AD BREAK, 1988
Later to find fame in ‘The Bill’ and the ill-fated BBC soap ‘Eldorado’, actor Jesse Birdsall was the star of the National Westminster Bank’s 1988 TV commercial ‘Pinball Wizard, featuring the impressive work of Entec’s lighting department.
Shot over the course of a week with lighting director Mike ‘Sooty’ Sutcliffe at Twickenham Film Studios, where a ‘fake’ NatWest branch was specially built for the production, the set integrated hundreds of different coloured ray light bulbs that were wired back to dimmer racks and a lighting console.
Adam Stevenson, who was part of Entec’s crew for the shoot, recalls: “It was a very popular ad at the time, particularly as The Who’s ‘Tommy’ was enjoying renewed interest. Viewers saw Jesse taking out his NatWest Servicecard and inserting it into the ATM, and as he ‘played’ the controls on the panel, the three-storey building lit up like a pinball machine. It was great fun and Jesse was a nice guy to work with.”
ENERGY FOR LIFE
The ’80s was a peak period for big-budget commercials and Entec was often hired as an on-set service provider. Just two years earlier at another Twickenham shoot, James Garrett & Partners booked the company for an extravagant TV ad for the Central Electricity Generating Board’s ‘Energy For Life’ campaign.
Filmed in an 11-day stretch in June 1986 with a Spike Falana-led crew that included lighting operator Rob McKenzie, the shoot saw Entec provide sound and lighting for a mocked-up rock concert scene. Along with Martin Audio PA stacks and a Midas console, Entec’s package included a raft of PAR cans to create the classic ‘Smarties’ look favoured by so many in the ’80s.
Near the beginning of the commercial, a shadowy figure was seen to be climbing a rigging ladder. “That was me!” laughs Adam. “No one else on the set wanted to do it, so it fell to me to be the ‘stunt man’. I dined out on that one for ages!”
With the concert scene completed, filming relocated to a local ice rink for the ice skating portion of the ad, using Entec-supplied xenon Super Troupers.
RENAULT 5 IN MUNICH
Another two TV ad projects featuring Entec’s support were filmed in 1987. One promoted Magners cider while the other formed part of the budget-busting campaign behind the new Renault 5 premium hatchback.
Shot in Munich that August, the ad was primarily made for the European market and Renault’s creatives counted on Entec’s live music prowess to dream up yet another rock’n’roll scene, but with a rather bizarre twist, as Adam explains: “We installed a big lighting rig as well as building a huge scythe made out of Molefay units, and Rob McKenzie was our lighting operator.
“They built a 60’ x 40’ stage on which there were up to eight Renault 5s being driven around by stunt drivers in such a way that the cars were meant to mimic a rock band. This stage was about five or six feet high and when the drivers got it wrong, the cars would literally fly off the edge and crash. It was certainly very entertaining to watch and the results were absolutely spectacular.”
