Month: March 2020

A London Video in a Day: 2009

Could you realistically shoot a video all around London in one day? Well, ten years ago back in 2009 we did just that with three Imperial students. The idea was to show just what opportunities there were for getting out and about from Imperial College, which is based in the South Kensington area of London.

Using three students, who had helped us by appearing in previous videos, the idea was that they would guide you (the viewer) around some famous locations. Starting at South Kensington we would show the advantages of the London Tube, Buses and even taxis. Clearly this would be a video that required a lot of planning and time-scales were set for being in each location by a certain time. We got all of the permissions that were required, including access to tube stations and platforms. We shot more or less in sequence, but cheated slightly here and there.

Amazingly the day we selected was perfect. Sunny and very warm all day long. Everyone mucked in with helping to carry things around the various locations. We didn’t stay in places for long, just long enough to get what we wanted, which was usually one sentence, then check the recordings and then back on the tube again. Look at the Big Ben sequence and you’ll see what time we were there! And we also had a very cooperative taxi driver who allowed us to film inside his cab, not easy with a big camera I can tell you. I must try and find the out-takes from this shoot.

So, some great locations all shot in a day and with genuine 2009 era Imperial College students being our guides.

Colin Grimshaw March 2020

John Passmore – ICU President: 1980

John Passmore was the ICU President from 1980-81 and elected into that post in March 1980. The front page of Felix announced the election results on its front page of 14 March 1980. STOIC interviewed him in the TV Studio just after the new term had started. From the 8 October 1980, here he is talking to Graeme Shaw.

Not that long after the term had started he was in the news again. He was the victim of a ‘kidnapping’ rag stunt by City University. Once more STOIC was on the case and here’s their report from 13 November 1980, Mike Hackett was the location reporter.

Colin Grimshaw March 2020

Nick Brayshaw – ICU President: 1976

In this blog we have the oldest interviews with an Imperial College Student Union President. Nick Brayshaw had just been elected into the post in March 1976 for the period 1976-1977. STOIC’s news programme was then called Lunch Break and was largely broadcast live from the college TV studio. These particular programmes were only recorded so that we could see what they looked like after the broadcasts. Luckily, for what ever reason, these interviews were copied onto the U-matic format and survive to this day.

Firstly, live coverage from the Great Hall with Nick Brayshaw’s acceptance speech and interview by Mark Caldwell.

Chatting to Nick Brayshaw later that week was Mike Williams. Mike was a former editor of the Imperial College student newspaper FELIX (1974-1975). He did many interviews for STOIC including another one also broadcast live, but this time over the ILEA cable network covering the whole of London. On that occasion in 1977 he interviewed the then film reviewer for the BBC Barry Norman.  I was in touch with him recently and he now resides in the USA and is working at the University of San Francisco.

Colin Grimshaw March 2020