Live Design Magazine August 2016

ENVISION I BUILD I TECH I GO

AUGUST 2016

g n i n e p O Act PICS M Y L O O I 2016 R E H T R O MONY F E R E C G N OPENI

KURODA AND ROSEN HOLMES PHISH TOGETHER • WILLIAM CUSICK ON PROJECTION MAPPING IN FILM HILLSONG UNITED’S EMPIRES TOUR • PROJECTION DESIGN ON A DIME FRESH GROUND PEPPER PUTS SOUND FIRST • Q+A WITH PETE LYNN, TDC

TABLE OF CONTENTS ///

AUGUS T 2016 /

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5 QUESTIONS

DAVID E. MILLER, WALT DISNEY PARKS AND RESORTS, CREATIVE ENTERTAINMENT /// B Y E L L E N L A M P E R T- G R E A U X

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MARK RANDEL, PRODUCTION MANAGER /// B Y M E G H A N P E R K I N S

ENVISION ///

5 QUESTIONS

BUILD ///

GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES

/// B Y J O H N L E O N A R D

COVER: RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES

TECH///

WHAT’S TRENDING: DESIGN ON A DIME

/// B Y E L L E N L A M P E R T- G R E A U X

SOUNDS GOOD

FRESH GROUND PEPPER PUTS SOUND DESIGNERS FIRST /// B Y D A V I N A P O L E O N

COVER STORY ///

BUILDING EMPIRES

NATHAN PAUL TAYLOR DESIGNS HILL SONG UNITED’S EMPIRES TOUR / / / B Y M E GH A N P E R K IN S

GOLD MEDAL PROJECTIONS IN RIO / / / B Y E LL E N L A M P E R T- GR E A U X

FEATURES ///

RESPECT THE PIXELS

Q&A WITH TDC TECHNICAL PROJECT

MANAGER, MEDIA SERVERS, PETE LYNN /// B Y K A T I N K A A L L E N D E R

STRANGE DESIGN

CHRIS KURODA AND ABIGAIL ROSEN HOLMES CO-CREATE THE LATEST PHISH TOUR / / / B Y M A R I A N S A N D BE R G

POP MEETS THE VOID

PROJECTION MAPPING IN A WHITE ROOM

/// B Y S A S H A B O G G A R T

GO ///

© DISNEY

Mickey And The Wondrous Book

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5Qs David E. Miller

Walt Disney Parks And Resorts, Creative Entertainment

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/// By Ellen Lampert-Greaux

avid E. Miller is the manager of Technical Direction and Systems for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Creative Entertainment. His challenging job requires coordination of many elements for shows that run multiple times per day, 365 days a year. He will be presenting a session at LDI on the use of previsualization. Live Design chats with Miller on his career to date and duties at Disney.

“How Previsualization Saves Time, Money, and Resolves Conflicts” AUGUST 2016 \\\

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ow did your career path lead to Disney, and what do you do there on a day-to-day basis?

I started at Disneyland while still in high school, working as an attractions host in Tomorrowland part-time. It was a summer job right before college, and I had no real intention of staying long-term. While in college, I took my passion for theatre and focused it toward lighting design. I took as many classes as I could in different theatrical disciplines—sound design, costuming, and rigging, as a short list—which proved very useful in my future roles. I eventually transferred to the entertainment department as a stage technician, gaining more experience and building more relationships. I advanced through the ranks and landed a position as a technical director for the development of Hong Kong Disneyland, living in Hong Kong for over a year. Upon my return, I moved into production management, where the combination of my technical background and the knowledge of the other disciplines I studied in school were leveraged heavily to help manage the budget, schedules, and teams of large projects.

For the past six years, I’ve been the manager of Technical Direction and Systems for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Creative Entertainment. This role oversees two major departments. The first is Technical Direction, which is responsible for the technical delivery of entertainment. The second is Systems, which is responsible for the business technology that Creative Entertainment uses to manage projects. Our teams work on projects around the world, tracking progress of projects, representing Creative Entertainment at ESTA, overseeing major technology projects, and keeping partners and executive leaders consistently updated with progress reporting.

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hat is the most challenging thing about your job?

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© DISNEY

The sheer quantity of projects happening simultaneously with teams deployed in multiple time zones is by far the biggest challenge. The need to have clear expectations and guidelines to help the teams stay consistent is paramount to our success.

Festival Of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom AUGUST 2016 \\\

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Festival Of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom

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W Š DISNEY

hat is the most demanding part of working in a theme park environment in terms of technical direction and the technology itself?

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The theme park environment relies on the ability to develop a show that typically runs multiple times per day, 365 days a year. The technical director and the technology are on the hook to deliver shows that can meet that standard. Delivering shows that are safe and reliable require an immense amount of planning, wise decision-making, and experience.

AUGUST 2016 \\\

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ow does previsualization play a role in what you do?

Previsualization has moved far beyond simply programming lighting or video. We now have access to more technology than ever before, including gaming engines that don’t require heavy coding skills, easy-to-use 3D rendering programs, and virtual reality opportunities with something as common as a smartphone. We use previz to provide conflict resolution, such as speaker placement in a parade chassis that needs a scenic overlay. The gaming engine allows a first-person point-of-view that can walk around a theatre space while watching a scenic shift happen in realtime. With tools like this, it allows directors and designers to see exactly what is happening and mitigate any issues before construction, which saves time and money.

Frozen - Live At The Hyperion at Disney California Adventure

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© DISNEY

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Frozen - Live At The Hyperion at Disney California Adventure

Mickey And The Wondrous Book

AUGUST 2016 \\\

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hat advice would you give to young technical directors or designers who hope to work in a theme park setting?

Technical understanding is a must, but good working relationships are just as important. A good attitude and willingness to learn are an excellent start. When young designers and technical directors assume their training and skill is sufficient, they don’t feel the need to ask questions or solicit feedback. To ask smart questions and be open to feedback from trusted colleagues and leaders are two of the best things they can do to start down a solid and successful career path. I am also an advocate for a broad-based knowledge beyond a single expertise. Training in budgeting, project management, and a variety of software—from SketchUp and Adobe Photoshop to Microsoft Project and Excel—make for more versatile individuals who can step into a wider variety of projects.

© DISNEY

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Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular at Disney Hollywood Studios

AUGUST 2016 \\\

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5Qs Mark Randel

Production Manager

M

/// By Meghan Perkins

ark Randel first broke into the entertainment industry as a performer for the non-profit association, The Young Americans. He quickly redirected his career to become one of the performing group’s head lighting designers, a touring position he held for more than four years. During that time, Randel acquired interest and knowledge in all aspects of production, from lighting and audio to video and more, leading him to earn a degree in show production from Full Sail University, from which he graduated in 2011. Randel spent another four years as production manager for DJE Sound and Lighting, Inc., while working as a freelance lighting designer.

In May 2016, Randel established his own business, Macro Production Design, LLC as CEO. The experienced industry professional will be leading a two-part production management course titled “The 5 Ps Of Production Management (Perfect Planning Prevents Poor Production)” on October 21 and 22 at LDI 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Live Design caught up with Randel about his career and LDI session in production management.

“The 5 Ps Of Production Management, Part I” “The 5 Ps Of Production Management, Part II” AUGUST 2016 \\\

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Describe how your career led you to production management.

When deciding what my career would be out of high school, I was faced with a choice. I could go to the University of Nebraska to be an architect or, because of an opportunity and an audition that I had passed, I could move to California to pursue entertainment. While one of my biggest passions was designing, I chose the latter because it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to travel the world and see what else would become available to me. I joined The Young Americans initially as a performer and teacher, and soon became one of the head lighting designers. I traveled to seven different countries on five tours, taught more than 30,000 kids performance and theatre, and lit more than 300 shows. I learned early on as an LD that I had the best seat in the house because I could see the scope of an entire show. I was given the opportunity to watch and learn how sets, audio, lighting, and video were all set up. I also learned the processes involved and gained many perspectives on managing the crew.

After this opportunity, I was hungry for more knowledge, so I decided to go to college at Full Sail in Florida. I excelled because of the experience that I had before going to school, and I now had focus on my career. I landed my first job as a production manager about nine months after I graduated college.

Who or what influences have helped bring you to where you are today?

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The Young Americans was a huge influence on the direction of my life. I’m honored to work with many of the alumni from that organization to this day. A couple of standouts are Bill and Robyn Brawley. They are the creative directors, and throughout my time, they were my mentors. Don Strom was the stage manager and lighting designer when I was on tour as a tech, and he encouraged me to pursue being an LD myself. When I toured as an LD, I sat next to Nick Cimino for every show. He was the sound engineer. He also later hired me for his company, DJE Sound and Lighting, where I have spent most of my career so far as a production MY BIGGEST manager. My biggest influence is my dad. I admire his unrelenting work ethic, posi- INFLUENCE IS MY tive attitude, and character. As an educator, he was big on the six pillars of character DAD. I ADMIRE HIS when I was growing up. He taught me to be trustworthy and do what I say I will UNRELENTING WORK do; respect others and myself; take responsibility for my actions and use self-control; ETHIC, POSITIVE be fair and open-minded to others’ ideas; genuinely care and show compassion; ATTITUDE, AND and practice good citizenship by being involved. He manages big events every day CHARACTER. as an athletic director at one of the largest Class B high schools in Nebraska.

Mark Randel

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What has been your most successful production, and why?

My most successful production to this day was a tour of five cities with a car company. The overall vision was about craftsmanship. The objectives were to unveil the latest model as well as train and motivate the dealership salespeople.

The most difficult challenge I had was determining what and how to pack for the long haul, considering truck space and weight. I have to attribute most of the credit of our success to the time we had for preproduction and the rapport I had with the producers. Over the course of two months leading up to the truck pack for the first cross-country drive, we had plenty of time for meetings. The understanding of each other’s methods and expectations made every meeting very productive.

While I was not able to personally visit each venue prior to the tour, the producers did an excellent job of documenting and communicating their site visits. I also contacted each venue for any questions I had remaining. The venues provided site plans that were all very specific with electrical diagrams and dimensions. I used the site plans to draw every venue in SketchUp. The producers were then able to review my drawings with their client and reply to me with edits. Having the extended preproduction time was crucial for these iterations. I also drew a plan of the box truck with each case and scenic element, complete with dimensions and weights. There were some elements that were added last minute, so we ended up having to send a second truck.

