Have you ever wondered what it would be like to help film and produce one of the UK’s hottest gigs? Well Beth got the experience of a lifetime when she won the chance to do just that.
Beth tells us in her own words what it was like to work at Europe’s largest all volunteer gig with 11,000 volunteers each who gave 4 hours to get given a ticket to see Diddy – Dirty Money, Primal Scream, Kelis, Professor Green, Wretch 32 & Eliza Doolittle at Wembley Arena!
My day at the Orange RockCorps concert…
2pm, Wembley Arena, London. I arrived outside at the stage door, the start of doing something I have never done before. It was simply the beginning of the smile that was spread across my face all day, hiding the initial feeling of being overwhelmed. I met with Alicia (who works at RockCorps) who then led me to meet Tori (from CC-Lab). Tori gave me my crew pass to allow me backstage for the day and introduced me Jamie (also from CC-Lab) and the rest of the crew; with so many names I cannot possibly remember them all!
After the greetings I was given a tour of the arena and shown the camera equipment that would be used to film the live show. They showed me the cameras up on the stage, the tracking in the pit, the jig and the wide shot cameras. This gave me an idea of the angles and the amount of people working on the show. I was then allowed to ‘have a go’ with one of the cameras on the tracking across the stage during P Diddy’s sound check, which was incredible!! Not only to try using such high standard equipment, but to be there for a sound check!
Following this, I went into the hub where all of the video footage and sound is transmitted, as well as edited live on the night. This was a huge eye opener to the amount of work put into what will be one TV programme and also to see all the different camera angles and shots that would later be used for real.
After some time spent in the hub, I was sent on a task to get one of the presenter’s insoles, which was a little overwhelming, but after some quick thought I succeeded! When I came back from my mini adventure around the streets of Wembley I was back in time to watch Professor Green sound check too, before going up for food with the crew. Over dinner, they told me that my task for the evening would be to help as a camera assistant in the pit, during the live show!
I was kitted up with a headset to allow me to hear everything the directors were saying throughout the show and to get an idea of what they were thinking, needing and doing. This was a cherry on top of a cake, as I was in the pit of the arena, alongside Charlie and Johnny from CC-Lab (cameraman and assistant), checking cables weren’t coming undone and generally doing anything I could to help. All this whilst experiencing the amazing show with the variety of acts and being deafened by the 9ft speaker I was stood next to!! I couldn’t and still can’t believe that I won this amazing experience, that I was actually there and that close!
The experience as a whole was incredible. I found it very insightful as an aspiring film and media student. It was something I could have only dreamed of doing as work experience within the industry, as someone used to being the other side of the barrier. However, thanks to Orange RockCorps, it happened!
A big thanks to Beth for all her hard work and professionalism throughout an amazing day. You can see just what it ended up looking like below...
