Last month I was hired to program the COTT 2008 music awards on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. While the initial concept and plan for the show was very straightforward, there were many surprises that left me well equipped with material to write about the experience. The show was a typical awards-style TV shoot with five cameras, a podium, and twelve musical numbers. I was in control of automated lights, LEDs, media servers, and more. Conventionals were controlled from another console. The LD had done this show the year before but could not attend this year because his pregnant wife was due any day. So it was up to me and the superb crew to help the locals make this show spectacular. Plane Prep
After confirming the gig, the LD sent me plots and other essential paperwork. The day before I departed, he called me and asked if I could get a hold of an extra network processor for the console. Luckily I knew where to obtain one and I put it in my luggage. While I was flying to the small island just north of Venezuela, I used the paperwork to prepare a show file. I was so happy to be using offline editor for the console while I was sitting on the plane. This is always a joy; it’s wonderful to be able to prepare for a show while traveling over 500 miles per hour! I patched the fixtures, setup my preferences, built groups and palettes, and even prepared a few cues (podium special, work lights, etc).
Customs Surprise
I arrived late Sunday evening to learn that the consoles, media servers, and LED fixtures were stuck in customs. They were expected to be released midday on Tuesday. No problem, I thought, because the show was not until Thursday. I arrived at the hotel around midnight, prepared my room for my vampire routine and went to sleep. We had agreed to meet for lunch the next day and then go to the gig.
The Awakening!
At 8 a.m. on the dot, the wall of my hotel room began banging and shaking. It sounded like they were trying to demolish the wall. I called the front desk and learned that the construction would continue all day for the entire week. So I moved to another room, one without a jackhammer blasting the sides. So much for being a vampire on this night!
When I met the crew, I learned that the gear in customs would not be arriving until midday Tuesday. I spent most of the day learning more about the rig and going over the running order of the show. They were supposed to bring me some music, but that did not happen.
With no console, there was no programming to do. However, I had brought the network processor, so I grabbed it from the hotel and configured it to run with my laptop and the offline editor. Since the data snake was in customs too, the crew scraped together enough DMX cable to connect all the outputs and I was up and running. I began teching out the rig and then updated my position palettes. It was fun to do all this with my mouse and laptop. I was thrilled to know the keyboard shortcuts too, since it made the task go much faster. Once I had a good base, we called it quits for the night and headed back to the hotel.
Let the Programming Begin
Tuesday was a fantastic day. I met with the video director and discussed the shots. I was then presented with a CD of the music. I was finally able to begin to come up with looks in my head for the production. After listening to the songs for a while and taking notes about the design and timing, I started creating my main cuelist. I decided to block out each song starting at 100, 200, 300, and so on. I would then create cues between each of these. I also decided that I would need all the presenter looks, video looks, audience ballyhoos, and other typical awards show amenities. So with no console and only a mouse, I sat down to tackle the job at hand. It was very interesting to program a large show in this manner. In some ways it was faster because my hand was always on the mouse instead of moving from encoder to encoder. However I would be happy to switch to the console when it was supposed to arrive that afternoon. But you know how it goes; I soon found out the console and other gear would not arrive until midday Wednesday! With the show on Thursday evening and a full day of rehearsals on Wednesday, I knew I had a lot to do.
We had several artists come in for rehearsal on Tuesday and I managed to get some looks in and adjust the blocking. My mouse and fingers were flying as I wrote and played back so many cues.
When Will the Console Arrive?
Rehearsals started first thing Wednesday morning and went until late in the evening. I continued laptop programming and managed to program most of the show by the time the console arrived at 3 p.m. When I first started on the desk, I kept forgetting to use the encoders and continued with the mouse! However, it did not take long to get back to the normal routine and program at full speed. Luckily I had programmed the bulk of the show, because now not only had the console arrived but also the media servers and LED fixtures. I had lots more data to enter into the cues. After rehearsals ended, I was able to work with the crew to troubleshoot the media servers and plan the placement of the LED PARs.
I found out that the media servers were not just for the background of the musical acts, but also for the “nominee” and “award” presentations. Each screen had to be synchronized with the audio tracks and required intense programming to get all the timing correct. I spent several hours building custom timing routines for each piece of content. As the night continued, it became clear that the LED fixtures would not be up and running until midday Thursday. I programmed as much as I could and left the venue at 5 a.m.
Show Day!
Thursday was a pretty normal programming day, adding the LED looks to the cues and creating extra “busking” lists on the wing. At 7 p.m. the show started and went nonstop until all the awards were handed out. In the end, the show came off amazingly well and looked great on camera and in the house. Looking back at the craziness of missing consoles, servers, and fixtures until the day before the show, I would not trade the experience for anything. Moments like this remind me that “The show must go on.”
A big thanks goes out to Scott Chmielewski (LD), and his U.S.-based crew: Nicholas John (Associate LD), Gerard McCarthy (ME), and Brendon Boyd (Stage Manager).