When it came to the actualization of the tour, my team’s previously developed relationship with the producers created a camaraderie that couldn’t be beat. We all shared the same goals and proactively helped and encouraged each other whenever possible. That encouragement created a lot of positivity. Needless to say, we all had winning attitudes. Having ample time to produce an event is a rarity in this industry. Often it’s not something that we have a whole lot of control over. When projects come, we do our best to produce them in the time that’s available. We do, however, have control over our relationships and our attitude. Like Zig Ziglar said, “You cannot tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitude to fit those situations.”

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What is the most important lesson you have learned in production?

The most important lesson I’ve learned is the importance of a good attitude. As a production manager, one of my responsibilities is hiring freelancers for the positions of a crew. While there are some positions that require technical knowledge, many positions are just technical. I will more often hire someone that has a positive attitude over someone who has skills but no tolerance or respect for others. I believe the makeup of a good attitude is being teachable or at least willing to learn, being humble with knowledge they have, having a can-do and make-it-work spirit, and encouraging others. I met Mark Cuban a couple weeks ago at an event, and he said something that I think applies here: “You’re doing your job right when everyone around you is less stressed.”

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DJE SOUND AND LIGHTING, INC.

In your opinion, why is your two-part production management course at LDI essential for technicians, technical directors, and production managers?

My course at LDI is essential for those that would like to become better at producing and managing events. The production manager or event coordinator role for live events is one of the most stressful jobs in the entertainment industry (listed as Forbes No. 5 Most Stressful Job in 2016). The variables are endless. My hope is that folks will walk away with a few more tools to be better prepared while planning their next event.

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AUGUST 2016 \\\

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GO /// Nike Football Teambuilding event at Battleship Iowa in San Pedro, CA

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ENVISION ///

Good Things Come In Small Packages /// BY JOHN LEONARD

O

ver the years, I’ve acquired an assortment of microphones that I use for recording sound effects and music. Some of these have specific functions, like the Soundfield ST450 and the Core Sound TetraMic, which allow me to make ambisonic recordings with both vertical and horizontal surround information and give me many options in post processing, using tools like Svein Berige’s Harpex-B, Dave McGriffy’s VVMic & VVMicVST, and Soundfield’s own SurroundZone 2. Similarly, my DPA 5100 surround microphone gives me a very easy, high-quality 5.1 recording with a very straightforward setup.

Others, like my Sennheiser MKH 20, 30, and 40 microphones have specific qualities that make them essential for certain circumstances: In the case of the 26

Sennheisers, they’re very resistant to high humidity, something that I proved a couple of years ago by recording underneath Niagara Falls.

I also have contact mics for recording things that vibrate and hydrophones for things that make noises underwater and a couple of cheap and cheerful electret condenser mics, built into XLR shells, that I can almost regard as disposable and that get used in situations where they might get damaged.

But I also have a collection of mics that get used in a way that I’m sure the original designers never intended.

Most of you will have come across the DPA 4060/4061 microphones at some point in your lives. They’ve been very much the standard head-worn vocal microphones for musicals almost since they arrived on the scene around the turn of the century, partly because of their tiny profile, but mostly because they sound amazingly good. Agreed, they’re not cheap, and most rental companies treat them as expendable items because of the harsh treatment that gets meted out to them in terms of sweat, makeup, markerpen, and other assorted gunge that collects on the microphone and the cable during the course of a long-running musical.

It’s always an interesting moment when you introduce a new producer to the prospect of spending several thousand dollars on things that are regarded as expendable.

Let’s be honest, quite a few of these microphones, maybe somewhat past their best, maybe not, find their way into the tool kits of A1s and A2s, and can be brought out in an emergency or when a show doesn’t have an adequate budget, but quite a few more find their way onto eBay, more or less instantly recognized by the fact that they have been terminated for Sennheiser wireless microphones and have cables that have been painted to match a particular performer’s hair color.

Very many years ago, I acquired a pair of these, in pretty good condition, to try out something I’d had on my mind for a while.

I’ve always kept a small recorder handy

at home for instant recordings of any interesting noises that might be happening out in the street, be it weather, traffic, birds, or animals, but setting up a suitable microphone in a hurry has always been a problem, as has been the need to open the window, that is, until my 4061s arrived. I got hold of a couple of powering modules, a pair of Rycote Lavalier Windjammers, and made enough of a gap in a corner of one of our wooden window frames to thread the microphones through to the outside world.

Initially, I had them cabled to a Zoom H4, but the relatively high pre-amp noise proved a bit of a problem coupled with the low sensitivity of the 4061 as far as quieter sounds were concerned, so my backup Sound Devices 702 was pressed into service, along with a CL-1 interface, coupled to a cheap and cheerful wireless remote from eBay. AUGUST 2016 \\\

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ENVISION ///

With the 702 in standby mode, I can drop it into record remotely from anywhere in our apartment, and the results have been pretty useful over the years. If you are someone who’s bought in to my Dollar Deal effects bundles, then you’ve already got some of the recordings made this way, from birdsong and dogs in the night to complete thunderstorms, where the extended low-frequency of the DPA mics really shows up.

What’s really astonishing is that this pair has been thumbtacked up outside the window for more than ten years now, subjected to wind and rain and, on a couple of occasions recently, one of the local birds attempting to pull the fur off 28

the Rycotes to line a nest, but they are still going strong and producing excellent results.

Encouraged by the results from a pair of 4061s, I invested in Len Moskowitz’s Core Sound High End Binaural rig, consisting of another pair of DPAs, this time the higher sensitivity 4060s, connected to a small battery and LF filter box and terminating in a 3.5mm stereo mini-jack that connects with any decent handheld digital. With a simple jack to XLR adapter cable, I can also plug this into my other Sound Devices recorders, when required.

Once again, the results, either as binaural pair clipped to a headband, or as a spaced pair on a makeshift stereo bar,

are simply astounding, and the fact that the microphones all but disappear makes the system extremely useful for recording effects in situations where a bigger, more noticeable system might well be intrusive.

I’ve recorded effects in cathedrals, railway stations, subway trains, busy shopping malls, and restaurants with no one being any the wiser, as all that is seen is a rather eccentric old guy wearing a pair of headphones. No one sees the two tiny black microphones clipped to my hat, or to my backpack, so no one interrupts.

I now have a second set of ex-musical theatre 4061s, running from a battery box that I made myself, that get used for

slightly less critical work and has spent the last couple of months on loan to a friend immersed in one of her beehives as part of a research project.

They came back rather waxier than when they left, but a good clean of the grilles, and they were back to their old selves again, none the worse for their hive immersion. I’m hoping that she’ll get around to sending me some of the recording one day, as well.

For recording outdoors in more severe weather with the 4061s, I’ve adapted an old cut-down Rycote rig with a small disc separating the two microphones: It’s not a Jecklin or a Schneider Disk system, but it

AUGUST 2016 \\\

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ENVISION ///

does seem to work rather well for effects work.

And now I’ve got a nice new DPA 4060 stereo kit, with a plethora of mounting options, including the boundary layer discs and the DPA DAD 6001 Phantom power adapters, but these are going to be kept for best, for discreet music recordings in concert halls where a bigger setup might prove distracting.

If you’ve got a pair of these mics from a show, and you fancy seeing what you can do with them, it’s possible to build a simple circuit to enable them to run from a 9V PP3type battery. Just do a web search, and you should find the circuit diagram in a number of places. If not, here’s the one I use on the right: You can build a couple of these onto a piece of strip-board in half an hour if you’ve got the necessary components. Take care with your soldering, and then enjoy the end result.

John Leonard is an awardwinning designer who has been working in theatre sound for more than 40 years. In his spare time, he records anything that makes an interesting noise in high-definition surround sound.

His sound effects libraries are available online at www. asoundeffect.com.

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FE ATURE

Strange Design CHRIS KURODA AND ABIGAIL ROSEN HOLMES CO-CREATE THE LATEST PHISH TOUR

ANDREW GIFFIN

/// B Y M A R I A N S A N D B E R G

AUGUST 2016 \\\

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FE ATURE

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ighting designer Chris Kuroda has long been considered a member of the band when it comes to Phish. He’s an integral part of the band’s creative team, and fans know exactly who he is. So why mess with the formula? “For years, there was a sort of communal agreement that we felt a very purist approach to our presentation was the best way to complement the organic nature of Phish,” says Kuroda. “Our way of expressing this was to design using lighting only.”

Bringing on Abigail Rosen Holmes as production designer for the jam-band’s latest outing, Kuroda adds, “It was time to take the visual production to a very new and different place than it had been before.”

Kuroda’s approach was to “move outside of our oldschool thinking and try some new things, introduce new concepts using today’s technologies, and take some chances,” he says. For the band and Kuroda, this meant adding video, which they hadn’t done in any previous tour, and it was crucial to everyone that it be implemented in some new and clever way. “Video that doesn’t look like video” became the mantra. “I had several ideas of how I wanted to approach this concept, but I realized very quickly that if I really wanted this to be as badass as I had envisioned, the best option for success was to bring on somebody to the team known for their own unique approach to designing with this new tool.”

Enter Rosen Holmes. “We talked about how to create intentionality and bring curation into the show within the context of their performance, which is highly varied and improvisational,” she says. “Another objective was to maintain opportunities for the traditional rich lighting environment Chris creates for the band, while incorporating elements of a more modern minimalist aesthetic. It was important to the band that the visual elements of the show stem from a connection to the band and their performance and not feel like the show elements were removed from them, going on over their heads.”

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ANDREW GIFFIN

AUGUST 2016 \\\

FE ATURE

GIF F IN

DIVIDED SKY

The visuals also had to progress the pace of the three-hour Phish show and “evolve purposefully throughout the course of the night, instead of looking and feeling exactly the same for the entire three hours,” says Kuroda. All of this manifests into two main concepts: First is a 55’-wide semicircle of video tiles that creates an enveloping environment around the band, 6’ high behind the backline, and 4’ on the sides of the stage.

