PR Live's team, project managed by Justin Hammond, were working for live communication agency Premier PR. The Boiler House was transformed into a replica set of Monica's apartment, complete with Central Perk style café and pop-up hair salon where visitors could get a Rachael Green style blow dries plus a load of Friends props and memorabilia. Organised by Comedy Central, tickets for the event sold out within minutes of going on sale.
PR Live's crew worked closely with the builders Scena from Croydon. First, they installed a combination flown / ground supported rigging solution for a television style 'white light' rig to be positioned above the apartment which comprised around 40 x 2K fresnels. This produced good, even crisp and naturalistic illumination across the whole space.
For the press launch event, PR Live provided an additional lighting rig of Source Four Profiles, PARs and Minuettes that was also part flown and part ground supported on a series of tank traps, scaff poles and other customised rigging devices.
The building is listed, so any rigging has to be approached creatively and with great care to ensure it was safe and didn't compromise the look or structural integrity of the building.
For lighting control a ChamSys MQ100 ran everything. Avolites Art dimmers and various PDs were used to distribute power to the different activity areas including the hair salon, nail parlour, etc.
A distributed d&b sound system, divided into different zones, provided audio throughout the space and was concealed as discreetly as possible. It was a mix of T10s, E3s and E5s chosen for their small size and easy rigging, used for background music and some DJ sets as well as sound effects and public announcements.
A digital version of the original cordless Friends phone had effects routed to it from a Sonifex telephone balance unit, and a separate sound system in the toilets played out looped sound-bites from the series. Sound sources from five different media players dotted around the exhibition were routed through the main DiGiCo SD9 control console.
PR Live supplied their new 95, 65 and 55 inch Samson LED screens, which were fitted into the set and used for playing back classic footage from the series which enjoyed 10 seasons from 1994 - 2004. These clips were stored on BrightSign media servers.
(Jim Evans)
