Brits Re-born

This year was a big year for The Mastercard BRIT Awards. The British record industry bash uprooted from its usual home at Earls Court where it’s been for over a decade to take over the 2011 TPi ‘Favourite Venue’ award-winner The O2 in Greenwich, London. A new visual identity for the brand also injected new life into the ceremony, with the statuettes being redesigned by Manchester agency Music. The new white statuettes were meant to be a “blank canvas for creativitiy” so that each year an “acclaimed and notable Briton” will be able to put their stamp on them. Designed by Vivienne Westwood for 2011, they were wrapped in union jack flags, which became the basis for the show design.

The ceremony, held on February 15 and hosted by James Corden, was memorable for a show-stopping performance by soul singer Adele, whose rendition of ‘Someone Like You’ saw the song immediately rocket to No.1. Another triumph for British music came from folk-pop band Mumford & Sons who walked away with the ‘Mastercard British Album of the Year’ award and stole the show with an intimate and spine-tingling performance of ‘Timshel’ to a simple backdrop of curved yellow-coloured sky pans and floor-based festoon lighting, both provided by Production Resource Group.

The voting system was open to artists as well as other invited members of the music industry for the first time this year, and resulted in other award victories by Plan B, Laura Marling, Tinie Tempah, Cee Lo Green, Justin Bieber, Arcade Fire and Jessie J.

The BRITs is a recurring annual project for most of the production crew and suppliers, who have become accustomed to working together on the show each year.

Production manager Tony Wheeler, assisted by Kate Wright and Lisa Shenton of Papilo, worked alongside CAD director Malcolm Birkett, production assistant Sarah Willis and overnight PM John Wilson to manage the production of the event, which was made possible by a team of suppliers that included Brit Row, Production Resource Group (PRG), XL Video, Outback Rigging, Stageco, Steel Monkey, Blackout, Eat Your Hearts Out, Templine, Show & Event Security, Showstars, Stage Miracles, Stanco Exhibitions, Igloo and Lovely Things (furniture).

UNDER PRESSURE
What the team weren’t accustomed to was the short build time for the event, cut by four days in comparison to the previous year, which placed immense pressure on the resources of the crew. Tony Wheeler explained: “We did a 12 hour pre-rig of the FOH audience lighting then we got the whole of the main show into the building in two and a half days, by doing five shifts of 12 hours, working 24 hours a day.
“I met with the heads of department back in September last year when we discussed the feasability of building it in the time period we had. We had to adapt the way we did things in order to achieve it.

“Stageco built the sub-structure and the two big towers that held the bridge in 12 hours on site; they’d obviously put a lot of thought into how they could do it. Steel Monkey also did a very good job of pre-fabricating a lot of the set, like installing the LED strips into the floor and set pieces.”

Added Kate Wright: “It was more ambitious than anything we’ve done before for The BRITs.”

Having already designed The Classical BRITs for the last decade, as well as specific BRITs performances over the years, Peter Bingemann created the design concept for The BRIT Awards for the first time, and was the production designer for the entire show, including the main set and all the band looks.

The move to the O2 required a “different approach” according to Bingemann. “There were space limitations compared to Earls Court, but the O2 provides a surprisingly intimate space, with different opportunities. Phil Heyes the director was keen for the design to be less proscenium style and more open and three dimensional. He also wanted to avoid the use of a large central screen backing all performances.

“We spent a lot of time developing the idea of the thrust and second stage area where the presentations took place, which gave the show a very new feel.”

With Vivienne Westwood’s design as inspiration, Bingemann created an exploding 3D union jack design for the back of the stage, angled 30° towards stage right, where three giant statuettes stood in a sequence, in front of a tall video screen.

“We all liked the angled set as it gave the stage a strong dynamic and was a less predictable solution. Phil felt that the asymmetry offset by the big portrait video screen gave him some different and interesting camera angles.”

Two vertical trusses framed the sculpted centrepiece, both attached to a horizontal truss bridge holding lights and at times various dancers, which moved up and down for certain performances.

STAGE STATS
Stageco created the 900m2 main stage and 20m long by 2m wide performance runway, which joined on to Steel Monkey’s round stage out in the crowd. Led by international projects director Dirk De Decker and crew chief Luc Dardenne, 11 Stageco crew turned 100 tonnes of material into the stage, runway and two silver painted, 12m high towers, in just one day. 

