This follows:
http://travelhappinesslife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/my-story-london-2012-olympic-opening.html
After the euphoria of receiving the news that I would be performing in the opening ceremony I checked the e-mail attachments and discovered that group 51C would also be involved in the Closing Ceremony. "Wow" I thought.
The e-mail contained our rehearsal timetable with the first one being back at Three Mills on 24th May.
Four months later the day arrived. Upon arriving at 3 Mills I was looking out for a few people I'd met on twitter, Neil, Amy and Craig but it was Charlotte, from my second audition that I saw first. I jumped into the queue with her.
Danny Boyle was at our first rehearsal and in smaller groups he took us through the model of 'green and pleasant land' and showed a 15 minute pre-production video of what the Industrial Revolution scene might look like. To be honest, although it was a very scratchy video with bits of raw footage linked with CGI, it took most peoples breath away. It was then that we knew that Brunel would play a large part, that 7 chimneys would come up from the ground, that we would probably have positions which would mean interaction with the audience and that the fallen would be honoured within the piece.
We also learned the main phrase that we would be drumming - "PLAY THE DRUM, SO YOUR MUM, CAN SEE, YOU ON TV". We did a number of exercises including walking on the spot to a click track and trying to get the rhythm.
Two days later we had a rehearsal at a new venue called 1:1 in Dagenham (left). This was a large piece of land which had formally been part of the Ford car works and was large enough to set up 2 Olympic stadium sized areas either side of what looked like a circus tent. This rehearsal was for our other job on opening ceremony night - we were to be marshals for the athletes parade. This was very exciting because it meant that we would be there all night and be there for the parade and the cauldron being lit. For the first few rehearsals in Dagenham we learned some dance moves and what a flipper does (imagine a pinball machine - just like that but it helps feed athletes into the correct areas on stage).
In the remaining two rehearsals at Three Mills we became more familiar with the music to accompany our scene, written by Underworld. We also got to know Rick Smith (with me - right) from Underworld and his warmth and humour very well. We were introduced to our 'drums' which were a range of plastic/metal buckets and larger black bins. I managed to get the large bass bin and my sticks had tennis balls at the top. Initially I didn't think these would be our actual instruments for the night but as time moved on...I realised they were.
This is an official London 2012 video of rehearsals at Three Mills.
http://travelhappinesslife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/my-story-london-2012-olympic-opening.html
After the euphoria of receiving the news that I would be performing in the opening ceremony I checked the e-mail attachments and discovered that group 51C would also be involved in the Closing Ceremony. "Wow" I thought.
The e-mail contained our rehearsal timetable with the first one being back at Three Mills on 24th May.
Four months later the day arrived. Upon arriving at 3 Mills I was looking out for a few people I'd met on twitter, Neil, Amy and Craig but it was Charlotte, from my second audition that I saw first. I jumped into the queue with her.
Danny Boyle was at our first rehearsal and in smaller groups he took us through the model of 'green and pleasant land' and showed a 15 minute pre-production video of what the Industrial Revolution scene might look like. To be honest, although it was a very scratchy video with bits of raw footage linked with CGI, it took most peoples breath away. It was then that we knew that Brunel would play a large part, that 7 chimneys would come up from the ground, that we would probably have positions which would mean interaction with the audience and that the fallen would be honoured within the piece.
We also learned the main phrase that we would be drumming - "PLAY THE DRUM, SO YOUR MUM, CAN SEE, YOU ON TV". We did a number of exercises including walking on the spot to a click track and trying to get the rhythm.
This is an official London 2012 video of rehearsals at Three Mills.
While at 3 Mills some of us also got fitted for their opening ceremony costumes. I preferred my industrial revolution outfit (left) to the marshal one (right) but I didn't think that one was too bad either.
From 9th June we were at Dagenham where we were given headphones, we started to use radios and our drums were brought over.
At this point the 1000 of us were also split into 50 teams of 20 so it was time to meet some new people. I was in group 49.
Tuesday 19th June was a significant day - it was our first time in the Olympic Stadium.
I loved it and not just because from now we got a lunch/dinner bag. With the exception of two final days at 1:1 Dagenham, all our rehearsals took place in the stadium where we tried all manner of walking down the steps, walking out of the Voms (large entrance/exit onto the field of play). Sometimes we drummed and sometimes we practised the marshalling.
The final picture is taken from 'Wet Thursday' where it didn't stop raining. Thankfully it was also the night we first saw the amazing lighting on all the seats and I couldn't resist taking the photo below.
Next up: Part 3 - Dress rehearsals and THE BIG NIGHT
http://travelhappinesslife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/my-story-london-2012-olympic-opening_30.html
From 9th June we were at Dagenham where we were given headphones, we started to use radios and our drums were brought over.
At this point the 1000 of us were also split into 50 teams of 20 so it was time to meet some new people. I was in group 49.
Tuesday 19th June was a significant day - it was our first time in the Olympic Stadium.
I loved it and not just because from now we got a lunch/dinner bag. With the exception of two final days at 1:1 Dagenham, all our rehearsals took place in the stadium where we tried all manner of walking down the steps, walking out of the Voms (large entrance/exit onto the field of play). Sometimes we drummed and sometimes we practised the marshalling.
 |
| With Amy and Charlotte |
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| Marshalling Practice |
The final picture is taken from 'Wet Thursday' where it didn't stop raining. Thankfully it was also the night we first saw the amazing lighting on all the seats and I couldn't resist taking the photo below.
http://travelhappinesslife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/my-story-london-2012-olympic-opening_30.html
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