As Live Unit: Production

All the hard work and preparation has almost come to an end. We've had the set put in, lights and sound set up, we've rehearsed and recorded and taken everything down again, all in the space of 3 days. 

I would have liked to have put some photos up but I had no time to take any! The set arrived on Tuesday and took up most of the day to put up everything just in time. It looked as I expected it to and had all the elements I asked for. We also had a couple of lighting technicians on hand to create the right mood of the show, each day I was communicating with them if there were any issues, and addressing them and making some creative decisions. I also make sure they have the opportunity to adjust what they need to, so therefore I made sure they're aware of what we're doing and what the plan is. From time to time I check with sound department to make sure they're happy, they have what they need and help make decisions if there are any problems; such as the 'buzzing' from Alex's bass in Standing On Giants.

We had a member of the CATF team in for all 3 days, with some on call, and 4 members on the last day. Just in case there were any problems. After rehearsal day it was decided that the curtains needed adjustments, therefore I rang the set crew ahead, so they were prepared the next day and had the tools they needed. They worked really well to address this, instead of pulling the curtains, which was the issue, I helped advise them that they should be narrower, which seemed to look more in keeping with the set. If necessary, I would assign runners to help carry out tasks. 

Another thing I was doing was preparing the schedule with Abbi. We managed to keep up to time and have time spare, especially during the record. Abbi helped send out call sheets and I made sure all the bands and Adam were contacted via email and on the phone to make sure they know their call time. In the gallery, Abbi and I were making sure we met the timings on the running order, we would communicate to Adam via Maddie on the content and delivering links in time. I had prepared cue cards for Adam to use if he needed extra talking points. 

When bands arrived, we had runners to meet them, and show them around and to their dressing rooms. I made sure I talked to them, to brief them on what to expect and let them know what we're doing and introduce them to Rory, our sound technician. They were all briefed on what not to wear, ie. stripes or harsh red colours. With Adam, Dean created a mood board as a basis for Adam to get an idea of the look we wanted. 

As floor manager, I asked Maddie to fill out the health and safety forms beforehand, which we could distribute to the crew, and making sure we had signed consent forms from each band member and Adam. There were always more tasks needed doing throughout the day that she helped with. 

Overall I was making sure the day ran smoothly, making sure everyone was happy. I was happy with everyone's hard work and enthusiasm for the show and I hope we're all impressed by what we've all achieved. We'll just see how the editing goes! I know there may be some minor issues with content. It's important for me now to see how well the VT's come into the show, I managed to show Adam the VT's with the bands so he knew what to talk about and what not to repeat. I plan on going through the takes and sorting out the best ones for the editing team to start building it together.