Rosen Holmes describes this as “a clean, simple architectural environment created by the video surfaces. An important concept was that the design for the show should feel like one unified idea and environment, which then would act as a neutral canvas with a wide capability for variation. The semicircle of video is placed on the floor, defining a performance space for the band and gathering the band together.”

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ANDREW GIFFIN

A ND R E W

ANDREW GIFFIN

The second concept and the main centerpiece of the design is the “exploding video wall” made up of ROE Visual Hybrid 18 panels, which have a medium resolution video surface and a brighter low-res LED. “It is flown upstage of the artists, and basically it has a ‘closed’ position where it is a 6’-tall, 55’-wide rectangular video screen,” says Kuroda.

“A Phish show consists of two sets of music, with an intermission in between, so in conjunction with the tiles on the deck, we present the first set of the show in this configuration.

We also have the majority of our lighting trusses on a smart motor system, and also for the first set presentation, we trim the lighting and the flown wall a bit lower than usual to create a very intimate vibe out of the gate.”

This first set also has its own specific pieces of content designed and dedicated for this phase of the show’s evolution. “This content is even further organized into thirds, meaning first third of the set, second third, etcetera,” continues Kuroda. “This kind of thought, logic, and organization help create the presentation structure of evolution for the show. Lastly, we hide lighting trusses behind the flown

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video wall ready to reveal themselves at a later time. The fixtures on these hidden trusses are not active during the first set of the show.”

“During the first set, the slim, stage-wide, rectangle of video screen that hangs above the stage echoes the minimal, linear array of the floor LED,” says Rosen Holmes. “The flown LED array tips slightly down toward the stage, connecting the output of the LED to the band performance area. Because the lighting for set one is trimmed low, close to the screens, it creates an intimate, immediate feel.”

For the second set, the lighting trusses move together to higher trim heights and are staggered differently, putting the lighting rig in a new shape and in a bigger configuration than the first set. At the same time, the hidden trusses behind the wall are revealed and move to a lower trim. “While this is all happening, our exploding video wall reveals its true purpose,” says Kuroda. “It breaks apart and becomes 18’ tall instead of the 6’ tall it was in the first set, with all of the tiles that were once all together now appearing to float independently of each other in a very carefully chosen organic placement in space.

It’s huge and literally looks like the screen exploded, and the pieces are just floating in space now.”

“This opening and expanding of the environment ties to the fluid and freewheeling musical explorations which often take place in the second set,” adds Rosen Holmes. “Of course, the Phish audience sees many shows, so the surprise of the simple rectangular screen expanding and opening wasn’t a surprise for very long. However, there is still

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ANDREW GIFFIN

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always something unexpected in seeing the seemingly single entity of the solid screen pull apart into the floating shapes of the second set.”

Video elements for the show are run via a d3 Technologies d3 media server and an MA Lighting grandMA2 console. “We scrutinized about all of the built-in features of pretty much all of the servers out there and came to the conclusion that the d3 was the best match for us,” says Kuroda. “No matter which server we chose, we knew that none of them provided all of the features we desired, but with very careful and

40

clever grandMA console logic, we were able to manipulate the d3 to allow us to get a few more tricks in our show that are not proprietary to the programming structure.”

Rosen Holmes adds that the media server provides the added benefit of changing screen mapping by cue or layer. “Individual layers of content within a single look can be mapped to the screens in different ways,” she says. Rodd McLaughlin, Andrew Giffin, Dustin Engelskind, and Jason Rudolph programmed the video elements, and PRG supplied the video package for the tour.

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ART JAM: LIGHTING

Starting with a video environment around the band, Kuroda says the idea was to start with that as a base layer there and light around it, “carefully choosing the layer I want to light for any particular moment in the unpredictable show that is Phish,” he says.

“What I’ve found to be an unforeseen bonus is that, with the video layer present, it gives me the freedom to explore a bit more with the lighting than I usually have been able to in the past, and if I wind up somewhere great with the lighting, I can just find the new content to go with what I’m doing with the fixtures, and if not, the base layer of video is a solid backbone to the look of the moment, and I can just work back towards that content again. In that regard, it is very much like a safety blanket for me.”

Kuroda worked with associate Andrew “Gif ” Giffin on the lighting design. “Our new rig is an evolution of what has worked well in previous years but with a simplified truss layout that is intended to create a more intimate feel for the first set and then grow into the second,” says Giffin. “The aerial graphic positions that Chris makes are a signature part of

FE ATURE

the Phish aesthetic, so fixture placement is extremely important to be able to get beams intersecting in the right places. What we sought out to do this time was achieve that with straight sticks in a linear arrangement—a big departure from previous Phish designs—that feels visually integrated with the shape of the flown video wall.”

A regular feature of the Phish lighting rig the last few years has been Clay Paky B-Eye K20s.

This tour has 32 of them on the downstage, side, and upstage trusses, primarily used as wash lights. “They serve a dual purpose, though, in that we program very detailed effects for them which are used sparingly but with great impact, since we treat the entire rig of them as a whole instead of writing chases that more or less have each fixture doing the same thing,” says Giffin. “Think of figure-eights spiraling around the kaleidoscope lenses from one end of the stage to the other or white lines that pass from one fixture to the next, erasing the color and shape that was behind it, and then replacing it on the next pass.”

The tour is the first time the Phish lighting rig has PRG Best Boy HP Spot fixtures—52 of them, including eight used as keylights for the four band members—which Giffin says 44

WE USE THOSE TO ADD DEPTH TO THE BEAM LOOKS

BY SHOOTING OVER THE WALL AND TO SHOOT THROUGH AND TOP-LIGHT THE STRUCTURE OF THE EXPANSION MECHANISM, SAYS GIFFIN.

ANDREW GIFFIN

“do a lot of the heavy lifting” noting their ability to crossfade between gobos with cue timing, “which means Chris can run cues in any order and get a smooth transition every time.”

The tour makes particular use of the PRG Beam FX gobo package with a cone gobo substituted in, “a clean, classic look that we haven’t seen much of lately,” adds Giffin.

Additionally in the rig are 28 Clay Paky Mythos units, including eight on the mother grid from which the flown video wall hangs. “We use those to add depth to the beam looks by shooting over the wall and to shoot through and top-light the structure of the expansion mechanism,” says Giffin.

For effects, 24 TMB Solaris Flares serve as strobes/blinders, while eight Harman Martin Professional MAC Auras on the downstage edge act as footlights.

The remaining floor package includes additional Best Boy and Mythos units behind the floor screen, following the arc of the stage semicircle. “The existence of that video element led to elevating the fixtures a few feet off the ground to peek over it, which gives us a great new angle for side- and back-lighting the band,” says Giffin. PRG supplied lighting for the tour.

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Rosen Holmes worked with Dan Scully on the video content. “In the first parts of the show, the video content is spare, more minimal, often filling the entire area of the screens in overlapping, shifting planes of color,” says Rosen Holmes. “These looks allow us to establish the architecture of the set, cleanly present the band in the performance environment, and introduce the visual element of the screens into the show.”

The show’s visuals progress slowly when it comes to making optimal use of dual resolution of the ROE Hybrid 18 LED screens, Rosen Holmes says, first introducing content “in a minimalist way before we begin melding them together. In the later parts of the show, both the physical environment and the content evolve to be looser, more broken up, less flat, and more active. The images travel more across the screens, sometimes distorting and redefining the shape and space.”

The content subject matter is really just abstract, with “almost no literal or identifiable objects or images,” notes Rosen Holmes, adding that instead the imagery sometimes hints at organic movement patterns or almost recognizable objects, thus allowing interpretation by the individual viewer. “Given that the show is completely improvisational, all of the content had to be created to be able to be used in differing and

ANDREW GIFFIN

PICTURE OF NECTAR: SCREEN CONTENT

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ANDREW GIFFIN

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unpredictable ways, and to work with a range of musical moments. Within that requirement, we were very conscious that the content needed to be comprised of individual and signature looks and effects, which were specific to and appropriate for the band.”

The screens also help create an illusion of dimensionality when both the low and medium resolution segments are used concurrently. Much of the content can be layered with other

pieces to allow variations of a theme, “together in the development of one section of the show or individually,” says Rosen Holmes.

LET’S GO: PROGRAMMING AND RUNNING THE SHOW

Programming for the tour was spread out over several sessions. Andrew Giffin started in his own studio with the showfile that the team had been building since starting to use

grandMA2 in 2010, and Rodd McLaughlin began creating the d3 program file. “We picked up Jason Rudolph for the first round of video integration at PRG in Los Angeles,” says Kuroda. “Gif and I continued for three weeks of previz in Florida, and Rodd joined us at Tait, rehearsals, and the first few shows of the tour. Gif is the architect of the showfile.”

Since Phish has a vast library of songs and is known for taking them in

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THERE ARE EVEN BUTTONS TO GET OUT OF ALL PUNTED ADD-ONS BY RELEASING THEM IN WIPE FORM, WHICH CHRIS LOVES TO LAND ELEGANTLY ON THE DOWNBEAT AFTER BUILDING UP VISUAL TENSION. ANDREW GIFFIN

ANDREW GIFFIN

new directions at any moment, most of the show is, as Giffin puts it “structured as a punt,” but he says he enjoys creating the cues in a manner where Kuroda can quickly access them and combine each on the fly to follow along as the band improvises. “Because you can never be sure where they’re going to go next, we decided long ago that this meant every trick has to be available all the time, without hunting or changing pages. You’d never believe it after seeing all the variety there is in the show, but it’s all available at your fingertips within the physical surface of the console’s built-in buttons, faders, and screens. Even though the show has gotten more complex over the years as we’re constantly adding more creative cueing, and now the entire additional element of video, that doesn’t mean Chris has grown any extra hands!”

Keeping track of it all means using grandMA2’s macros, variables, and Lua scripting, and many cues are aware of the state of other cues and change their behavior accordingly. “For example, a one-shot across the stage becomes a con-

50

tinuous chase if the ‘looping’ mode is selected elsewhere,” says Giffin. “Wipes change direction, speed, and color based on other cues. Default colors for accents set up in the background depending on what base look is running. These methods allow for maximum use of interface real estate, and they are all designed to be combined in any possible configuration. It’s always exciting when Chris runs something in a situation we never imagined when we made it, and the layering of effects creates the perfect new look for a unique musical moment.”

