The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus

The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus was the first movie to be shown on the Coca-Cola billboard in November 2007

The Ballet of Change is a series of four films (approximately 4 minutes), each one about a world famous landmark in London - London Bridge, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Each film tells the history of its location using imagery and music. Taking as its starting point the earliest image available from museum and other archives (usually a drawing circa 16th Century) and then dancing with the imagery (hence the title of the piece) from oil paintings, through photographs to High Definition Video in Present day. ^{[1] [2]}The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus, the final film in the progressive series, was the first film to be broadcast through the famous Coca-Cola Billboard on Land Securities' Piccadilly Circus Lights in London. On 23 November 2007, as part of an event, that included screenings of films onto St. Martin in the Fields Church, Trafalgar Square and the façade of the Odeon Leicester Square, The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus aired at 19:30 on the Coca-Cola billboard. Coca-Cola have had a sign at Piccadilly Circus since 1955 with the current version from September 2003, when the previous digital projector board and the site formerly occupied by Nescafé was replaced with a state-of-the-art LED video display that curves round with the building.

The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus

On the evening of the event, those wishing to watch the film with the accompanying music downloaded it from www.theballetofchange.co.uk and brought it to the respective film sites on MP3 players.

Archive material was sourced from the Museum of London, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, Science Museum, Transport Museum as well as the BBC archive.

The event and films were made by not-for-profit television production company Q&D Productions Limited with the involvement of 20 students from Bexley Business Academy and Produced and Directed by Paul Atherton and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund^[3]

Credits

• Producer and Director: Paul Atherton
• Editor: Ralston Humble
• Composer: Damian Coldwell
• Senior Researcher: Emily Thomas
• Stills Photographer: Chloé Flexman

References

1. British Film Archive (2007). "The Ballet of Change at British Film Archive".
2. British Film Archive (2007). "Paul Atherton at British Film Archive".
3. Heritage Lottery Fund (2007). "The Ballet of Change: London's Iconic Heritage".

Websites

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvHXFB4K4No

External links

• The Ballet of Change: Piccadilly Circus at the Internet Movie Database
• The Ballet of Change: Leicester Square at the Internet Movie Database
• The Ballet of Change: London Bridge at the Internet Movie Database
• The Ballet of Change: Trafalgar Square at the Internet Movie Database

1. http://www.bignewsday.com/story.asp?code=RN2144075l&news=historic_london_landmarks_to_screen_film
2. http://www.lifestyleextra.com/ShowStory.asp?story=Kl2144075C&news_headline=historic_london_landmarks_to_screen_films
3. http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Arts/Ballet_of_Change_An_Historical_Film_Event_156541.html
4. http://www.timeout.com/london/aroundtown/events/621671/ballet_of_change.html
5. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/opinion_and_blogs/letters/broadcast_letters__november_9.html