The screen was custom made for XL by ECT from Matt Brite material to Bill Lazlett's set design, co-ordinated by Wood. It measured 29m wide and was 10m high at the stage right end and 2m high at stage left, curving around the rear of the stage. The projection was via 10 Barco ELM R18 projectors, with five projectors overlaid in two stacks for optimum brightness, situated in the RAH's Grand Tier boxes.
Taking a 'big canvas approach', screen content was created for the show by Richard Turner and his colleague Jan Ostrowski. It included a series of attractive, subtle liquid abstract effects washed across the screens in different colours, which were matched into the lighting scenes being used on other parts of the set. Onscreen graphics described each Award being presented, and there was also a special short graphics sequence illustrating the voting and judging process. A few weeks before the event, Turner and Ostrowski shot special footage of one of the Awards which was integrated into the show.
Clarke Anderson handled the technical co-ordination of Graphics for Turner on the day. The content was stored on two GVG Profile hard drives and mixed by Turner using a Magic DaVE, located in the 021 outside-broadcast truck, under the direction of TV director Russell Norman. All equipment was triggered via a Dataton control system. XL's crew consisted of lead projectionist John Edwards, Stuart Heaney and Toby Ginn.
Entec Lighting supplied lighting equipment and crew for the lighting design by Mike 'Sooty' Sutcliffe. This was the 10th time Entec has lit the Awards, and Adam Stevenson, working on his 10th NTA co-ordinated and project managed the event for them. Entec supplied Simon Tutchener as crew chief and a team of 12, split into two shifts of six, and boosted by six additional crew for the overnight shift. The majority of lighting fixtures were flown off two high trimmed trusses - at 50ft above the stage. The rear one was also over 100ft wide and curved to match the lines of the set. It was constructed from MaxiBeam, and also used for anchoring various set elements in position, while the other lighting truss was 9m diameter circle rigged over-stage. All trussing and rigging was supplied by Outback.
One of the set's special features was a large two-part curved staircase, conceived jointly between Lazlett and Sutcliffe, made form Perspex material and filled with 72 James Thomas Pixelline 1044 battens. This was used as a stage entrance that came alive with colour and sparkle and very effectively glammed up the proceedings at appropriate moments for intros, exits and awards winner announcements. A further thin strip of 12 Pixellines 'underlined' the set wall from the edge of stage right to the start of the staircase on stage left.
Sutcliffe specified Vari*Lite moving fixtures for the show, and Entec supplied 18 VL3000s, 13 VL2202s, 19 VL 2402s, 16 VL5s and five VL 2416s. Four Studio Due City Colors were positioned up in the top gallery to blast the audience with big blocks of colour.
Lighting was programmed, operated and controlled by Svend Pedersen using a Wholehog II and PixelDrive for running the Pixellines. Pedersen has worked with Sutcliffe and Entec on many past National TV Awards shows. Sutcliffe had control over some of the house conventional fixtures via a Jands Event 416, allowing him to tweak levels to match the stage lighting and camera requirements, and the famous RAH 'mushroom' sound baffles up in the ceiling were lit with the house Stage Zooms.
Entec also supplied three Pani follow spots, one on the rear