Another feature that helps keep it all organized is an onscreen history of the most recent looks, “so you can build a virtual song structure on the fly and get back to a previous state with just one touch,” says Giffin. “There are even buttons to get out of all punted add-ons by releasing them in wipe form, which Chris loves to land elegantly on the downbeat after building up visual tension.”

Adding video for this tour certainly didn’t simplify the programming process, nor the running of the show. “The direct, feed, and parallel mapping features of

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the d3, for example, are essential to how the show works with the expanding, dual-resolution video screen,” says Giffin. “Each video cue uses several layers with various mapping to achieve a look, often tightly integrated between the ROE Hybrid’s two sources.” Giffin had to devise a system for playback that could crossfade or wipe between any of them fluidly. His solution was to hold the cues in “virtual” video modules, so when Kuroda taps a thumbnail on the screen, the console automatically selects an available bank of actual d3 SockPuppet fixtures to store to, queries which transition type and timing is selected, and executes accordingly.

“Live manipulation of video was another must, and to achieve that, we’ve added data to each cue that specifies things like which layers can be hue shifted, adjusted with RGB, or desaturated without making mud, flattening the look, or disrupting the blend between content and masks,” says Giffin. “This means that, in any show situation, Chris can just press the button to change to a specific color range, and a script in the console calculates which parameters to modify and by how much to make it happen. The grandMA2 platform is perfect for a band like Phish, because as the need for such specialized tools arises, there’s always a way to create them.”

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ANDREW GIFFIN

“LIVE MANIPULATION OF VIDEO WAS ANOTHER MUST, AND TO ACHIEVE THAT, WE’VE ADDED DATA TO EACH CUE THAT SPECIFIES THINGS LIKE WHICH LAYERS CAN BE HUE SHIFTED, ADJUSTED WITH RGB, OR DESATURATED WITHOUT MAKING MUD, FLATTENING THE LOOK, OR DISRUPTING THE BLEND BETWEEN CONTENT AND MASKS,” SAYS GIFFIN.

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I WILL SET YOU FREE: STAGE BUILD

Tait Towers built the set and stage, and provided the automation package for the tour. “They would have had a much easier time designing a moving piece if it flew flush to the audience, but we wanted to have it open while raked at a 20° angle,” says Kuroda. “Things like that made it a quite complicated science project for them, but as usual and in wonderful Tait fashion, they ultimately gave us exactly what we wanted.” Matthew Hales was the project man54

ager for Tait.

The individual LED screen panels are moved by an array of expanding arms.

“The armature that supports the screens and allows that to happen is beautiful in its own right,” says Rosen Holmes. “We quickly knew that we also wanted to light that structure during the show, when it is revealed in the second set it becomes a part of the scenery.”

The Tait team also included lead mechanical integrator Andrew Wallace, automation integrator/ programmer Sam Hillyer,

technical lead Kevin Ford, and lead designer Alec Ciemiewicz.

“This show is made possible by the amazing crew,” says Rosen Holmes. “The seemingly simple-looking design is challenging to build and tour, and the crew are so invested and engaged in supporting the look of the show. They are awesome. And our production manager, Jessie Sandler, really supported us in figuring out how to make this design work; we would not have been able to make it happen without him.”

ANDREW GIFFIN

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THE ARMATURE THAT SUPPORTS THE SCREENS AND ALLOWS THAT TO HAPPEN IS BEAUTIFUL IN ITS OWN RIGHT, SAYS ROSEN HOLMES.

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ADAM POWELL

BUILDING EMPIRES NATHAN PAUL TAYLOR DESIGNS HILLSONG UNITED’S EMPIRES TOUR /// BY MEGH A N PERK INS 56

N

athan Paul Taylor got his start in the entertainment industry in 2003 as the guitarist for Hillsong United, a small worship band from Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. As he became more involved in the industry, and the band’s fan base increased, he grew more interested in the production aspect and switched to working the other side of the stage. Nowadays, he is the band’s production designer, having designed three previous tours as well as both the production and lighting design for the band’s international 2016 Empires Tour, which wrapped up last month in the US. “To be honest, I was not that good at guitar anyway, so I think it worked out for the better,” jokes Taylor.

For this latest tour, the designer wanted a big, bold look that was still intimate and “that would be instantly recognizable and signature, but still delicate and subtle,” he explains. Throughout a typical show, fans have as many moments of contemplation as they do euphoria.

“We wanted the design to complement this in a natural way, not just layers that we could turn on or off, but something that could evolve with each song,” says the designer, who discussed the set with the band’s lead AUGUST 2016 \\\

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IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THE SCREENS AND SET TO FORM AN ARCHITECTURAL SHAPE THAT I COULD BUILD THROUGH THE LIGHTS. NATHAN PAUL TAYLOR singer and songwriter, Joel Houston. The musician wanted the ability to change the space and make the arenas feel smaller, and so a roof or ceiling was a part of the design from the earliest creative chats.

The end result was a cube of LED video walls with a video roof that tracked up and down to create larger, more dynamic looks as well as smaller, more intimate spaces. Taylor felt this piece brought a mature, architectural look to the production, with more precise lighting and bolder, cleaner video elements. In previous tours, the band often had heavy rear and silhouette mood lighting. For this tour, Taylor introduced more hard-edged lighting and narrow beams. “I really wanted to bring a more focused lighting aesthetic and bring media into the show as a complete canvas together,” he states. “It was important for the screens and set to form an architectural shape that I could build through the lights.”

Since weight was a major factor for the automated roof and scale was a priority, Taylor and production manager Steve Pippett opted for Barco Stealth video panels. “These were lightweight 58

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JOE TERMINI

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JOE TERMINI

FOR COLOR AND WASH LOOKS, THE RIG FEATURED 24 GLP IMPRESSION X4 UNITS: 16 INSIDE THE AUTOMATED VIDEO GRID ROOF AND EIGHT AROUND THE BAND.

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and gave us the blow-through and transparent capabilities that I really wanted,” explains Taylor. “Other newer and higher resolution options were available for the upstage, but I wanted a uniform look across all screens, and the last thing I wanted was the roof to look lower resolution than other screens.” Solotech provided the screens, lighting, and video equipment.

Fired from a SAMSC Catalyst media server running V4 software and controlled by an MA Lighting grandMA2 console, the video content was mostly created to the full show-track but was also used for more flexible loops when

video needed the ability to go “off-grid,” says Taylor. All of the content was created within the Adobe Creative Suite and additional 3D programs, including Maxon Cinema 4D. Signal was distributed

by DVI Matrix and sent to an LED processor and the projectors.

Taylor played up the forced perspective of the set using the geometric, 3D shape of the moving walls, building a lot of the video looks into the natural shape of the screen design. “The relationship between the automation and the moving angles of the set needed to be complemented,” explains Taylor. A simple solution would be to move everything at once, but he felt it would be too distracting or over the top. He soon realized that the looks could be achieved with just two downstage automated trusses in addition to the roof. “This was

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JOE TERMINI

Positioned throughout the rig and above the video walls were 48 TMB Solaris Flares.

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something I was so happy with,” he says, “and it just looks right without being over the top and it kept all the looks quite slick, and most importantly, the automated roof remained the hero piece of the design.”

To create the hard edges and narrow beams, Taylor opted for a rig comprised almost entirely of profile fixtures. Thirty Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot units were positioned behind and around the LED walls, while 32 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures bordered the two stages, and 18 Robe BMFL WashBeams were set on side trusses, shining onto the stage and out to provide a wider canvas. For color and wash looks, the rig featured 24 GLP impression X4 units: 16 inside the automated video grid roof and eight around the band. Positioned throughout the rig and above the video walls were 48 TMB Solaris Flares. “The flares gave us some amazing colors as arena washes and were also heavily used for percussive hits and musical accents to complement the band,” says Taylor.

Taylor spent a week programming the lighting in Cast wysiwyg with touring lighting director and board operator Jarrad Donovan. Each song needed a certain aesthetic from the lighting and was mapped out with specific visual treatments from art director Emile Freeman. “In wysiwyg, we were able to visualize the automation and get a real feel for how the set would come alive and how all the moving parts would interact,” explains Taylor. After a couple weeks of band rehearsals with console prep, the only full production rehearsal was at the BB&T Center in Miami, Florida, the night before the

first show of the tour. The team worked with the band to streamline the show, especially within the automation, with some of the largest moves at 50’ being quite dramatic, both visually and practically.

“Media was edited on site, transitions timed out with musical interludes, and I ended up calling the show for the first three nights, working with the band and ensuring it all felt natural,” says Taylor. “It took a couple of nights to get all the transitions just right, but I am so glad we worked hard to make everything feel intertwined with what the band was doing.”

IT TOOK A COUPLE OF NIGHTS TO GET ALL THE TRANSITIONS JUST RIGHT, BUT I AM SO GLAD WE WORKED HARD TO MAKE EVERYTHING FEEL INTERTWINED WITH WHAT THE BAND WAS DOING. Nathan Paul Taylor

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Lighting plot 1

Lighting plot 2

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JOE TERMINI

For Hillsong United’s 2016 Empires Tour, production and lighting designer Nathan Paul Taylor wanted a big, bold look that was still intimate.

Lighting plot 3

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JOE TERMINI

The main piece of the design was a cube of LED video walls with a video roof that tracked up and down to create larger, more dynamic looks as well as smaller, more intimate spaces.

Since weight was a major factor for the automated roof and scale was a priority, Taylor and production manager Steve Pippett opted for Barco Stealth video panels.

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JOE TERMINI

JOE TERMINI

The video content was fired from a SAMSC Catalyst media server running V4 software and controlled by an MA Lighting grandMA2 console.

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To create hard edges and narrow beams, Taylor opted for a rig comprised almost entirely of profile fixtures.

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All of the content was created within the Adobe Creative Suite and additional 3D programs, including Maxon Cinema 4D.

