Building Bridges for Josh Groban

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BUILDING BRIDGES FOR JOSH GROBAN

Following nine major US dates, internationally renowned singer, songwriter and actor, Josh Groban brought his Bridges tour to UK and Irish venues throughout December.

Although all four dates were major arenas, seating an audience of thousands, meant the tour’s staging was carefully designed to create an intimate and supportive atmosphere, allowing Groban to connect on a personal level with the audience.

As well as a five-piece backing band, a 14-piece orchestra brought an additional dimension to Groban’s varied set, which included hits from his new album, musical theatre classics from Phantom of the Opera and his best-known ballads such as You Raise Me Up. Each concert on the tour incorporated performances from local choirs to bring a special touch to each venue. With so many performers on the stage, the production was carefully designed to keep the live performances front and centre, with little disruption from camera technicians on stage.

The tour’s Live Director, Stu Merser of Vis-a-Vis Video was tasked with filling the huge auditoria with an uplifting and engaging energy that would capture all of the emotion of the musicians onstage. “Although the staging was very pared back, we had to work out how each audience member felt they were as close as they could be and getting this balance right for an arena-sized audience is very tricky indeed.” Vis-a-Vis Video deployed a giant

LED screen with 5mm pixel pitch, which acted as a huge, dynamic backdrop to the entire stage set up.

Live camera feeds from Merser’s Blackmagic Design multi camera package were taken into Thundering Jack’s VideoDust live manipulation software to create unique video sequences. “We were able to mix live footage of Josh with a series of graphics, such as sheet music or a sparkling, glittery background, which again added another dimension to a very simple and understated production on stage,” explained Merser. The program fed out of the big screen was mixed live by the director on his bespoke production desk, which was built around an ATEM 2 M/E Production Studio 4K and ATEM 2 M/E Panel.

As there were to be no camera operators on the main stage, Merser explained that this gave him the opportunity for some creative rigging options. “The three main cameras were URSA Broadcast units, including one at front of house with a fantastic Canon 4K box lens, which produces incredible images. Across the down stage edge, we had one on a BlackCam B60 tracking system, which an operator can move up and down the stage, and can also rotate around to the crowd, which was perfect for when Josh

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JOSH GROBAN

came down into the crowd or was speaking to the audience during songs.”

On stage, Merser had a range of remote cameras, including an innovative solution for capturing shots across the band. “We mounted a Micro Studio Camera 4K on a Polecam, which allowed us to move smoothly around the percussion and keys area of the stage and gave us some great angles. As with the other Blackmagic cameras, we wanted to keep our fibre chains, so we mounted a Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter at the base of the Polecam system, which gave us power and control from the desk.

“On a tour like Bridges creative video production plays a crucial role, as the artist wants every audience member to have an incredible experience, whether they are on the front row or way up in the stands. They need to feel

part of the performance, so the video coverage has to be crisp and clear, but it also has to complement the staging; it can’t overpower with theatrical tricks and effects,” he concluded. “The Blackmagic cameras and production kit give me the quality of production that can stand up to a large-scale project, yet also has a level of detail in their creative tools and features that allow me to create a unique mix each night to reflect the energy and electricity of each live performance.” TPi www.visavis.video www.thunderingjacks.com www.blackcam.de

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