From Sports Hall to Event Space

From Sports Hall to Event Space

Our client’s brief for this turnkey event production was very simple: “I don’t want anyone to realise that they’re in a Sports Hall”.

So, we set about the transforming the 20m x 33m x 9.3m high space, beginning by rigging a scaffolding ring around the hall’s perimeter from the roof beams. This ring enabled the safe fitting of the 8m-drop white satin cloth and black serge drapes to the stage-end backdrop and the remaining perimeter. For guest access, we built two discrete ‘tunnel’ entrances using scaffold frames dressed in the same black serge.

Finally, the grey carpet was fitted which then enabled the staging and AV fit-up teams to move in and begin the process of creating a sophisticated >600-seat auditorium that didn’t “look like a sports hall”!

The event was made up of several on-stage elements, including a 10-piece band, speeches and presentations from the central lectern, and an awards ceremony.  Technically, the production required an overhead lighting truss, backdrop and perimeter uplighting, a comprehensive sound system, and a two-camera live broadcast to the large front-projection screen. All technical elements were powered by a 100kVa silent generator.

Hackney-On-Sea!

Hackney-On-Sea!

How on earth do you bring the beach to Hackney? That’s what our client asked, as they wanted to thank 150 students by way of having a beach party.

We achieved the idea by erecting a 21m x 12m marquee on the multi-use games area, and fitting a sand-coloured carpet before building the 10m wide x 2.8m high beach hut backdrop at the far gable end. Once our power, audio and lighting FX requirements had been connected, the bunting and life-sized seagull dressings were strung and hung from the marquee trusses.

To complete the picture, giant ‘British seaside’ props were fitted into every available space around the perimeter to add dramatic impact, and to offer some ‘fun-of-the-fair’ games entertainment too. 

And finally, to bring a real sense of being at the seaside, we played a looped background sound effect of seagulls screeching, waves crashing and children playing. Now that was how to bring the seaside to Hackney!

Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland

Whenever there’s a need to bring happiness and cheer to all, perhaps there’s nothing better than a bit of festive spirit being conveyed through the medium of a Winter Wonderland setting.

Here, at this covered roadway venue – open to the elements at each end – we created a truly spectacular scene, full of vibrant colours within a rich tapestry of forest, mountain and winter chill. Using large fully-dressed artificial trees standing in front of a printed backdrop, and some brilliant life-size props, we transformed the otherwise bare architectural surroundings into a dramatic recreation of a wintry Christmas scene.

The LED lighting, positioned inside the length of the glass-walled bridge, coupled with the large mirror-ball suspended from the 7m high glass roof – which projected a blizzard effect onto the walls and ground – added a genuine sense of movement all round.  Strings of pea lights were fitted to the underside of the glass roof, and, to help bring that sense of height and scale to the space, we added large illuminated snowflakes from drop-down wires at a variety of heights over the space.

MST SUPPORTS BBC RADIO 3’S LIVE RESIDENCY AT LONDON’S SOUTHBANK CENTRE

MST Supports BBC Radio 3’s Live Residency At London’s Southbank Centre

For its 70th anniversary of the founding of Radio 3 - originally as the Third Programme - the BBC went 'inside the box', so to speak, with a two week residency broadcasting live from the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall café at London's Southbank Centre, overlooking the River Thames.

As a long-standing supplier to the BBC for event production and AV equipment hire, we were once again asked to help out during Radio 3's residency over September and October 2016.

Programmes were delivered from within a sound-proofed pop-up glass studio, and also relayed live to the café customers via speakers set up around the foyer. Outside the studio, a space was reserved for staging immersive and inspiring performances given by invited guests on a daily basis.

MST Media Productions was contracted by the BBC to supply a series of LED screens set out on stands around the café space, so that the audience could easily access the on-screen media content. This was delivered by a custom-designed app, running via a Chromebit stick inserted into the HDMI port of each screen.

The app content was designed by justFDI Limited using ThinkWall™ interactive social display technology. The screen image was split into different zones, with the lower third running a live Twitter feed via @BBCRadio3 and the middle zone showing details of the current broadcast programme and/or guest performance.

MST's installation team worked closely with Huw Robinson, BBC Radio's Operations Manager (Classical, Radio & Music Operations). This ensured that all cabling was safely routed around the public space in order to meet current H&S regulations, and to pass the Southbank Centre's own exemplary standards for a safe and secure installation - as well as our own!

All in all, it was great for us to to work alongside the BBC team once again in the heart of London, bringing interactive crystal clear sound experiences to visitors to the South Bank. 

What, no Zoom?

What, no Zoom?

Our client was invited to give an after dinner speech to an invited audience of some 300 key industry-specific figures in New York. The Covid-related travel restrictions to-fro the USA prevented his appearance in person, and so the decision was made by each party that the speech would be projected onto a large screen, just at the end of the meal.

Whilst this could have been achieved via a live Zoom/similar tech link, we felt that much better quality – and a more natural and professional delivery – was to pre-record the client in a studio environment, using a Colorama paper backdrop with a subtle lighting effect. 

The end result was well received by the audience in New York, as well as our client, and the general consensus was that a much better result (than via Zoom) had been achieved by the production being shot on a 6K-resolution camera in a professional studio by MST’s experienced production and editing team.