I was a VIP
Posted by charley on July 5th, 2008Yes i was! and a very good one at that.. On the 2nd August Simon and i had a date with Somerset House, to sip free pimms and eat free mini burger canapes before heading to the courtyard to lie on blankets with 2000 others and watch the UK Premiere of ‘Knocked Up’.
We got special Guest wristbands to wear, though i was disappointed to not receive a VIP lanyard like the press people did, and tried to make our way to the VIP bar. After being shown the direction to practically every bar in the entire house, we finally found the right one and sat down to enjoy our free wine! I was half expecting caviar on brunchetta-like wafers as canapes because the waiters and waitresses were dressed really smartly, but instead Film 4 didn’t make it snobbish (thank god because I’m a hopeless snob) and they handed out mini veggie nut burgers with chutney, mini vegetable cutlets, little strips of crumbed chicken with BBQ sauce, and mini ringed donuts! The refills were plenty and there were a few celebs mingling around, albeit most of them were Z list.
I got over the fact i didn’t have a lanyard and embraced my yellow wristband, showing it off to everyone who didn’t have one. If i wasn’t so mature for my years i would have stuck my tongue out, teasing “nah nah you haven’t got one, i have!”. Walking through the House we discovered that the VIPs had their very own roped off area to the side of the courtyard, and within an hour the whole place was covered in a sea of red Film 4 picnic blankets (which we later found out we could have taken home if we wanted to). Two teenage kids ran in and dumped a bin bag full of pillows and cushions on the floor, pouncing on top of them, which i didn’t mind too much as one pillow had a Chelsea FC cover on it. Also the DJ (who looked extraordinarily like Frank from Shameless..) was pumping out some quite good songs, and a few people were dancing, which provided a bit of entertainment before the film started! Then the sky seemed to get dark really quickly and the ‘Film 4 Summer Screen at Somerset House’ notice flickered on the massive cinema screen above us.
We were treated to a few rolling spotlights here and there, and a bloke who i presume was the Chief Director of Film 4 appeared on the DJ stand. He introduced a short link from the Director of the film and we all snuggled down to watch it. About half an hour in cramp began to set in as we were squashed against people at all angles! If anything i would have stretched myself out as much as possible before anyone else plonked themselves down next to us. The film was really funny, a bit emotional in some places, and the weather stayed dry all the way through the evening. So two and a half hours later we all sat up to leave, legs stretched out, coats on, hair kinked in various places, and grabbing the free Film 4 Ponchos branded with “Always wear protection”!