Live Design Magazine February 2016

ENVISION I BUILD I TECH I GO

FEBRUARY 2016

SUPER BOWL 50 HALFTIME SHOW WHITE HOUSE PROJECTIONS PRESTONWOOD CHURCH GIFT OF CHRISTMAS

RISING STAR STEPHEN MOSS d3 TECHNOLOGIES’ MATTHEW COTTER WHAT'S TRENDING IN AUDIO

DAVID BOWIE’S DESIGNERS PAY TRIBUTE

TABLE OF CONTENTS ///

FEBRUA RY 2016 /

GO ///

ENVISION ///

5 QUESTIONS: STEPHEN MOSS

LIGHTING DESIGNER

USITT 2016 RISING STAR AWARD WINNER

/// B Y M E G H A N P E R K I N S

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT… /// B Y J O H N L E O N A R D

TECH ///

BUILD ///

WHAT’S TRENDING: AUDIO (AND VIDEO) GEAR

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

FEATURES ///

HOLIDAY ROUNDTABLE

THE ART AND CRAFT OF PRESTONWOOD’S GIFT OF CHRISTMAS /// B Y S A R A H R O S E N B E R G

Q&A WITH MATTHEW COTTER

EMMY AWARD-WINNING LIGHTING DIRECTOR JOINS d3 TECHNOLOGIES’ SALES TEAM /// B Y M E G H A N P E R K I N S

FEATURES ///

All Fired Up

Presidential Pixels

Riverview Systems Group Showcases Creative And Technological Skills For National Sales Conference

Wrapping The White House In Haunted

Halloween Images /// BY EL L EN L A MP ER T- GRE A U X

/// BY E VA N W IL L I A MS COVER STORY ///

Fifty Shades Of Day

Goodbye Spaceboy A Tribute To David Bowie /// B Y E L L E N L A M P E R T- G R E A U X

Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show Shines In Broad Daylight

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

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5 QUESTIONS

5Qs Stephen Moss

Lighting Designer

USITT 2016 Rising Star Award Winner

I

t wasn’t until his sophomore year of college that Stephen Moss discovered the light: his knack for lighting design that is. Born and raised in Music City—Nashville, Tennessee—Moss grew up playing the French horn and enrolled in music education at Lipscomb University. While he had done sound design for a few plays in high school and continued this trend as an undergrad, he had never dabbled in lighting until Lipscomb was fresh out of lighting techs and decided to throw him into the spotlight. Within a year, Moss had switched his major to technical theatre and was designing lighting for theatre, concerts, and events inside and outside the university. He has since become a main designer for The Franklin Theatre as well as resident lighting designer for Studio Tenn. His recent projects include Studio Tenn’s Legacy series, comprised of original rock musicals featuring the music of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and, coming soon, Ray Charles.

Moss has been selected as the winner of USITT’s 2016 Rising Star Award, sponsored

by LDI/Live Design. He will receive the award at USITT 2016 in Salt Lake City this March.

We caught up with Moss before he headed off to Utah.

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5 QUESTIONS

1

As a lighting designer, what is your creative process, and how do you think about a design in terms of the production’s story or message?

The process varies depending on the time frame, but generally I begin by thinking about what images come to mind based upon the story or message being conveyed. I’ll look for images either in photographs or paintings that reflect the mood and color palette that I am trying to achieve in lighting. I am a big fan of expressionism over realism. I’ll look for contextual clues about the setting, but then I’ll concentrate heavily on the mood of the piece or the tone of the music in the piece.

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Can you share your favorite lighting experience(s)?

Three distinct experiences come to mind, the first being The Franklin Theatre’s Grand Re-Opening Gala. It’s always fun to be the first person to light an event in a space. It’s like a blank canvas waiting to be painted. Second: Studio Tenn’s production of Smokey Joe’s Café. The cast for this was amazing! This was also the moment in my career when I realized that I felt most at home combining theatrical and concert lighting. It also led to the creation of our Legacy series of shows. Third: Art Garfunkel’s concert at The Franklin Theatre. My mom was a fan of Simon and Garfunkel growing up, and I love their music as well. I was able to get tickets for my parents to attend the concert, and I was even able to get him to sign a record for her.

Malinda Doolittle Concert

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5 QUESTIONS

Big River at Studio Tenn

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Into The Woods at Studio Tenn

PHOTOS: ANTHONY MATULA

What have been the most challenging productions, and why?

