Friday 21st March saw millions of viewers tune into BBC One and BBC Two to enjoy an evening of fun, comedy, entertainment and sport live from the Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford.
Nick Edwards, Managing Director commented: "This was a large undertaking for our company which started back in January with initial site visits. The main focus was to transform the Copper Box Arena from a Sporting venue into a large scale TV broadcast studio. Effectively along with our production partners we were challenged to transform the Copper Box into 'TC1' (the BBC's now defunct flagship studio and former host of Sport Relief)."
The night was hosted by David Walliams, Gary Lineker and Davina McCall. The night saw Team Coe take on Team Bishop in the Lee Vally Velopark and the Aquatic Centre. Other acts included Only Fools and Horses with David Beckham. There was also a Strictly Come Dancing Special starring the Paralympians. David Walliams as you'd never seen him before - singing with Kylie Minogue!
In demand TV Lighting Director Gurdip Mahal was tasked with designing and overseeing lighting across all three of the live arenas. Gurdip was creatively supported by his team of console operators including Russ Grubiak, Ian Reith and Martyn Rourke.
Gurdip commented: "I felt privileged to be chosen to work on such a special project for the BBC. For the main rig I chose Martin Vipers for their sharp gobo projection capabilities, this enabled me to add texture to set. I also opted for a vast array of Clay Paky Sharpies. I choose these units for their sheer intensity, I utilised their beams to create some dynamic looks for the music performances. The final layer to the design was controlling a forest of Light Initiatives 'Light Wands' which added some depth to the pictures"
Mahal concluded: "I'm must pay thanks to the whole crew who was spread across three arena's across the Olympic park. It's been a busy week for everyone with The Voice, Laureus Sports Awards, 15 to 1 and Samsung Launching People amongst other things going on."
The Aurora Crew consisted of Gaffers James Tinsley, Mark Gardiner and Justin Denchfield across the venues and crew included Greg Fitzgerald, Shaun Foster, Rich Harris, Mark Steeds, Shaun Burnett, Colin Jones, Matt Moutier, Matt Lee, Mark Sheanon plus Dave Scrivens looking after follow spots.
Edwards commented on the equipment supplied: "The Copper Box had a substantial moving light rig consisting of Martin Vipers, Martin Stagebars, Clay Paky Sharpies, VL2000 Washes and Super NovaFlowers. We also supplied all the tungsten lighting, dimming and an extensive mains distribution package which included powering the Outside Broadcast facilities. During the week we utilised the venues power and switched to twin set generators for the rehearsal and broadcast day," he continued "For the Velodrome and Aquatatics arenas we tied in to the in-house field of play lighting systems, and added to these rigs with Arri HMI fixtures. To add an "LE" feel Gurdip specified a large number of Martin Mac Aura LED Washes. These units fitted the bill perfectly; they read well into camera despite the high lux levels from the field of play lighting"
The greatest sport relief weekend reached its climax on the Sunday as thousands of people went the extra mile to take part in the 'Mile Show' at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford.
Alex Jones and Matt Baker hosted live coverage from the live stage, for which Aurora took care of Lighting for this as well, and people of all ages and abilities took park in cycling at the Velopark, swimming in the Aquatics centre or doing the mile in the south park.
With the amazing generosity of the British public the current Sport Relief total stands at £53,370,743 and that
