FEATURE
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: MARTIN PHILLIPS Martin Phillips talks to Upbeat about his journey from undergraduate trumpeter to cutting-edge Videographer.
If proof were needed that early musical experiences can launch the most unexpected of career paths, that of Martin Phillips is a good example. Little did he think when he attended the Royal College of Music Junior Department that he’d end up as the College’s Videographer. After leaving school Martin spent four years at the College studying the trumpet. It says much for the College’s non-prescriptive attitude that while an undergraduate his interest in video and filming was encouraged, allowing him to develop his skills and make vital contacts in the music and film industry, where he spent 20 years before returning to the RCM just under four years ago. Even in that relatively short time his job as Videographer has developed. ‘No two days are the same and there is always something interesting to work on, prepare for and to be challenged by!’ Martin is part of the RCM’s Studio team, which runs the day-to-day recording and audio-visual requirements for the College. ‘My role involves being out and about with a camera to record interviews or promotional material and to edit it down into the short films that appear on the website or on social media. And our concerts are recorded live on a remote-controlled multiplecamera system in the Concert Hall, so I need to ensure that everything is set up correctly and to run the cameras, with other members of the team running the audio. These concerts all need to be edited and prepared for our students to watch on our internal streaming platform, RCM Stream.’ As with any career in the technical sector, things are constantly developing. Martin is understandably proud of the new Video Production Suite, installed just this summer. ‘It allows us full video and audio recording capability not only at the existing venues at the College, but the two new ones opening next year. It is designed to give us and the next generation of RCM students the capacity to record multiple venues simultaneously, along with a major upgrade to our livestreaming and broadcasting capabilities. Additionally, we
have installed a new set of 4K cameras in the Concert Hall – the pictures are superb, and will be certainly taking our livestreaming quality to the next level.’ Nor has the audio side been neglected, with a full Dante network audio system allowing multiple recording capabilities. The job inevitably comes with a mix of highs and challenges. Martin recalls the challenge of working on the timelapse film, showing the new More Music Courtyard building rising out of the ground. For starters, he admits to not being great with heights – and the camera needed to be very high up on the roof of an adjoining building. Then they faced the problem of the equipment freezing as the ‘Beast from the East’ arrived early in 2018. But all was eventually well and, as he says, he’s now much better with heights! A high of a different kind came in the recent production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Sir Thomas Allen, which Martin and his colleagues recorded for OperaVision, which has to date had over 12,000 views and a big vote of confidence from both students and the opera’s production team.
Above Martin Phillips in action in the RCM’s new Production Suite
UPBEAT AUTUMN 2019
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