Anything Sondheim is associated with, in particular Into The Woods and Gypsy. His works are usually intricate and, therefore, require lots of lighting cue changes for either setting or mood variance. Another challenge occurred with our mounting of the Hank and Cash Legacies at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. We loaded in the night before but then only had the next day to tech/rehearse the show in the space before the one performance that evening, followed by strike immediately after that. The challenge was designing the show utilizing the existing lighting rig in the venue. The plot contained 80-plus moving lights with varying gobo loads and hang orientations.

I used previsualization as much as I could to program ahead of time but still had to modify a lot once we were in the space.

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Into The Woods at Studio Tenn

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Tell us about the Legacy series. What is it like lighting these original productions?

In a word: home. I feel excited and blessed every time I have the opportunity to design another one of these productions.

These shows are concerts but with theatrical staging and scenic design. The music is its own character. It’s as though the lyrics came alive; this is what they would look like, not in a literal sense, but in an expressionistic sense. I get to fully utilize expressionistic lighting as a storytelling device. These are the shows where I feel most in my element.

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5 QUESTIONS

Smokey Joe’s Cafe at Studio Tenn

ANTHONY MATULA

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What has been the best lesson you’ve learned from your experience in lighting design?

Be flexible and adapt. No matter how much you prepare, not everything is going to work out the way you think it will.

Sometimes a gel color is wrong, or the angle of the light isn’t correct. If it looks wrong, change it. Don’t be afraid to try other options. If a color isn’t working, I’ll try a complementary color from the color wheel, something the exact opposite of what I originally had. A lot of the time, this will lead me to great discoveries.

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ENVISION ///

IT WA S A DARK AND S T O R M Y N I G H T…

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night… /// BY JOHN LEONARD

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o, this isn’t about Snoopy: I’ve been working at a theatre here in London that has a long history, dating back to the 18th century. While idly browsing through the theatre’s timeline, I found that Money, a play that I worked on many years ago, was premiered at this particular playhouse in 1830. It was written by a man called Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who also wrote a novel that began with those much-parodied words, “It was a dark and stormy night…” The full opening sentence of his 1830 novel Paul Clifford runs: “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the 12

housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”

There’s now a competition that takes his name in which contestants strive to produce the worst opening lines for a novel, but I think Bulwer-Lytton needs to be remembered for a few other things as well. He’s responsible for “the great unwashed,” “the pen is mightier than the sword,” and “pursuit of the almighty Dollar,” so I guess he can be forgiven for the rather florid prose of that opening sentence, which has now become a universally recognized cliché.

And cliché is what this month’s column is concerned with, in entertainment in general and in sound design in particular.

I was being interviewed for a documentary about a stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children some years ago, and the interviewer asked how I avoided cliché in my sound designs: “How about that old graveyard-at-midnight effect?

You know, clock strikes 12, wind whistles in the trees, an owl screeches, and a distant dog howls. You hear it all the time.” My reply was along the lines that, if that’s what the script demanded, then I’d go for it, but I’d try to put my own spin on it, and, in fact,

some time later, finding myself overnighting in a small village with a really characterful chiming clock, I ventured into the graveyard at midnight to record it and found myself recording not only the clock, but the wind rustling the branches of surrounding trees and a distant dog barking. No owl, but three out of four ain’t bad. The owl in the accompanying sound file was actually recorded in the middle of the night outside our apartment in central London, but it’s no less atmospheric for that, I think.

Clichés abound in film and television sound, of course, and sound editors deliberately use some, like the Wilhelm Scream, as a sort of trademark, Ben Burtt famously being one aficionado. Others are common enough to make me squirm when they turn up, including assorted pitched and panned versions of that dreadful BBC thunderclap that I’ve mentioned before, which has an American counterpart, known as The Castle Thunderclap, due to its use in numerous horror movies. And, of course, animal sounds are a particularly fine source of cliché. In the UK, I can spot “single dog barking in the night, good bouncy street echo” a mile off, and that red fox call that pops up all over the place is, as I have may have mentioned before, a familiar old friend. Cicadas buzz and chirp, almost regardless of season or location, but hardly ever in the way that I recorded them in Florida a few years ago.

Similarly, frogs always go “ribbit,” despite the fact that there are multiple species of frogs and toads, all of which make distinctly

Cliché is what this month’s column is concerned with, in entertainment in general and in sound design in particular.

different sounds, like this one, Romer’s tree frog, recorded in Hong Kong, which sounds uncannily like a cricket chirping.