JOE TERMINI

Taylor spent a week programming the lighting in Cast wysiwyg with touring lighting director and board operator Jarrad Donovan.

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Thirty Philips Vari-Lite VL4000 Spot units were positioned behind and around the LED walls, while 32 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures bordered the two stages, and 18 Robe BMFL WashBeams were set on side trusses.

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Sketches

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EMPIRES USA TOUR 2015 - V2 SKETCH. NATHAN TAYLOR 23/11/2015

EMPIRES USA TOUR 2015 - V2 SKETCH. NATHAN TAYLOR 23/11/2015

EMPIRES USA TOUR 2015 - V2 SKETCH. NATHAN TAYLOR 23/11/2015

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SCALE :

NA

CONCEPT

VER/REVISION :

TO TOUR

VENUE :

TD:

DRAWN BY NATHAN TAYLOR. nathan.taylor@hillsong.com +61 430 531 175.

IF IN DOUBT, ASK.

EMPIRES USA TOUR 2015 - V2 SKETCH. NATHAN TAYLOR 23/11/2015 9

WRITTEN DIMENSIONS SHALL HAVE PRECEDENCE OVER SCALED DIMENSIONS. ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DRAWING TO BE CHECKED PRIOR TO COMMENCING WORK .

B-Stage

DO NOT SCALE FROM THIS DRAWING.

THIS DRAWING AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IS FOR GENERAL PRESENTATION PURPOSES ONLY. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, THE DESIGNER IS NOT QUALIFIED TO DETERMINE THE STRUCTURAL AND ELECTRICAL APPROPRIATENESS OF THEIR DESIGNS AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE AND CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY IMPROPER ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, RIGGING OR HANDLING METHODS OR FOR ANY IMPROPER USE OF STRUCTURES OR EQUIPMENT THAT MAY BE EMPLOYED TO REALISE THE DESIGN.

THIS DRAWING IS THE PROPERTY OF HILLSONG CHURCH. COPYRIGHT IS RESERVED AND THE DRAWING IS ISSUED ON THE CONDITION THAT IT IS NOT USED, COPIED, REPRODUCED RETAINED OR DISCLOSED EITHER WHOLLY OR IN PART, WITHOUT THE PREVIOUS CONSENT IN WRITING.

Scrim/Semi-transparent mesh screen

10 SEPT

DATE :

NATHAN TAYLOR

Wide moving lights

CD:

LED rectangle strobe/blinder

DESIGN:

CLIENT:

Moving Lights

EARLY CONCEPTS

EMPIRES 2015 USA TOUR

LED screen

FOR INTERNAL DISCUSSIONS ONLY

PA

THIS DRAWING AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IS FOR GENERAL PRESENTATION PURPOSES ONLY. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, THE DESIGNER IS NOT QUALIFIED TO DETERMINE THE STRUCTURAL AND ELECTRICAL APPROPRIATENESS OF THEIR DESIGNS AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE AND CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY IMPROPER ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, RIGGING OR HANDLING METHODS OR FOR ANY IMPROPER USE OF STRUCTURES OR EQUIPMENT THAT MAY BE EMPLOYED TO REALISE THE DESIGN.

4

THIS DRAWING IS THE PROPERTY OF HILLSONG CHURCH. COPYRIGHT IS RESERVED AND THE DRAWING IS ISSUED ON THE CONDITION THAT IT IS NOT USED, COPIED, REPRODUCED RETAINED OR DISCLOSED EITHER WHOLLY OR IN PART, WITHOUT THE PREVIOUS CONSENT IN WRITING.

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Projection IMAG

Transition Stage

Moving lights

MOJO

1

10 SEPT

DATE :

EARLY CONCEPTS

EMPIRES 2015 USA TOUR

SCALE :

NA

CONCEPT

VER/REVISION :

TO TOUR

VENUE :

FOR INTERNAL DISCUSSIONS ONLY

TD:

CD:

DESIGN:

CLIENT:

NATHAN TAYLOR

DRAWN BY NATHAN TAYLOR. nathan.taylor@hillsong.com +61 430 531 175.

IF IN DOUBT, ASK.

WRITTEN DIMENSIONS SHALL HAVE PRECEDENCE OVER SCALED DIMENSIONS. ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DRAWING TO BE CHECKED PRIOR TO COMMENCING WORK .

DO NOT SCALE FROM THIS DRAWING.

Q & A

TDC - TECHNICAL DIRECTION COMPANY

Respect The Pixels Q&A WITH TDC TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER, MEDIA SERVERS, PETE LYNN /// BY K ATINK A A LLENDER

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Vivid Sydney 2016

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ete Lynn, technical project manager for media servers at Australian-based Technical Direction Company (TDC), has more than 20 years of experience in the live entertainment industry, specializing in design and operation of high-end technically complex live vision systems. He has worked with largescale multi-layer-based video systems including architectural projection, projection blends, 3D projection, automation, motion-tracking, and projection-mapping technologies, across all industry sectors on large-scale events in Australia as well as internationally, including on White Night Melbourne, Adelaide Festival, Vivid Sydney, Melbourne Festival, FIFA, Dubai World Cup, and Dubai International Film Festival.

Live Design caught up with Lynn about his career in projection design and what’s next for TDC. AUGUST 2016 \\\

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Q & A

LIVE DESIGN: What’s your favorite thing about your work as a projection designer?

PETE LYNN: Seeing people getting enjoyment from a projection project is great, and being able to work with different artists and animators to bring their vision to life is always very rewarding. I also enjoy the challenge of designing a system that has to work not only from a projection point of view, but also around issues such as weight, loading limitations, traffic, obstructions to the building, and space limitations.

LD: What are some of the trends in how festivals, concerts, and other entertainment applications are using video? Do you see video as key to engaging audiences?

PL: Video is a great way of telling a story to your audience, whether that’s key messaging in a corporate environment or a building projection, bringing an artist’s still artwork to life with animation. Having a three-dimensional set that has been projection-mapped or LED screens constantly tracking to create different looks are just some ways to keep your audience engaged in what’s happening onstage, keeping them interested, listening, and watching for what might happen next.

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LD: How do you approach a new project in terms of research and design intent?

PL: At TDC, we always approach a project with the attitude that anything is possible.

It’s important to keep abreast of new and emerging technologies, and look at ways that it can help you improve your methods.

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Adelaide Festival 2015

LD: How would you describe the characteristics of the video market in Australia? How is it distinct from the US or Europe?

PL: Being a smaller industry sector and a relatively small market in Australia, generally, we have a much broader skill set across multiple disciplines. This is a good thing because we understand solutions across multiple technologies. I feel like we are very hands-on, and this gives us a great opportunity to keep learning and exploring. Often the same person will be involved from concept discussion through to equipment specification, preparation, then load it in, program it, operate it, and bump it out. This leads to technicians being competent across many facets of the industry, not just projection but also camera systems, LED, and automation systems.

We are constantly challenged by budgets versus expectations, but that is something that everyone faces, so we just keep innovating and hoping for the opportunity to be involved in the next big thing. We have a long history with working with a few great light festivals in Australia, including Adelaide Festival, Vivid Sydney, and White Night Melbourne; these are great creatively across all technologies. For us, touring is designed and conceived generally overseas, so it’s a market in Australia where there isn’t any room for involvement in the creative side or the technology selection. It’s just about filling an equipment specification.

Q & A

Vivid Sydney 2016

TDC - TECHNICAL DIRECTION COMPANY

White Night Melbourne 2016

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LD: How would you describe the characteristics of the video market in Australia? How is it distinct from the US or Europe?

PL: Being a smaller industry sector and a relatively small market in Australia, generally, we have a much broader skill set across multiple disciplines. This is a good thing because we understand solutions across multiple technologies. I feel like we are very hands-on, and this gives us a great opportunity to keep learning and exploring. Often the same person will be involved from concept discussion through to equipment specification, preparation, then load it in, program it, operate it, and bump it out. This leads to technicians being competent across many facets of the industry, not just projection but also camera systems, LED, and automation systems.

We are constantly challenged by budgets versus expectations, but that is something that everyone faces, so we just keep innovating and hoping for the opportunity to be involved in the next big thing. We have a long history with working with a few great light festivals in Australia, including Adelaide Festival, Vivid Sydney, and White Night Melbourne; these are great creatively across all technologies. For us, touring is designed and conceived generally overseas, so it’s a market in Australia where there isn’t any room for involvement in the creative side or the technology selection. It’s just about filling an equipment specification.

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SARAH LONG, LONGSHOT.COM.AU FOR TDC - TECHNICAL DIRECTION COMPANY

Q & A

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Adelaide Festival 2015

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Q & A

Adelaide Festival 2015

SARAH LONG, LONGSHOT.COM.AU FOR TDC - TECHNICAL DIRECTION COMPANY

LD: What is your biggest achievement thus far?

PL: Working at TDC, it really is a team effort to deliver the projects we do. To be part of a team that delivered nine different projection sites at this year’s Vivid Sydney festival in front of 2.3 million people is a great feeling. From projection mapping 160-year-old Moreton Bay tree trunks to the façade of Sydney’s first brewery, Carlton United Brewery, Vivid 2016 really was a great achievement.

LD: What’s next for TDC? PL: We’re always looking to be at the forefront of technology and using that technology to provide new ways for our clients to deliver their message. We love a challenge and will be constantly looking for new ways of using video and projection to push the creative boundaries.

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LD: What advice would you give to young designers just entering the business?

PL: Think outside the box, and remember that sometimes what may look like the easy option may not render the best result. Once you’ve decided on a method, go back and take another look after a day or so; answers have a habit of jumping out at you the second time around. And don’t forget to always respect the pixels.

Vivid Sydney 2016

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Q & A

Vivid Sydney 2016

White Night Melbourne 2016

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White Night Melbourne 2015

WE ARE CONSTANTLY CHALLENGED

BY BUDGETS VERSUS EXPECTATIONS, BUT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE FACES, SO WE JUST KEEP INNOVATING AND HOPING FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE INVOLVED IN THE NEXT BIG THING. PETE LYNN AUGUST 2016 \\\

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Pop Meets The Void PROJECTION MAPPING IN A WHITE ROOM

WILLIAM CUSICK

/// B Y S A S H A B O G G A R T

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WILLIAM CUSICK

Actor Nick Bixby stands on a desk in the white room and adjusts modular synthesizer.