Although Steel Monkey had been involved with The BRITs for 10 years, it was the first time it supplied the main stage set. The company designed all the on-stage set pieces, the bridge and the pop-up lecturn, doing a lot of pre-fabrication at its Bristol site.

Annie French explained how the white union jack and BRIT  sculptures were created: “They were manufactured from a curved steel frame, covered in timber, some with projection fabric on and some with video screens on.

“The three awards are actually one structure, whilst the rest of the pieces were bolted together on site. We installed the structures with lightboxes containing Schnick-Schnack and LED strip lighting to highlight their outlines.”

Scott Fleary, Blackfriars, and Blackout provided additional sets for some of the bands. Stage Miracles once again supplied one of its chief stage managers, Mike Grove, for The BRITs, alongside assistant stage manager Bert Harris, crew chief Frank Moran and 20 stage hands to manage the changeovers between acts.

Said Grove: “Plan B was particularly challenging this year, as we had to make the jury box set piece disappear, while the ‘jury’ got out, changed costume, and climbed on to a moving gantry, all in just 20 seconds.”

The BRIT Awards gave Outback Rigging the opportunity to work with the O2 Arena for the first time. Early meetings between Outback’s MD Mark Surtees and Stuart Cooper, Q Willis from the O2’s technical team and Jon Bray from the venue’s in-house riggers from Summit Steel (now part of the PRG umbrella) helped the team familiarise themselves with the way the building functioned. Outback’s technical director Conrad Ryan drafted in Steve Bellfield to co-ordinate the moving elements of the show — the portrait video screen, main landscape video screen, the bridge and a pyro tower — and Outback’s Adam Sutton to assist with the install and running cues during the show, whilst Dave Morrell and Bowie Ebrill crew chiefed with Stuart Cooper.

Kinesys provided an on-site engineer to deal with technical matters, although the show moves went without a hitch.

The ceremony was “by far the biggest show yet” completed by Outback, with the 106-tonne set requiring 312 electric chain hoists and 59 Kinesys controlled hoists.

“One of the main challenges of the design was moving a 2,500kg video screen at up to 60m per minute, where we used Kinesys G2 winches with Velocity drives run on Vector software,” said Cooper.

A DECADE FOR XL
XL Video was celebrating its 10th year on the The BRITs and provided a slick-looking video set, the highlight of which was the curved 20m wide by 22m high St George’s Cross made out of Pixled F-11 that formed the central shape of the ‘exploding’ union jack.

“The LED screen is faceted to form the curve,” explained XL Video’s Chris Saunders, who added that the lack of load in time and rehearsal did lead to a very hectic schedule that left no room for error, but by applying a tried and tested structure to the project, everything ran smoothly.

The video installation was split into two areas of responsibility, with XL’s Paul Wood looking after the video screens for the event with screen crew chief Paul Maddock-Jones, liaising with Tony Wheeler, Kate Wright and Peter Bingemann, whilst Saunders managed the show content and TV element, in collaboration with BRITs TV production manager Annie Crofts, TV director Phil Hayes and the the content producers Hello Charlie, Sam Pattenson (Take That) and Richard Stembridge (Arcade Fire).

The main upstage screen which moved up and down during the show to hide or reveal the on stage action was an 11m wide by 6m high landscape screen of Pixled F-11. This modular system also made up the 5.5m wide by 10m high portrait screen at stage right. In order to make the show as visible as possible to all members of the audience, XL installed three I-Mag projection screens flown around the arena.

As well as a bespoke projection system for Arcade Fire’s performance, the company also provided Stealth screens to the red carpet area and Martin LC 2140 panels for the after-party.

Two HXC 100 cameras, eight feeds from broadcast cameras, VTs and video acceptances from the OB truck were all controlled via a Barco Encore system, fed by two Grass Valley Turbo 2s — which XL Video has just taken delivery of — and Virtual VTRs triggered by timecode. Richard Turner and Richard Burford looked after the playback systems, whilst Nick Fry cut the mix for the screens.

TAKING RISKS
PRG handled the lighting specification for the venue, using all in house kit, as well as the in-house rigging, totalling seven trucks. The move to the O2 worked out well for long-term BRITs LD Al Gurdon who was nursing a broken leg, and thus relieved to have the FOH position on ground level!