Dogs, cats, insects, and birds are also used to presage some nameless dread to come, both by their presence, but also by their sudden absence. “It’s too quiet; I don’t like it…” is often the line uttered just before a knife wielding maniac leaps from the bushes and unleashes murderous mayhem to the sound of a dozen tortured violins.

Bernard Hermann has a lot to answer for, which brings us neatly to musical cliché.

In the days of the silent movie, musical clichés abounded, as quickly and easily recognizable signposts to the emotion being conveyed by the actors, as an adjunct to the eye-rolling and hand-wringing in evidence on the screen.

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ENVISION ///

IT WA S A DARK AND S T O R M Y N I G H T…

A man is recording sound effects in the 1930s.

Classical scores were plundered for chase sequences and battles, popular songs were shoe-horned into love scenes, and the ubiquitous “Hearts and Flowers” stirred the audience’s hearts as surely as the doe-eyed heroine’s tears, as her lover/husband/child/ dog went off to war, got run over by a truck, died an agonizing death, or withered away from an incurable disease.

Thankfully, composers like Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin, Alfred Newman, Franz Waxman, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold found their way to Hollywood and, eschew14

ing cliché, set about producing brilliant and evocative film soundtracks which, quite rightly, remain classics of the genre today.

Check out Korngold’s Academy Award-winning score that helped Errol Flynn to buckle his swash in The Adventures Of Robin Hood and Alfred Newman’s epic score for The Greatest Story Ever Told for a couple of prime examples. And if you’re feeling flush, buy a copy of Hollywood Holyland by Ken Darby—$56.58 from Amazon—for an insight into the filming and scoring of that equally epic movie.

Canny composers writing for comedy have great fun with cliché. Elmer Bernstein’s brilliant score for Airplane! parodies almost every movie music cliché that there is, from the opening Jaws-inspired threatening ostinato to the ever-ascending heavenly choir of countless sugary romances.

The fact that Bernstein also wrote the dark, jazz-influenced score for The Man With The Golden Arm (itself plundered by many other far less able composers, turning the style into a genre cliché all of its own) and the anthemic main theme for The Great Escape, among many others, highlights his somewhat underrated versatility (14 Academy Award nominations, but only one win).

Although it’s easy to laugh at the manipulative simplicity of the silent movie score, it’s also not too difficult to spot the modern-day equivalent in some music scores from even the most well-respected film composers and, increasingly, I feel, from those composing scores for straight plays as well. Here a drone, there a whine, everywhere a drum-beat. I’m not a huge fan of underscore in plays, but I recognize that it can have its place in heightening the atmosphere for some productions, and I’m not averse to using it when the occasion seems to demand it, but wherever possible, I’d rather let the text and the acting do the emotional heavy lifting, rather than having an ominous drone tell me what I should be feeling.

I’d rather let the text and the acting do the emotional heavy lifting, rather than having an ominous drone tell me what I should be feeling.

But there are other, less obvious clichés that we often take for granted and which, on reflection, we really ought to avoid. A recent question on a theatre-related mailing list involved how to mic a small band to make it sound as though it was coming from a radio in the 1940s. My response was to ask whether it should actually sound like a 1940s radio broadcast or what the director thought a 1940s radio broadcast might sound like. Various suggestions were made about crackle, hiss, fading in and out, bandwidth limitations, and the like, all of which might be thought reasonable, but most of which I profoundly disagreed with. To the best of my knowledge—and although I’m old, I’m not that old—the average radio set in the 1940s had a large loudspeaker mounted in a well-constructed 2016 FEBRUARY \\\

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ENVISION ///

IT WA S A DARK AND S T O R M Y N I G H T…

wooden cabinet and had a warm, rich sound, which may have lacked a little in the high-frequency range but didn’t sound as though broadcast transmissions were being delivered through a faulty bullhorn at the height of some serious sun-spot activity.

In fact, I suspect that they tended to sound rather a lot better than the compressed mess that we’re now much more used to, coming from tiny speakers in plastic boxes.

Obviously, there’s a place for the distorted sound that has come to characterize “oldfashioned” sound, but most of the time, it’s inaccurate and anachronistic.

Similarly, any period production that features an old-style gramophone will almost always have some sort of grunge filter applied to the modern recording to make it sound old. Why? Since the early 1930s and the introduction of the Western Electric-based Victor Orthophonic recording system and assuming that the owners of said gramophone are reasonably well-off and careful, the music issuing from the sound-box or horn may well have had a surprisingly full frequency response, a fact that can be checked by listening to the recordings made at the Wyastone Leys headquarters of Nimbus Records, where reissues of old 78s are made by playing carefully cleaned original recordings on well-preserved original equipment.

