XL Events Is Bang On At ExCel

XL Events supplied video and visual production - including camera and pup system, projection, playback and crew - for The Big Bang, a 2500 seater live performance space run in the ICC at London's ExCel Centre alongside the UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair.
The raison d'être for the whole event was to encourage young people to engage with the invention, fun and vast potentials of science. The ICC elements was production managed for M4 Entertainment by Nigel Mousley and project managed by XL's Bill Hughes.
Over the three days, hour-long special versions of two high profile different TV science shows were showcased in the ICC - Sky 1's Brainiac and the BBC's Bang Goes The Theory each with two shows a day.
This was followed on the Friday evening by the national finals of the CREST Awards (managed by the British Science Association) and the Young Engineer for Britain Competition. The Awards were presented by Professor Brian Cox and BBC science journalist Kate Bellingham.
XL Events' Rich Rowley said: "It was a very exciting event in which to be involved. The turnaround time pressures of 30 - 40 minutes resets between the shows were intense and a lot of precision was required to ensure seamless transitions!"
XL Events supplied a 3 Channel Grass Valley Kayak PPU with three Sony D50 cameras. Two of the camera had long lenses and were stationed at front-of-house, one was locked off and the other was operated. The third was used as a hand-held onstage for close ups on Bang Goes The Theory and on a spider dolly in the pit for Brainiac and the awards. The IMAG director was XL's Jerry Rosenfeld.
Three 20 x 15ft IMAG screens were provided onstage, each fed with a pair of front projected Barco R12 projectors.
Content playback for Brainiac consisted of Power Point and VT files which were played off a Sony Anycast system, operated from front-of-house. XL Events also provided the audio playback system for this show, run on PC-based show cue software.
For Bang Goes The Theory, it was all triggered from instant start HHB DVD players backstage. Both systems were operated by Chris Johnson.
Wired and wireless RTS show Comms were also supplied as part of the XL package and Rich Rowley undertook the sound design, utilising the venue's in-house system.
(KMcA/GK)