Gurdon remembers when Bingemann first showed him the plans for the design: “He was concerned in case he had created something that would be problematic to light. I looked hard for those problems, but could only see opportunities in a very new look, which was both bold and versatile.

“It was so open that it forced the show concept into the performance looks in a way that was perhaps risky, because many performers’ first instinct often seems to be to hide the set, but I knew it would bring rewards to the whole show look if we could get past that.

For the tight corners on stage Gurdon chose small LED units — X-Flex and Colour Blasts — while for the more open areas he selected large units that fitted the scale of the venue: a total of 36 PRG Bad Boys and Vari*Lite VL3500 Washes, Hungaro Flash and Atomic Strobes. For precise keying and set dressing he used shutter bladed luminaires; Vari*Lite VL3500 Profiles and Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1200s.

Commented Gurdon: “The Bad Boys are heavy, but they’re twice as bright as anything else. The VL3500 Washes are also really bright.” There were also 18 followspots in total, predominantly Lycian M2 2.5kWs.

PRG crew chief Rich Gorrod explained that budget pressures meant they were more inclined to pitch ideas to the bands for band specials, such as the Mumford & Sons sky pans and festoon lights, and extra VL3000 Spots and Colourblasts for Rihanna.

At FOH, Theo Cox used a Full Boar desk to run the majority of the ‘effects’ and audience lights, whilst Ian Reith used a Virtuoso, running most of the shuttering lights involved with keying and back lighting performers. As there are usually a few grey areas in this demarcation, the system was set up so that either desk could control any of the fixtures in the rig if needed.

Said Gurdon: “I always say we can compromise on lights, but whatever the operators want in terms of console they get, because at the end of the day they are under a lot of pressure.”

SYSTEM CONFIDENCE
The duo spent a week in Production Resource Group’s East Molesey base doing the WYSIWYG programming. “The PRG distribution system that we’ve got is great,” continued Gurdon.

“It’s running ArtNet which means both consoles can have access to all the fixtures, no matter what protocol is coming out of the desk. It’s our Series 400 system so uses Series 400 fibre and the Series 400 nodes running in merge mode.” The system also included Art 2000 Avolites dimmer racks which Gurdon said were “bullet proof and just fantastic”.

The BRIT Awards has become an annual opportunity for PRG to provide work placements for two Year 13 students, as part of its sponsorship of the Technical Theatre course at the BRIT School. Students Harry Greenfield and Ian McCarthy were selected through an interview process of many hopefuls to become full members of the lighting crew for the 12-day production period.

“This is a completely immersive experience for the students,” explained Martin Locket of PRG, who handles the company’s links with educational courses.

“The students are involved with the prep of the show at PRG Longbridge, the WYSIWYG programming and the installation and operation on site at the O2. They get fully engaged with the show and the crew, under the direction of PRG’s Gordon Torrington. The experience is invaluable to the students and is a key part of our support of this course.”

Laser design was down to ER Productions who supplied 121W of power split into eight systems used to add the ‘wow’ factor for two separate acts.

The company’s new 21W OPS RGB was the star of the show and used in both Rihanna’s and Tinie Tempah’s performances, alongside other lasers and eight Viper smoke machines.

The split level programming meant the O2’s audience were treated to a fantastic show and also allowed the show’s director to achieve great coverage from all camera positions. With such a design came huge safety implications which ER Productions solved using its in-house designed emergency shutdown interface.

THE ZIEBA EFFECT
Veteran BRITs sound designer Derrick Zieba was reunited with sound supplier Britannia Row Productions and Sennheiser for the show — a team that also works together on the MTV Europe Music Awards.

Whilst Zieba cited the move to the O2 as a positive step up in terms of the venue’s age, the truck access and flying capabilities, the audio team also felt the pressure of fewer load-in days.

“Arriving at 8am on Saturday [before the Tuesday show] to a completely bare stage with two 45’ trucks of sound and goodness knows how many trucks of set and screens to rig, with rehearsals at 2pm on Sunday was a little daunting to say the least!” he laughed.