There are plenty of other sound clichés, and I’m sure that you’ve got a few of your own, but there’s one that really should be 16

Similarly, any period production that features an old-style gramophone will almost always have some sort of grunge filter applied to the modern recording to make it sound old.

avoided at all costs: bringing a stand-microphone on stage and having an actor tap on it or say, “Is this thing on?” followed by howling feedback, may have been funny once, but it really isn’t any more.

So the next time you’re putting together a soundtrack, why not check yourself for the dreaded cliché, think a little differently, and invent some brand new ones of your own?

John Leonard is an award-winning designer who has been working in theatre sound for over 40 years. In his spare time, he records anything that makes an interesting noise in high-definition surround sound. He is also almost certainly the only sound designer in the world to have piloted a Spitfire. His sound effects libraries are available online at www.asoundeffect.com.

EXPRESS, STRINGER /GETTY IMAGES

COVER STORY

Ziggy Stardust Tour, 1973

Good bye Space boy A TRIBUTE TO DAVID BOWIE /// BY ELLEN L AMPERT-GRE AUX

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COVER STORY

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ews of David Bowie’s death sent seismic shockwaves around the world, especially throughout the entertainment industry where so many designers, technicians, and managers had their lives enriched by working with him. Live Design has reached out to the galaxy of lighting designers who illuminated his tours, and it reads like a who’s who—Jules Fisher, Eric Barrett, Allen Branton, Willie Williams, LeRoy Bennett, Tom Kenny—all of whom have shared a few thoughts about working with the extraordinary David Bowie, a talent that was extinguished way too soon—to borrow a phrase—like a candle in the wind. Cut to black.

DAVID WAS IMMERSED IN GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM, NOTABLY THE FILMS THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARY, METROPOLIS, TRIED TO EXTEND THIS TO THE STAGE/ARENA. JULES FISHER

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EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS, GETTY IMAGES

AND M. TOGETHER WE

Serious Moonlight Tour, 1983

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COVER STORY

Isolar II Tour, 1978

JULES FISHER (DIAMOND DOGS, 1974)

In early 1974, I was invited to visit David at his flat in London: plush and elegant, but no evidence of the typical extremes of the era. In a relaxed mode, we discussed our mutual desire to bring “theatre” to rock ‘n’ roll performance. I believed that the creative crafts, scenery, costume, lighting, staging, and direction could make the experience more potent; he was open to all. I flew in scenic designer Mark Ravitz, and they hit it off well. David was immersed in German expressionism, notably the films The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligary, Metropolis, and M. Together we tried to extend this to the stage/arena. Whatever bizarre ideas we brought to him were embraced. The set had off-kilter skyscrapers that were covered in printed paper for him to tear down at the end of the show; a walking bridge with three street lamps for him to sing under, which then lowered to the stage level; a chair 18’ in the air with him in it that came out of one building to pivot forward over the first rows of the audience while singing “Major Tom”; a 10’-high mirror-covered box that robotically drove on stage and then opened up to reveal David seated within dozens of ultraviolet fluorescent tubes. He was not just a singer on stage; he was an actor.

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HULTON ARCHIVE, GETTY IMAGES

Ziggy Stardust Tour, 1973

Diamond Dogs Tour, 1974

JULES FISHER

Diamond Dogs Tour, 1974

He was collaborative and respectful.

He knew what he wanted and was driven.

He went into a cocoon when he was barraged with sycophants, although he may have fostered their involvement.

From a lighting standpoint, it was all accomplished with incandescent PAR 64s, 750W Lekos, and a few handheld Sunguns, three onstage followspots, and four front followspots supplied by the house. Every-

thing was floor-supported; no rigging was involved. It set up in one day.

In sum, he was surrounded in a production that allowed him to place each of his songs in a storytelling environment. He was a wonderful collaborator. He brought theatre to the arenas.

I did not know at the time he was “David Bowie.”

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Station C OToVStation E R STour, T O R1976 Y

ERIC BARRETT

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JEREMY FOIL

EVENING STANDARD, STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES

I SPENT EIGHT YEARS WITH HIM AS HIS TOUR MANAGER, FROM THE DIAMOND DOGS TOUR TO THE SERIOUS MOONLIGHT TOUR, AND I DESIGNED STATION TO STATION.