WILLIAM CUSICK

Several of the most visually striking scenes of the film take place inside of an old, decaying white room.

P

op Meets The Void is a feature film about a musician struggling to finish his first album. Part live-action and part animation, the film employs the overlapping daydreams and fantasies of its characters to create a series of interrelated parallel narratives involving musicians, writers, and performers. At times heartbreaking and hilarious, Pop Meets The Void explores the universal frustrations of the creative process in complex and memorable ways.

The film premiered in 2015 at Anthology Film Archives and won Best Feature Film of the Lower East Side Film Festival.

In 2016, it screened at Museum of the Moving Image and was awarded the Best of the Fest and Audience Awards by the Queens World Film Festival. It is now available for rental and purchase via iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Microsoft Store, and VUDU. Pop Meets The Void was written and directed

by William Cusick and

produced by Cusick and TaraFawn Maen with their production company Mechanical Reproductions. The inspiration for the film developed from a series of songs written

by Cusick and his collaborators Jeffrey Doto and Kyle Rothermel. The original music evolved into the framework for the screenplay and guided the creative process. The initial impulse was to write the soundtrack to “a film not yet written,� says Cusick, and thus allow a mostly non-lyrical score to shape AUGUST 2016 \\\

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Several scenes border on verisimilitude where animation layers mimic reality with just enough intentional flaws to trigger an unconscious response to the plasticity of the image, states Cusick. the narrative of the film in an organic and nontraditional fashion.

Key elements of Pop Meets The Void include the animation and visual effects designed and executed by Jonathan Weiss. Nearly half of Pop Meets The Void was shot on green screen and involves fractured motion graphics animation design 94

by Weiss that complements the dreamlike narrative structure of the film. The visual effects and animation range from densely complicated, multi-layered animations to camera-tracked composites of particle systems, and also includes practical VFX mattes and background painting. The stylistic arc of the anima-

tion and visual effects is gradated. “In addition to the obviously animated sequences, several scenes border on verisimilitude,” explains Cusick, “where animation layers mimic reality with just enough intentional flaws to trigger an unconscious response to the plasticity of the image.”

WILLIAM CUSICK

Cinematographer Bart Cortright films Nick Bixby in the white room.

THE WHITE ROOM Several of the most visually striking scenes of the film take place inside of an old, decaying white room, which appears in the film six times: at the start of the film and then at regular intervals throughout the narrative. The Musician in the White Room is played

by Nick Bixby, who also

plays the drummer in one of the film’s parallel narratives. “The costume and makeup design of this character was created by Maen to evoke a sense of unity with the room itself, as if the musician is physically part of the room, decaying with it,” states Cusick. The production design for the white room in Pop Meets

The Void was created by Edward T. Morris, based on his research of abandoned spaces and inspired by a series of black and white photographs by Cusick of a decrepit room the director found in Brooklyn.

“From spraying battery acid to massive, human-augmented modular synthesis to a series of surreal rock AUGUST 2016 \\\

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Scenic charge painter Allison MJ Backhaus paints the set for the white room.

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The creative team combined practical in-camera lighting and projection mapping techniques with green screen compositing, camera tracking, and layers of animation to create the fantasy sequence in the white room.

WILLIAM CUSICK

suicides, the white room defies expectation and logical explanation repeatedly throughout the film,� says the director.

During the third scene in the white room, the Musician is beset by an unwanted crowd of onlookers. At the start of the scene, he’s tuning his guitar as the camera circles around him. Outside the windows of the room, initially there is only digital glitch, a colorful, shape-shifting void of videomosh. The walls of the room undulate with light and streams of bluish-gray water running down them. As the camera comes to a halt behind the musician, he turns his head and looks toward the windows.

After several glances, the musician discovers the void has transformed into a crowd of fans waiting for him to entertain them. The lighting texture on the walls shifts as the musician approaches the windows. The fans see him and begin to clap and cheer, urging him to start the show. The room grows darker, and only outlines of the architecture remain as the Musician in the White Room sneaks away to hide in the closet, out of sight.

All of this occurs in one continuous three-minute shot.

The creative team combined practical in-camera lighting and projection-mapping techniques with green-screen compositing, camera tracking, and layers of animation to create this unique fantasy sequence in the middle of the film.

Throughout Pop Meets The Void, the cinematography by Bart Cortright is in motion, dollying, trucking, tilting, panning, jibbing, craning, or spinning, and often involving multiple axes of motion.

The film has several long takes moving through a series of complex angles, all operated by Cortright. “This shot in the white room turns and reveals every wall and corner of the full set over its full 720° of movement, mimicking an earlier scene in the basement apartment of another musician character,” explains Cusick. This particular shot was executed using a hand-operated minijib system on pneumatic dolly wheels locked off to force the movement in a circular arc without using track, to allow freedom of movement by the performer.

Throughout each take, Cusick and Cortright moved together with the camera, with Bixby taking moment-to-moment verbal direction from Cusick.

The projection mapping in Pop Meets The Void was designed and executed by Matthew Mellinger, using TroikaTronix’s Isadora software to map content served from a 12-Core MacPro tower to four ViewSonic PJD8633ws ultra-short throw projectors rigged from the studio ceiling. The projection content was timed to coincide with the camera moves and was manually operated by Mellinger during each take, based on visual and verbal cues from Cusick. In between takes, the creative team reviewed the shot, revised, and then iterated with slight tweaks to performance and cueing. In post-production, Weiss combined dozens of layers of content to create the crowd with Adobe After Effects. “The crowd footage was shot during principle photography and then, subsequently, reshot nearly nine months later to gather additional assets of performers, costumes, and gesAUGUST 2016 \\\

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Matthew Mellinger designed and executed the projection mapping using TroikaTronix’s Isadora software to map content. tures,” explains Cusick. “The final composites were color graded by Nitrous Ltd., and the final 5.1 sound mix of the film was designed and mastered by Plush NYC.” Over the past decade, Cusick, Maen, and Weiss have collaborated on dozens of film and theatre productions together, from projection designs for theatre, dance, and music to their 2012 film Welcome To Nowhere (Bullet Hole Road), which also starred Nick Bixby. Previously, Cusick collaborated with Cortright and Mellinger on his projection design for Sharr White’s play The Other Place, presented by Manhattan Theatre Club in 2012-2013; and, BARE: The Musical, the Off-Broadway production at New World Stages in 2012.

Pop Meets The Void was successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2013 by over 300 backers and involved the talent and efforts of over 100 performers, craftspeople, and volunteers. Pop Meets The Void is distributed by FilmBuff.

Pop Meets The Void iTunes Amazon

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WILLIAM CUSICK

Google Play Store

The final composites were color graded by Nitrous Ltd., and the final 5.1 sound mix of the film was designed and mastered

by Plush NYC, states Cusick.

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Sounds Good FRESH GROUND PEPPER PUTS SOUND DESIGNERS FIRST /// BY DAV I N A P OLEON

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S

ound designers don’t always get a fair shake, but one New York City theatre put them front and center in an experiment designed to stimulate playwrights.

Fresh Ground Pepper’s five founders and creative directors—three directors, a playwright, and a producer/manager—came together eight years ago after graduating from the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School at NYU. “We missed being in an educational environment and didn’t feel we had a great place to put work in development up,” says producer Karina Martins.

So they began a company to help artists develop work. Among FGP’s activities are an annual summer retreat for playwrights, a year-long “playground” for developing new work, and challenge events.

For the latter, FGP asks a question or suggests a theme, and asks artists to work within specific guidelines to create a related work in a short time period. Results are presented in front of audiences, but they’re not billed as finished works.

Some challenges involve mixing up the traditional order of things. For one, FGP asked costume designers to create costumes for unwritten characters, and then playwrights came up with the characters and their story. For another, video artists created five-minute videos presented on a loop on screens or walls; hours before the presentation, set designers saw the videos and built installations around them, selecting materials from a pile FGP provided that included string, fabric, and small props. There were no scripts involved. “We’re open to all mediums,” says Martins.

Last March, FGP presented Sounds Good, and sound designers led the way. “We had sound designers submit ten cues,” says Martins. Then FGP created eight teams, each with a sound designer, writer, and director, who would create a ten-minute piece. Each writer received a set of ten musical cues or sound effects to use in order and in their entirety, and then each script went to a director. Team members didn’t know each other prior to the project; FGP put the teams together from open admissions.

C. MEAD JACKSON

Fresh Ground Pepper hosts retreats and challenge events to help artists develop new work.

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Fresh Ground Pepper presented Sounds Good where sound designers submitted ten cues.

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WHICH CAME FIRST, THE SOUNDSCAPE OR THE STORY?

For some sound designers, creating cues without a script was a welcome adventure. Grace Oberhofer, for instance, composes as well as designs sound and found it a treat to explore sound without the restraints of a pre-existing narrative.

“It’s rare that a sound designer gets to have free rein over the arc of a show,” says Oberhofer, who avoided envisioning a narrative while writing. “That wasn’t my role. I wanted cues to go in a variety of ways for the writer. I wound up exploring techniques I use in my pop music.”

Director Logan Reed says the experiment allowed playwright Helen Banner to create a world and characters entirely based on aural impulses. “It was fantastic to be in a collaboration that began with sound because the tone, style, and narrative underbelly were all determined and guided by sound,” he says. “If we ever felt lost, we turned to the sound cues. They absolutely informed how I thought about the characters, the staging, and the emotional through-line of the piece.”

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Eight teams were assembled, each with a sound designer, director, and writer.

Writers created a ten-minute script from the ten cues, and then gave the script to the directors.

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Most of the plays turned out differently than what the sound designers had envisioned.

Banner’s The 6th Borough, about the sixth borough of New York, took place in what Oberhofer calls “a wormhole alternate reality. Sometimes I get stuck thinking of composing and sound design as two different genres, but sound design can make its own artistic statement as long as that statement supports the rest of the work. The playwright and I hit it off and collaborated on another project.” That one did begin with a script.

