Alison Grist
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Email: alisongrist@tiscali.co.uk Call: +44 (0)7940 59 00 70
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BACK ON THE CULTURE SHOW...
August 2009: For the last two months I’ve returned to BBC Two’s ‘The Culture Show’ as a freelancer. I was originally brought back as a discussion producer for a new form of intellectual banter they wanted for the Manchester International Festival in July. Yet on my second day back, I was also asked to cover my old job, directing the presenter links and interviews on location. So it’s been up and down to Manchester, courtesy Virgin Trains - nausea-inducing and high-speed that they are.
I enjoyed our links shoots from Albert Square, the Exchange Theatre and the Bridgewater Hall. Filming the German band Kraftwerk at Manchester’s Velodrome was also pretty special. When Kraftwerk’s famous track “Tour de France” started up, Ralf Hütter introduced the British Olympic team who entered the area and cycled in formation. Huge cheers erupted in the stadium echoing a unique moment for Manchester and the opening night of the festival.
My last show for The Culture Show transmitted earlier this month. We filmed it at the stunning location of London’s Somerset House at the opening night of the Film4 Summer Screen festival.
Spanish film director, Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces” was due to open the festival with an outdoor premiere in the courtyard. We had been granted an interview with him. I admire him for the Writer/Director he is who keeps control of his films and I enjoy his thoughtful and playful themes.
Together with my DoP, Jim Ashcroft, we went on a recce which included walking over the top of Somerset House’s higgledy-piggledy roof, surely one of the most wonderful views of London. We were looking for places to shoot several links and also somewhere to do the interview.
We decided to film our presenter Lauren Laverne interviewing Almodovar on the back terrace, just to the side of the VIP party that would be going on. I ordered up pots of red geraniums to dress the set, as they feature in many of Almodovar’s films. Red is a recurring colour theme in his films. Luckily I’d already initiated a red carpet and red chairs for The Culture Show in Manchester, so the only other addition was some special light-bulbs decorated with ivy and champagne to make it really feel like a sultry summer’s evening and glamorous premiere.
On the actual day of recording itself, rain bucketed down! We arrived to find the back terrace wet and windswept. I had to think on my feet fast. I got up-to- date weather forecasts for later that day, hour by hour. As we couldn’t even think of setting up until the rain had stopped and the flagstones dried, we found an alternative indoor interview set-up. It was in the room immediately behind the screen. We would seat them on flight cases and get Lauren to reference the fact that we were just behind the screen. Thankfully Jim and his gaffer had enough lights to pre-light this location as well as keeping enough for the exteriors if the weather got better.
In the end, the rain stopped, the wind died down and the forecast looked promising so we decided to go with the exterior. You can see the finished item for yourself in my Culture Show page.
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