EVENING STANDARD, STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES

Station To Station Tour, 1976

STEVE WOOD, STRINGER/GETTY IMAGES

MATTHEW MURPHY

Ziggy Stardust Tour, 1973

ERIC BARRETT (STATION TO STATION, AKA WHITE LIGHT TOUR, 1976)

I was indeed the designer for David Bowie. I spent eight years with him as his tour manager, from the Diamond Dogs Tour to the Serious Moonlight Tour, and I designed Station To Station (White Light Tour).

My heart broke on the morning I woke up to so many emails and text messages informing me of David’s death. I cried for a week, and I’m still not over it. He was a genius, a brilliant, brilliant man. Just last year, I had been sending e-mails via Carlos Alomar to give David my love and to tell him that, if he toured this year, I wanted my old job as tour manager. RIP David. You will never be forgotten.

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COVER STORY

DAVID ENTERED MY LIFE IN THE SPRING OF 1983, AS I HAD BEEN CHOSEN TO DESIGN LIGHTING FOR HIS SERIOUS MOONLIGHT TOUR.

ALLEN BRANTON (SERIOUS MOONLIGHT/TIN MACHINE, 1983 AND GLASS SPIDER, 1987)

After a long career during which one is blessed to see innumerable gifted performers up close, it is awkward when asked which one (or ones) are the favorites. Nevertheless, when asked, without hesitation, I blurt out: David Bowie. That’s been my standard answer for over 30 years.

David entered my life in the spring of 1983, as I had been chosen to design lighting for his Serious Moonlight Tour.

I had been fortunate to work tours with Diana Ross, Mick Jagger, and others prior to this, thus imagining I knew something about lighting a dynamic performer in concert. As my cherished mentor, Kirby Wyatt, often said, “Just goes to show how wrong you can be.”

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines “bearing” as “...manner of carrying oneself, bodily attitude.” Further, the OED defines “style” (in part) as “… excellence of manner.” As a concert performer, there has never been anyone remotely his equal. During the threeplus weeks of that 1983 rehearsal, I slowly, inexorably was seduced to relegate his wonderful, poetic music to second place in my thoughts, second place behind his seemingly effortless mastery of the stage. The end result was a show that was built, cue by cue, to support the physical presence of this artful man.

Though I’ve not seen his equal, Bowie has caused me to be alert and willing to find it all these years. All artists have this knack in little bursts, and when they open that door, I run joyfully through it, his influence everlasting.

PATRICK RIVIERE, GETTY IMAGES

ALLEN BRANTON

Glass Spider Tour, 1987

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COVER STORY

Sound + Vision Tour, 1990 cue card

Sound + Vision Tour, 1990 lighting plot

COURTESY OF WILLIE WILLIAMS

Sound + Vision Tour, 1990 stage drawing

MATTHEW MURPHY

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Tin Machine Tour, 1989

WILLIE WILLIAMS (SERIOUS MOONLIGHT/TIN MACHINE, 1989 AND SOUND + VISION, 1990) I worked with David Bowie for three years, having been invited to design the lighting for his Sound + Vision tour and also working on his Tin Machine club tours. This was absolutely the best of both worlds: seeing Bowie perform every song you’d ever want to hear amid a huge multimedia spectacular, then watching him gleefully make guitar noise in tiny clubs while the world at large assumed he’d lost his marbles.

I never lost sight of the enormous privilege of spending so much time with him in so many implausible situations: a lad from Sheffield hanging out with Picasso; just the two of us in the front lounge of a tour bus driving into Amsterdam at dawn; on an airplane, telling me stories about Marc Bolan to distract himself from his fear of flying; trying to learn the German lyrics to Heroes for his first show in East Berlin after the wall came down; his extraordinary ability to become invisible in public when he didn’t want to be noticed; coming to the mix position because it was “the only place in America to get a decent cup of tea”; being in a New York nightclub with him and Lou Reed and feeling like I was in a Mick Rock photograph.

A favorite memory: spending a couple of weeks in a tiny theatre in St. Malo in France, rehearsing for the Tin Machine Tour. Traditionally in this situation, the crew and creatives would have the morning alone in the venue preparing for an afternoon rehearsal. David, however, had just become reacquainted with his saxophone so he sought out time to practice by himself, which he did in the theatre each morn-

ing. He would apologize to us saying how dreadful it must be to have to listen to him squawking away, but I loved every moment, watching myself from space, going about my morning work with God sitting in a corner, trying to improve himself on a saxophone.