Not every sound designer found it possible to work without a narrative. Joe Drymala, for instance, thought of a story while he created cues. “It was the only way I could do it,” he says, adding that Seth McNeil’s The Butterfly And Stuff had nothing to do with the scenario that stimulated his cues. “Only one 106

music cue was interpreted as I envisioned it. There were several cues of a little baby crying contrasted with hard-boiled sounds.”

Drymala imagined a couple with a new baby who get caught up in an alien abduction and thrown into a prison; McNeil’s play, says Drymala, involves a babysitter and a flashback to a friend who broke out of prison.

“You’d think the requirement that they use cues in order would lead to a similar story line,” says Drymala. “They ended up making the story kind of comic. I didn’t intend for it to be totally serious, but there was a tonguein-cheek feel to the cues that I wasn’t totally aware of.”

McNeil says he met with Drymala and director Nikki DiLoreto and learned that Drymala had worked from a narrative.

But he didn’t want to tell me what that narrative was. I listened to the cues over and over and closed my eyes. Whatever came to mind, I wrote down. I came up with a weird bunch of stuff eventually. When I have these strict parameters, my imagination goes a little crazier.” Sometimes, sound cues and dialogue overlapped. Sometimes, he let the sound stand alone.

“If you write a play that doesn’t make a whole lot of linear sense, and it’s ten minutes long, you haven’t wasted a lot of people’s time,” he says of a process that allowed him to let go, let different factors influence him, and then tie the threads together—a baby’s laugh, a prison alarm, a lullaby. “Naturally, my play started out with a high school dance and ended with someone being lethally injected.”

LOOSELY WEAVING SOUND AND SCENARIO

Charles Coes began with a rough abstract idea, not exactly a story, but a world he could hang onto while creating a pallet of sounds

that were unified around a tone color. Coes says playwright Jae Kramisen took the cue order seriously while writing The Desert, but when they started to rehearse with director Dina Vovsi, they played with the order, repeated some sound cues, and built up others.

In other words, the playwright approached writing the work in an entirely new way, but the producing process became more traditional, with Coes adjusting cues to the needs of the play and production.

“The thing I love always is to be in the room with smart people trying to tell the same story and finding things together,” says Coes, adding that he enjoys reacting to performers when he creates and times cues.

Aaron Mack thought out a narrative and created ten cues for it, but he tried to keep the cues loose, to inspire a writer without guiding the story. “The writer was very interested in what the cues meant to me,” he says. “But she came up with a story that was very different from what I imagined.”

Because he created sounds that were not readily identifiable, she even heard the cues in her own way.

He heard a door opening in a sci-fi world; she heard a machine noise. The resulting sound-inspired play, Molly Beach Murphy’s Everybody Wants To Go To Lubbock, But Nobody Wants To Die, could stand on its own without sound. It was tenth in an evening of ten plays.

“After the first six cues, the sound system failed, and the lights went black,” says Mack. The actors continued and “nobody in the audience knew anything had gone wrong.” This play was directed by Julia Sears.

Sometimes I get stuck thinking of composing and sound design as two different genres, but sound design can make its own artistic statement..

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LETTING SOUND WASH OVER YOU

Tori Keenan-Zelt says she listened to the sound cues she received from Valentine Monfeuga many times, sometimes with the director and actors, before beginning to write How To Fly. “We let it wash over us,” she recalls. “She [Valentine] had written a soundscape that used children’s voices and mechanical sounds and what I think was outer space.” KeenanZelt says what came to her was the feeling of being an alienated child, out of place on the playground, who escapes into imagination. “I talked with Valentine, and she described [similar] feelings. We were speaking this emotional language through the sound, like playing artistic catch.”

But Keenan-Zelt stepped away from the literal and wrote a play about a goldfish who is adopted by birds. “I think that sometimes, when we’re making plays the traditional way, we start to think linearly, especially if the script tells a literal story,” she says. Working from a design element helped free her.

“The director I worked with has a designing background, and he had actors create movement inspired by images he brought in that were inspired by the script. The whole play benefited,” she says, adding that she’s now collaborating with director Jordan Schulze on another piece, developing it by playing artistic catch with puppetry, clowning, and music. “We’re going into it with a central question, not a story and finding out different artists’ answers.”

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Grace Oberhofer found it a treat to explore sound without the restraints of a pre-existing narrative.

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PROBLEM/SOLUTION

Keenan-Zelt had been working more traditionally before experimenting with sound first. “I still think that scripting a story is important, but there are lots of ways to get to that, and getting off the paths we are used to makes more interesting stories.”

Alex Hawthorn was vacationing in Honduras when an email arrived asking for cues just hours after he would get home. “Surrounded by the second longest barrier reef in the world, spending every morning and every afternoon in, under, and around the water, the ocean was the obvious choice for what to explore through my sound design,” he recalls. Deciding he wanted to start and end the piece with Jacques Cousteau’s voice, he searched until he found an audio clip online from a 1976 interview between Studs Terkel and Cousteau. “It’s all about how much effect man has had on the oceans and how preservation progress is stunted by the inherent short-sightedness of our politicians,” he notes.

He scored an overture and finale cues, and then found sounds of water, thunder, 110

rain on a car roof, and the gurgle of breathing underwater “thanks to my GoPro and some SCUBA gear,” Hawthorn says. “These sounds have a wonderful, expansive, calming nature to them, so I definitely needed to disrupt that in the middle of the piece. I found a recording of a large Xerox copier that I cut up, looped, and scored to create an event that would stand in tension to the natural sounds that had preceded it. That, along with a monotonous bed of room tones and air conditioner hums, brought a dichotomy to the piece that put nature’s creations up against the rough, unrefined reality of what we invent.”

Hawthorn says playwright Max Reuben found something entirely different in the cues than what he had envisioned. “The piece centers around two people, a man and a woman, possibly recently married. The language is sparse, opting instead for a predominantly movement-based piece.”

“Alex made really long sound cues,” Reuben says.

“Our roles were reversed.

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C. MEAD JACKSON

Playwright Tori Keenan-Zelt felt that working from a design element helped free her imagination.

BUILD ///

PROBLEM/SOLUTION

Playwright Max Reuben wrote a sparse script, letting Alex Hawthorn’s sound cues build the world and tell the story.

C. MEAD JACKSON

I was throwing words supporting Alex’s soundscape. I left a lot of space between words. We let his design build the world and tell the story. It made me think about how the text is an element just like the sound design or the sets, the lights, or the actors. A lot of times we think about the text being the most important thing, and sometimes it’s because that’s where it starts, but the play can start from anywhere. I don’t know if somebody who watched it would know it started with sound.”

“By the time the play gets to you there is already a written script,” notes Estefanía Fadul, who directed Reuben’s play Jacques Cousteau ’76. What made this project special was that the sound designer was in the room throughout the process. “Having 112

Alex there for table work and early rehearsals was an invaluable resource and extra eye and ear on the development of the piece.

We were able to time things out with him and with the actors and create a movement sequence that was organically tied to the sound. The fact that the usual process was turned on its head also forced us to not be too precious with the play, which opened us up to taking more risks and experimenting with big ideas.”

Davi Napoleon, a regular contributor to Live Design, is a freelance writer based in Michigan.

Her book is Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater.

Alex Hawthorn’s sound cues for Sounds Good

TECH ///

WH AT ’S TRENDING

What’s Trending

DESIGN ON A DIME /// BY ELLEN L A MPER T-GRE A U X

V

ideo, video, video! With the advent of all the new technological advances coming in from the cutting-edge, video designers and multimedia artists are always seeking to add more video and visual media into their productions.

Of course, not everyone has a Broadway-size budget, but not to fret: Creativity need not be sacrificed. Various software options are out there to help achieve great results on smaller-budget productions. Three highly visual pundits—Andrew Benson, Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh, and Mathieu Jacques—all participating in LDI’s two-part “Design On A Dime” sessions in the LDInnovation Conference (Projection Practices) on October 22 in Las Vegas—share their software picks for cost-effective solutions that don’t skimp on delivery.

Design On A Dime: Part I Design On A Dime: Part II AUGUST 2016 \\\ 115

TECH ///

WH AT ’S TRENDING

ANDREW BENSON Creative technologist

Max 7 by Cycling ‘74 has been my go-to tool for over a decade. I originally got into Max to realize sound synthesis work and explore live video.

Since then, I’ve developed numerous show systems and visuals for major music tours and festival shows using Max. I would call it my secret weapon, but since I work for Cycling ‘74, anyone could

guess that’s what I’m up to.

I personally focus a lot of my energy on the graphics and video capabilities of Max, but I rely heavily on Max to connect those things to other show systems like lighting, music cues, house video, and controllers. The true beauty of Max is how quickly you can throw together a prototype or solution to something and have it work instantly. The modular way that Max works makes it simple to try a lot of different things quickly and connect pretty much anything to anything else. Think of it like your digital gaffer tape.

To create something that works in Max, you add boxes, or objects, to a blank palette and conwww.pixlpa.com

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nect them together with patch cords, similar to how a modular synthesizer works. The software was originally developed to realize complex new musical ideas using MIDI hardware, and to this day, it truly shines in this task. Over the years, new features like sound synthesis (MSP) and video and graphics (Jitter) have been added, in addition to a wealth of third-party extensions, making it possible to control audio, visuals, and lighting, all from one place.

Max can do a lot, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught someone backstage at a music festival whipping together a last minute MIDI routing or show triggering solu-

Cycling ‘74 Max 7

tion with Max. Also, because you never have to compile code, and it just runs, you’ll often see performers tweaking their Max patches during soundcheck to add something unique or adapt to the venue. Since it connects to all the major hardware and software interfaces (MIDI, DMX, networking, etc.), and has a full-featured palette of tools for working with sound, image, graphics, and control data, Max is an incredibly powerful tool for realizing even the wildest show ideas. The best part is realizing the idea is just the beginning.

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TECH ///

WH AT ’S TRENDING

HSUAN-KUANG HSIEH Multimedia artist

Millumin is a video-playback software that specializes in projection mapping, interactive multimedia installation, and live performance. Developer Philippe Chaurand tried to create a “realtime After Effects” initially, but as it turned out the software became beneficial to video users working in live environments. As a content-based video designer and multimedia artist, I spend most of the time

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animating and filming my content before I jump into programming. Millumin really stands out for me for its flexibility adjusting content to fit both time (cue) and space (stage/installation).

