Editing Wattstax (section)

===Construction===
The stage was built the day before the concert, with construction starting in the middle of the night and continuing into the morning. This conflict happened because a football game was scheduled on the night of August 19 between the [[Oakland Raiders]] and the [[Los Angeles Rams]], the home team for the Los Angeles Coliseum.<ref name="RobGordonRespectYourselfWattstax" /> Immediately after the football game, trucks full of long wood-planks drove onto the field. The stage was built right in the center of the field and was built high enough where artists could walk/sit under (a little less than 20 feet tall).<ref name="RobGordonRespectYourselfWattstax" />

A platform was built that led from the road (where artists would walk from) to the side stairs of the stage. The seats were hand-cleaned and trash was picked up all around the Coliseum. Also, due to the Coliseum's policy, there could be no seating on the field to prevent the grass being ruined for the Rams' next game on August 21.<ref name="AlBellCommentary">{{cite video|people=Bell,  Al |date=January 10, 2006 |title=''Wattstax'': Audio commentary with Al Bell, Isaac Hayes, et al |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070902/ |medium=DVD |publisher=Warner Home Video |location=Burbank, CA |access-date=April 18, 2020 }}</ref> During the Wattstax concert in fact, an issue arose when much of the audience poured onto the field to dance while [[Rufus Thomas]] performed "[[Do the Funky Chicken]]". Stax executive Larry Shaw immediately asked Thomas to get the audience to return to the stands, leading to a memorable moment in the documentary film when one particular straggler refuses to leave and Thomas makes pointed fun of him.<ref name="AlBellCommentary" />

The bleachers were set-up so that there would be more seating that included a better view of the stage, and a fence was built around the stage for the artists' safety. In addition, a large group of African-American policemen from the [[LAPD]] were requested to be scattered inside and outside the Coliseum.<ref name="BowmanChuckDCommentary">{{cite video|people=Bowman, Rob (Historian) |date=January 10, 2006 |title=''Wattstax'': Audio commentary with Rob Bowman and Chuck D |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070902/ |medium=DVD |publisher=Warner Home Video |location=Burbank, CA |access-date=April 18, 2020 }}</ref>

The dressing rooms for Stax's artists were outside/behind the stadium, and two vans were rented to drive the artists up to the stage and back to the dressing rooms. Portable restrooms were rented (for the artists to use before and after their sets) and placed right under the side of the stage. Colored stage lighting was hammered onto poles on each corner of the stage. Stacked speakers were placed in each corner of the fenced area. Below the stage, a long table was placed to hold several open reel tape recorders, capturing the concert performances for later release on records.<ref name="RobGordonRespectYourselfWattstax" />

A film crew, made up of a significant number of African-Americans at Stax's request,<ref name="AlBellCommentary" /> was scattered from the top-row of the stadium to the corners of the stage where the artists were zoomed-in-on. The film crew was told to capture the artists singing, but also get shots of the crowd dancing. The attendance of 112,000 was said to be the largest gathering of African-Americans outside of a civil rights event to that date.<ref name="RobGordonRespectYourselfWattstax" />