Oldham College – John d eccles

Oldham College Students busy working on Oldham College Awards Evening

Its Sunday morning and I am sat here recovering from a very busy week realising I may not be as young as I used to be. So let me explain.

Months ago I was approached by the College I used to work for to help arrange their annual awards evening. Now I know this doesn’t seem like a big job but the way the Oldham College do it its like the Oscars with bells and whistles.

So in April I started creating the first draughts of the running order and booking equipment for the evening which you need to do in order to make sure you can turn your idea into a reality.

The week started with one or two changes to the running order a few changes to some video inserts and generally making sure that everything is in position for the all important deadline which by this point immovable on Thursday evening at 6.30.

So this is were it starts to get challenging. A couple of weeks ago Lady Ann found out that she had to go into hospital for some surgery on Tuesday. I thought this is manageable I can work during the day and visit in the evening and she would be home for Friday. So I dutifully dropped her at the hospital in Manchester at 7.30 in the morning which was the time they gave us (Not me dumping her in a chair and running) which gave me the days to polish the rest of the videos for Thursdays show.

Tuesday evening I go to visit Lady Ann who I must say was as high as a kite but looked very relaxed but was talking gibberish. So I then went home to an empty house which after 40 odd years is a very strange experience I can tell you.

Wednesday arrived and then the work begins. All the AV equipment arrives and has to be installed. Now the College has the foresight to ensure that the students take part in the running of the awards ceremony as part of their work experience. So this is the first time I meet my crew, they all arrive fresh faced and inexperienced ready to take part in the running of the event.

This is the part of my job I love, developing young people and helping them achieve something that they would consider an impossible task a few days ago. They always rise to a challenge and they always deliver. Some of the contractors and the entertainment did this event when they were at college and still remember it like it was yesterday.

So everything is going swimmingly well, my plan is going to plan that is until I get a phone call at 5.30 from Ann saying she can come home but can’t be left on her own for 24 hours.

Now not for one second did I think I wouldn’t pick her up and bring her home but then I had the issue of who can look after her whilst I was out working all day Thursday. This is were having a family is great, I phone my daughter up and that was all sorted.

After picking Ann up I had some last minute amends to make to some graphics which meant my bedtime was 2.00 am to make sure that rehearsals can go ahead as scheduled. It was a great evening, catching up with colleagues I hadn’t seen for a while and watching the faces of the proud parents as there kids picked up there heard earned awards.

At 9.00pm it is all over the awards taken home and the £150 worth of pizza for the crew was just a few empty boxes neatly stacked on a table.

So why was the event a success.

I was surrounded by great people from the college who make things happen.

I was supported by great technical staff from companies I trust implicitly to deliver what they promise.

And finally I arrive before everyone and go home after everyone to make sure that everything is done and ready for the next collective deadline. That is the secret of success in the AV business.

So to all the award winners, congratulations. To all the nominees commiserations but you have obviously worked hard to even be nominated.

So why am I tired, well according to my phone in two days I walked 12 miles and climbed 57 flights of stairs. Juggled numerous requests for script changes run two rehearsals and staged the event and on the Friday de rigged the venue all in time for lunch with Lady Ann.

Since Friday lunch time I have now taken on the role of head nurse at Eccles Towers, Sarah my daughter has given Ann a bell that she can ring when she needs something. Now that can be very annoying when you are trying to have an afternoon nap especially when I am sat in the chair next to her who has set up base on the settee, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Ann has now stopped talking gibberish and is issuing orders left right and centre which must mean she is on the mend.

So next week I am hoping for a bit of a rest, but I cant see it happening anytime soon.

You may remember two or three months ago I said that I had been working on a project with the living dead. Well eventually after a great deal of editing and polishing here is the film in all it glory.

The film is a culmination of months of planning and hard work, which a team of thirty three Students and Industry professionals carried out during a two month period this summer.

Now many people who watch this epic with think its just another student film, but I can assure you that its not the finished film that makes this project amazing. Its the fact that a group of students given the right amount of support can achieve great things. Not only to arrange the locations, costumes and actors but also up to that point the only two sunny days we had witnessed up to that point in the year.

It is also testament to Oldham Councils Parks Department who were trusting enough to let us loose in Alexandra Park which is arguably the best location for a film I have ever worked in. Not to mension the Staff at the Boathouse Cafe for the endless cups of Coffee that kept everyone going.

So thats another year of grey hair making production over with, and I enjoyed every minute of it. So all that remains for me to say it thanks to those really nice people at Baker Media in particular Andrew Corrie, Ben Mann the Director for making two days filming with a rookie crew seem easy (which it wasn’t), to Fatima for allowing us to trample all over her story with the calm and grace that most professional writers could learn from and finally to the student crew who make every day an adventure, which makes it all worthwhile.

So after months of waiting it is here, ‘Redemption’. This years film by Oldham College Media Students which by any measure is a great effort.