West London based Entec Sound & Light supplied lighting, sound equipment, crew,
plus their extensive knowledge and expertise of working in one of the UK’s best
known venues – Wembley Arena – for a gig shot by the BBC for the third series of
“Brian Pern : A Life In Rock’.

The successful, close-to-the bone and hilarious Brian Pern series parodies an aging
rock superstar and this third edition, “Brian Pern : 45 Years of Prog Rock and Roll,’
will be broadcast in January 2016 on BBC Four.

It’s the second time that Entec has supplied kit to the venue for a Brian Pern gig
shoot. Lighting designer Simon Tutchener was asked back to create the lighting
scheme, bringing his own fund of experience to the party. Audio comprised
primarily of a playback system for director Rhys Thomas – as it was recorded in an
empty room – which was co-ordinated by Entec’s James “Kedge’ Kerridge.

The series is written by Rhys Thomas and Simon Day, with the latter playing the
lead character, and in addition to being directed, is also produced by Thomas.

Pern’s own claims to fame include having “invented world music’ and being the first
musician to use Plasticine in videos.

In keeping with the Pern character’s slightly fading career, Tutchener – who also lit
last year’s “live’ Wembley show recording, took the request of a slightly budget
looking and not-quite-the-latest technology lighting rig as his starting point.

So, for “financial reasons’ the rig was ground supported on the standard Wembley
stage, and comprised a 40 x 30 ft ground support, on four legs with a 32 ft cyc
upstage.

This was loaded with 20 x Martin MAC 700 moving spot and wash lights and a bunch
of 2K fresnels used for front and rear key lighting, which were also extremely
helpful for fill light, with a few floor PARs for additional effects lighting.

All of this was programmed and controlled from a grandMA1 console.

Tutchener worked closely with the production’s DOP John Record on crafting the
exact look and feel of the lighting that the production wanted to replicate, together
with the moving light cues required for the one day shoot. The band played two
different musical numbers that will feature as a gig scene within an episode of the
new series.

Participating band members included Paul Whitehouse on guitar and Dennis Lawson
(from New Tricks) on bass.

Whilst the Entec crew were busy setting up for the gig onstage, the film crew were
recording other scenes backstage and in the dressing rooms, and everything was
completed in a day.

For sound, a standard playback rig comprised d&b J8 speakers and J-SUBs for the
director and camera crew, together with a fold-back system for the actors
comprising 7 x d&b M4 wedges.

A Midas Verona sound console was installed and operated by Kedge, running left
and right playback channels and one live vocal mic. The instruments were also all
mic’d up just as they would be at an authentic gig.