The strongest feature in Millumin is the “realtime After Effects” plug-in, and it is free. It is an amazing feature when you work with projection mapping.

It allows you to create your content in Adobe After Effects and map to the stage or model to get the best looks in realtime. Furthermore, the combination of working environments in nonlinear and linear timelines is another highlight of Millumin. For programming live events, the nonlinear cueing system is simple to use to organize all the content and build

cues. Under each cue, you can still edit your content in a linear timeline.

It provides key-frame and layering tools to re-edit your videos with various attributes to play with. If you can work magic in Millumin, why bother to jump back to your original editing or effect software to redo the job?

Millumin also does an amazing job in projection mapping, including war ping, B ézier curves, dynamic matte, and masking. You will be amazed by how simple and fast it is to accomplish perfect mapping. The software easily handles setup for a multi-surface and multi-channel show.

Horizontal and vertical soft-edge-blending can be done perfectly with curve, color, and feather.

Millumin

Millumin is also enlarging its ability to connect with external software and hardware. It takes in as many feeds via Syphon as you need to expand your design. You can import content from other platforms—VDMX, Resolume, Processing, MAX/MSP— and plug in your interactive hardware, such as Kinect or Leap Motion, or control your show with other devices through OSC and more.

Working with various playback software options for several years, I would say the interface in Millumin is so far the simplest one I’ve ever worked with. The workflow is very similar to software such as After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Premiere, and Photoshop. The biggest benefit is that your show can be easily learned and taken care of by operators or technicians. For me, it’s a big relief when my show is touring and I am not present. Another benefit is that one purchase comes with two licenses, which means I can still have one in my studio for programming and fixing the show, while the other is in the production computer. www.hsuankuang.com AUGUST 2016 \\\ 119

TECH ///

WH AT ’S TRENDING

MATHIEU JACQUES Software engineer

About a year ago, a design company came to me with a lighting installation concept for a new public hospital. They showed me the picture of a kind of electrocardiogram, onto which the LED strips would be laid out: more than 8,000 individually controllable little LEDs. They also asked to have total control over the content using custom-made videos.

Since it was not a simple, rectangular LED screen, all pixels need to be manually mapped to perfectly fit all curves in 120

the design. At this point, I knew that doing this mapping using pretty much any existing lighting software, including my very own Lightjams, would be a nightmare.

The thing is, in just a couple of years, LEDs drastically changed the face of lighting. The cost per LED is so cheap now (less than 10 cents) that even low-budget projects can use thousands of LEDs. For traditional lighting controllers, that means handling a lot more fixtures than was originally planned or even possible. For example, when working with a few hundred fixtures, manually positioning each one on a grid is workable. It takes time; it’s like working with a straitjacket on, but we can do it. However, when we reach a thousand, and then ten thousand, and

more LEDs forming arbitrary shapes, then new tools are really needed if we want to keep our sanity. So this is all good for “design on a dime” projects as LEDs open many new opportunities, but it’s pretty challenging on the controller side.

That wasn’t the first time I was asked to collaborate on a project of this kind. I’d usually develop custom software to solve it. However, this time, the budget was too tight for software engineering.

We were all very excited by the project but had no technical ideas on how to actually do it. When I left for my summer vacation, I started to play around with how to do pixel mapping with curves.

After a few weeks of fun, sleep deprivation and a few “aha!” moments, I had a rough design for

Enttec LED Mapper (ELM)

what would become the Enttec LED Mapper (ELM). ELM would take advantage of tech that I developed for Lightjams, but it was to be brand new software dedicated to LED mapping. The key points were: very flexible and fast mapping process supporting curves and any kind of irregular shapes; outputting a lot of DMX universes (how about 1,024?); and efficient handling of high resolution videos.

Fast-forward a few months, and ELM is now a reality, already enabling new kinds of LED mapping projects and saving countless hours of tedious manual pixel-mapping work. The public hospital project is still under construction, but so far, the design firm couldn’t be happier with the mapping, and they can adjust the content without limit.

Finally, thanks to the affordable ELM pricing, the tight budget is respected, and there’s even money left to pay the graphic designers. www.lightjams.com

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LOADOUT ///

GOLD MEDAL PROJEC TIONS IN RIO

Gold Medal Proj

IAN WALTON, GETTY IMAGES

/// BY ELLEN L A MPER T-GRE A U X

jections In Rio

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GOLD MEDAL PROJEC TIONS IN RIO

RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES

V

ideo projection for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio was provided by Panasonic, the Official Worldwide Audio Visual Olympic Partner. Panasonic worked closely with the event producers, Cerimõnias Cariocas 2016, as well as Creative Technology, which served as Panasonic’s 124

delivery partner for the projectors and lenses, video integration of the entire system, and project management. ETC OnlyView, as contracted by Creative Technology, provided the ETC OnlyView media servers, the media control system, and the projection crew.

The video system included 80 Panasonic PTDZ21K projectors located on four towers, with images covering the entire stadium.

An additional 16 Panasonic PTDZ21K projectors were located on the balcony above the VIP West seats to project on a central, mobile screen, using tracking movement.

Patrice Bouqueniaux, video production/ technical designer at ETC OnlyView, was hired for this gig by Cerimõnias Cariocas 2016 and worked on the feasibility study, projector placement, and installation of

the media server system. “Maracanã is the iconic, 87,000-seat soccer stadium in Rio, where the World Cup was held in 2014.

The stadium is very low, which means the projectors have a 15° angle onto a curved surface as the stage was installed directly on the field,” says Bouqueniaux. “In addition, the ‘window of opportunity’ for the projectors to hit the stage is very narrow as AUGUST 2016 \\\ 125

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GOLD MEDAL PROJEC TIONS IN RIO

RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES

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the metal roof of the stadium comes down very low.

“Maracanã also has all of the various control rooms grouped in the middle of the western side of the stadium, at the top of the seats, so it was impossible to have the same kind of classic configuration we used at Sochi, and we didn’t want to do the same thing twice anyway,” Bouqueniaux explains. “So we divided the projectors onto four towers, with each tower capable of projecting on its own, as each one covered the entire stadium. This AUGUST 2016 \\\ 127

LOADOUT ///

GOLD MEDAL PROJEC TIONS IN RIO

Read more about the O p e n i n g C e r e m o n y, including about Durham Marenghi’s lighting design, at livedesignonline.com.

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RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES

configuration was used during one segment of the show—the Maracatu— where white squa res simulated a battle between different groups in the cast and each tower provided different media. We were able to use the shadows generated by the projectors like a stroboscope.”

The images seen during the Opening Ceremony, highlighting the history of Brazil, were created under the direction of Fabião Soares, co-founder and head of innovation at Oito Zero Oito in Sao Paulo, Brazil and a director at Brazil’s BossaNovaFilms.

Pa nasonic prov ided on-site technical engineers, Yamamoto Atsushi and Yoshihisa Oomaru, while the entire video team comprised 21 people.

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RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES

LOADOUT ///

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GOLD MEDAL PROJEC TIONS IN RIO

INFORMING CRITICAL DECISIONS. ADVANCING THE WAY YOU WORK. INSPIRING YOUR ART. CHECK OUT THE LDI PROMO VIDEO!

OCTOBER 17-23, 2016 LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER

LDInstitute™ + LDIntensives™: October 17-22 LDInnovation™ Conference: October 20-22 LDI2016 Club Tour: October 20 LDI: Live Outside: October 20-22 Exhibit Hall: October 21-23

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LOADOUT ///

GOLD MEDAL PROJEC TIONS IN RIO

The images seen during the Opening Ceremony, highlighting the history of Brazil, were created under the direction of Fabião Soares, co-founder and head of innovation at Oito Zero Oito in Sao Paulo, Brazil and a director at Brazil’s BossaNovaFilms.

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OCTOBER 17-23, 2016 LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER

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GOLD MEDAL PROJEC TIONS IN RIO

SELECTED GEAR LIST 96 Panasonic PTDZ21K Projector 36 ETC OnlyView Media Server

CREDIT LIST RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES

Producer: CerimÕnias Cariocas 2016 Projector Provider and Video Project Management: Dave Crump, CEO of Creative Technology Europe and Middle East Media Control Systems: Patrice Bouqueniaux, ETC OnlyView, Project Director Image Creation: Fabião Soares, Oito Zero Oito Panasonic Engineers: Yamamoto Atsushi and Yoshihisa Oomaru

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RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES

PROJECTION SCHEMATICS

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AUGUST 2016 \\\ 137

LIVE DESIGN ///

S TA FF

DAVID JOHNSON Managing Director

JOANNE ZOLA Sales Manager

BEV WALTER Customer Service

MARIAN SANDBERG Content Director

DENISE WALDE Ad Operations Specialist, Production

YANNIS SPANOUDIS Art Director

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BRITTANY DEADY User Marketing Manager

MEGHAN PERKINS Content Producer

LAURA WELDON Digital Project Manager

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JOHN ANDERSON Attendee Services Manager

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BETH WEINSTEIN Marketing Manager

JAESON LOKATYS Marketing Designer

KEN BAIRD Sales Manager

JESSI CYBULSKI Operations Manager

PiKA TABLET Digital Implementation

Live Design magazine is part of the Live Design franchise that also includes LDI, The Live Design Master Classes, all providing designers and technicians an integrated, multi-platform approach to staying informed, increasing visibility, and interacting with peers.

Members of: David Kieselstein, Chief Executive Officer Nicola Allais, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Sandy Voss, President, Penton Exhibitions & COO, Lifestyle ©2016 by Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA. Editorial and advertising offices: Live Design, 1166 Avenue of the Americas, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10036-2708; phone: 212•204•4266, fax: 212•204•1823, Web: www.livedesignonline.com The opinions and viewpoints of the contributing writers are not necessarily those of Live Design or Penton Media, Inc. Neither Live Design nor Penton Media, Inc., are liable for any claim by a reader as a result of their use of a product as instructed by a contributing writer.

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