A long marathon begins this Sunday for the 200 people working on the production of Varieties of Star Academy, one of the largest television sets in Canada. Chantal Lépine, the associate producer, is on hand every day to manage and coordinate more than twenty trades.
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The technical team was ready in mid-December, but the new health rules forced it to review all its plans, in particular due to the ban on having an audience in the studio.
“We had to make some big adjustments when we got back from the holidays,” said Chantal Lépine. It changed the staging, the lighting plan, all departments were finally impacted. And if the public returns, we expect to make other changes.
The executive producer, who is used to managing large sets, confirms that, for two years, her task has almost doubled. “Since we are working in a context of health standards, our work is even more important. We need to establish a protocol and enforce it. As a producer, we have to secure the set and our employees as much as possible. Out of more than 200 people, not everyone has the same level of understanding.”
Vigilance
In collaboration with public health, the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) and nurses, the production added a COVID squad responsible for enforcing the rules, ensure that everyone washes their hands and changes their mask every four hours.
Academicians also require increased vigilance. They will live in a closed bubble at the Waterloo Academy, but in the studio, they are also very protected.
“Behind the scenes, there is a section only reserved for Academicians, and very few people have access to it. When they are not on stage, they have to stay in this place where they find everything they need: make-up, hairdressing, cafeteria, as well as their own toilets. The few who can enter wear N95 masks and are tested every morning.”
Technical prowess
Each of the issues of the Sunday show requires a lot of work from the teams of technicians, whether for the sets, the staging or the lighting.
“The machinist department works almost all week, they are the ones who make all the sets and set up. Every Wednesday, we have a meeting during which we confirm the staging, and then we enter the production period to deliver everything necessary for Sunday.
Varieties of Star Academy roughly equivalent to putting on a big show at the Bell Center every week.
“It’s the same scale, but the work is much more important, specified Chantal Lépine. The shows on tour are well-honed and the technique is effective. We create a new show every week. We are constantly in a hurry to find solutions, because everything must be ready for Sunday evening.
This Sunday, the first Variety of Star Academy receives the visit of Daniel Bélanger and Laurence Nerbonne, and we will finally know the names of the 15 Academicians of this season. See you at 7 p.m., at TVA.
“Star Academy” in numbers
- 31 days and 23 semi-trailers are necessary for the assembly of the platform
- 12 cameras connected by optical fiber
- 20 km of cabling for video projection
- 85 TV witnesses everywhere behind the scenes
- More than two tons of screens form the two cubes behind the stage
- 24,178,507 projecting pixels
- The stage is 6,800 square feet, including backstage and proscenium