard.

Two producers are locked in conversation; pointing, prodding and nodding as they dissect a storyboard with stills of the whole scene pasted on.

Then there's the director, peering through a camera lens and muttering his approval as the soft hum of powerful machinery seeps into the backdrop, giving the whole chaotic scene an almost outer-space feel.

"Mad this, like," grins Gerrard.

[SLIDESHOW]

He's not wrong. An hour ago he had been training at Melwood in the gentle autumn breeze.

From there, he jumped into a vehicle with blacked-out windows, hired for purpose, and was whisked through the streets of Liverpool until he reached familiar territory.

If this was a day designed to epitomise just how far Gerrard has grown from a shy Scouse schoolboy into a world icon, treasured and aspired to by millions, it was fitting that the whole scene played out in his hometown of Huyton.

Straddling the speed-bumps scattered along Longview Drive, his vehicle gunned past the semi-detached houses, newsagents and school-kids blissfully unaware of his presence.

It turned right into the car park at Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park, where the skipper was bundled into a makeshift trailer, positioned out of view at the back of the building, and then marched through a side door and into the gymnasium, which had been transformed into a Hollywood film set.

"It's a big set up, there's a lot of people and a lot of cameras. The pressure's on," Gerrard tells Liverpoolfc.com as he sits waiting for action.

He's there to film his part in Microsoft's blockbuster, global television campaign designed to stir fans into a frenzy ahead of the release of the Xbox One console on November 22.

The centre-piece of the launch, a slick 90-second advert, features Gerrard alongside characters such as Star Trek's Spock, as well as other celebrities and gaming characters, as they invite viewers to join them in the Xbox revolution.

It's an invitation to fans to enter a new generation of gaming and entertainment - and the advert is designed to reflect the level of immersion the console can bring to users.  

In Gerrard's scene, the skipper is pictured before a stadium packed full of fans, poised to kick off from the centre-circle, before he turns and beckons a young fan onto the pitch to join him.

"I'm calling a kid down from the stand to come and play in the game," he explained. "So I point, wave him onto the pitch and give an expression which lets him know I mean him and he's excited to come and join us."

On the set, award-winning director Bryan Buckley is in charge of proceedings and he waits with anticipation for the Liverpool skipper to make his way onto the turf, where, flanked by extras, Gerrard assumes his position on the centre-circle.

Plastered onto the huge blue-screens that surround him are half a dozen 'x' crosses, which have been systematically laid in place 10 yards from the floor and mark the spot for him to aim for when he plays his part.

When Buckley gives the word, the skipper snaps into action and strides forward, taking aim at the 'x', pointing, then waving and finally gesturing to an imaginary youngster to come down from the stands.

As he does, cameras hone in on his every move as the spotlights beat down. He holds the pose until the signal comes from the director for him to stand at ease.

It's a movement that he will repeat 100 times over the course of the day, each time varying his movements slightly, following the directions from Buckley and his team, who are determined to leave Liverpool with nothing but the perfect shot.

"Steven's been great," enthused the director. "It must be said that nothing is easy in acting. I once had an actor - a hockey player - who couldn't say the word 'no'.

"So, for me, Steven did everything spot on today - he gave that menacing stare and then the perfect motion.

"It was a pleasure to work with him. I fell in love with Liverpool the city as soon as I came here because everybody is personable and Steven fits right into that. He's very accessible and he's a very down-to-earth guy."

But what did Gerrard - his own most fierce of critics out on the football field - make of his performance on the day?

"I don't think there'll be any Oscars getting won. That's for sure," he smiled. "I know where I am when it comes down to acting! I'm right at the bottom of the pile, but if I can do a job for the director, I'll try my best."