In recent years, Zieba had specified an EV X-Line array system for Earls Court, but felt that an L-Acoustics K1 system would really suit the O2’s acoustics. “I’m a big fan of the K1, so I based my design for this new venue around the K1 system with Kudo delays to enable me to reach the rear seats cleanly with the presentation vocals.” 

Brit Row’s Josh Lloyd consulted the production team and Outback Rigging when designing the system in order to work out how all the kit could be flown in accordance with sightlines for the cameras and audience.

Each main hang per side consisted of 14 K1s and three dV-DOSC, with an adjacent array of eight SB28 subs and an outer hang of 14 V-DOSC and three dV-DOSC. On the floor were four 108s and two SB28s per side, whilst flown in a row beyond the outer lighting truss over the Arena were three delay hangs of eight Kudo.

All amplification came from L-Acoustics LA8s using Lake LM26 processors at FOH and all amp locations, for routing and control. A Dante returns system was employed throughout, with two separate fibre returns for stage end and delays.

System technician Richard Trow said: “The SB28 hangs were turned out slightly to reduce the summation in the middle of the room and one of the smaller video screens at the rear of the hall meant the centre delay had to be repositioned, but they were minor inconveniences in the overall plan.”

The choice of FOH mixing consoles was largely dictated by the preferance of the bands and this year an Avid Venue console was used for all the bands, except for Adele who was mixed by Dave McDonald on a Yamaha PM5D, and a Midas XL8 for the presenters and VTs.

FOH engineer Josh Lloyd was mixing the bands on the Venue board and helping out visiting engineers, whilst Chris Coxhead used the XL8 for the presenters.

“All the bands are programmed in before the show and a large amount of pre-production work goes into consolidating all the info from bands to make the show run smoothly,” said Lloyd.

“The main challenges were dealing with artists singing in front of the PA and getting a good mix for the house at show levels without colouring the broadcast mix.”

A SENNHEISER SPECIAL
The Neumann U87 studio condenser microphone was a special request from Zieba to Sennheiser, which has supported The BRITs since 2003. The actual mic supplied was a limited edition 40th anniversary model from 2007.

“It’s a studio mic that was put to a very different use than what it was designed for,” said Sennheiser’s Mark Saunders. “It gave them a very good, clean sound.”

Zieba said Sennheiser had become an essential part of how he approaches The BRITs: “The additional kit that Sennheiser is able to bring, together with its technical engineering expertise enables the most difficult part of the show, managing the RF, become much, much easier.”

Saunders was joined by Andy Lillywhite and Tim Sherratt on stand-by for technical support. There were wedge monitors and in-ears available depending on the requests of the artists, with 20 d&b M2 wedges and all performers using the 2000 Series in-ears from Sennheiser.

The majority of performers requested mics from the Sennheiser range.
All the presenter mics were SKM 5200s with KK 105 heads, whilst all performer and presenter mics were 5200s, with EM 3732 Mk.2 receivers.

ICING ON THE CAKE
Special effects were a prominent element of the show, with all the big productions making use of the skills of German pyrotechnics specialist FFP.

With Chris Brain overseeing the project, Blackout provided a 24m high by 70m wide black backdrop for the main stage, the opening reveal for the after-party and the drapes for the ceilings.

Blackout was also put to the test with a late order from Rihanna’s crew. Managed by Kevin Monks, many late nights were spent manufacturing a 20m x 8m set piece, which used Opticolour fibre optic cable, handmade and cracked open to produce side emitting light, with alternating layers of string curtain.

AFTER-SHOW
The Arena Group built a 40m by 70m TFS structure inside the outer space of the O2 Arena that housed the VIP pre-awards dinner and after-party, as well as providing a number of smaller structures for the catering, kitchens and media centre.

Sunbaba supplied the BRITs 2011 with MasterCard official Aftershow party with distressed 5m x 3m union jack flags, which were hung from the ceiling. They were fabricated using high res photography and digital dye-sublimated print to create a life-like effect.

Eat Your Hearts Out, under the capable helm of head chef Chris Desmond, fed 10,000 people during the entire BRITs build-up and event for both artists and crew.

With such an impressive production pulled off in such a short amount of time, the danger is that The BRITs’ organisers will model next year’s schedule on what has been achieved.

The overall feeling backstage was that the time constraints were squeezed to almost unworkable levels. Let’s hope these concerns are taken onboard.
TPi