It was the personal things that were most impressive, though. He seemed to be acutely aware that some people, particularly Brits about my age, might likely become catatonic in his presence and genuinely went out of his way to put them at ease. Throughout the 25 years following my tenure with him, in the handful of times we ran into each other, he’d always know me, remember my name, be pleased to see me.

He was a deeply remarkable human being.

Sound + Vision Tour, 1990

COURTESY OF WILLIE WILLIAMS

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Nokia Isle of Wight Festival, 2004

COVER STORY

In 1995, I designed David Bowie’s Outside Tour with Nine Inch Nails.

Once that tour was finished, he split off from Nine Inch Nails and did a European tour on his own.

Gary Westcott continued on with David to do those dates. Unfortunately, I wasn’t available, already booked when it was decided. The joint tour was an interesting political challenge. Both camps, rightfully, demanded and required a lot of attention. To equally service both of them at the same level was quite a challenge. It was an awesome concept: David was really interested in what Trent was doing, and Trent had a lot of respect for David. There was a lot of mutual respect, but it was turbulent at times.

It was a seamless show that went from NIN to Bowie, as they would segue from one to the other, pulling some musicians off and putting some others on as the bands transitioned, doing each other’s songs: David on NIN songs and Trent playing on Bowie songs. I was very lucky to be able to work on that tour. David’s performance was amazing, but it was mostly a NIN audience. Most kids in the audience were there for Trent and started to exit, so that was sad.

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JO HALE, GETTY IMAGES

LEROY BENNETT (OUTSIDE TOUR WITH NINE INCH NAILS, 1995)

Fashion Rocks Show, 2003

BRUNO VINCENT, GETTY IMAGES

A Reality Tour, 2003

A Reality Tour, 2003

ALEX LIVESEY, GETTY IMAGES

The whole Nine Inch Nails show was an interesting combo of elements. David’s set was very artsy, like a painter’s studio. NIN had a backdrop that covered David’s set and looked like a straight jacket. The lighting featured PAR cans in hanging pods over the bands’ heads with ropes on them to swing them around. It was low-tech but interesting. There were also some Vari-Lites for a combination of old school/new school, like analog/digital.

I was a huge fan from the moment David Bowie appeared on the scene in the ‘70s. He changed my life, really, and showed me what rock ‘n’ roll was about.

For me, it was theatrical rock ‘n’ roll in a very deep, emotional way at times, very atmospheric, about fashion, glam,

cross-gender, everything that twisted that world that had been normal. As soon as I heard his music I said, “Wow, what is this?”

He was a timeless artist who created timeless music. His persona on stage was much further out, like his music. I’ve never seen another artist with such presence on stage.

You felt like, “Oh my God, he’s looking straight through me.” Working with David was amazing. He came to me with a basic concept and let me run with it. He was an amazing collaborator and a very cool person. I had just flown back from Beijing the day he died, and I got a text about what happened. I landed and went to a meeting and got home about 9pm. Then it hit me really hard. I was sobbing, and it reminded me how time is ticking, and it doesn’t stop.

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VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards, 2002

COVER STORY

TOM KENNY (HEATHEN TOUR, 2002 AND A REALITY TOUR, 2003)

I designed the last 17 years of tours and all the TV performances for David Bowie. It all started in 1988, when I lit a dance piece that he did in the Dominion Theatre in London. Then, 10 years later, when my name came up, he remembered me and wanted someone who could look after him not only for his tours but also for the on-camera stuff, to make sure he always looked good, and the backgounds and direction were interesting.

For the tours, he shied away from some of those huge shows and said, “Please don’t make this another Glass Spider.” That show took over, where he felt he was fighting against the show. He liked to be in control and make sure the show didn’t overpower his persona but to add to it instead.

He didn’t need video or lighting to make him a great performer, didn’t need to hide behind it. He never wanted to embarrass himself and was always in control, a gentleman in a professional way.

He’d draw something on a pad, we’d get the design going, and I’d put together teams of people and video people. He was always very inclusive, no ego. It was always great fun. He’d call things out in music rehearsals, and you were never afraid to take him a new idea.

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VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards, 2002

HE DIDN’T NEED VIDEO OR LIGHTING TO MAKE HIM A GREAT PERFORMER, DIDN’T NEED TO HIDE BEHIND IT. TOM KENNY 2016 FEBRUARY \\\ MATTHEW MURPHY

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COVER STORY

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A Reality Tour, 2003

HE SAID, ‘IF THE FANS ARE GOING TO STAND IN THE RAIN, I’M GOING TO STAND IN THE RAIN.’

ALEX LIVESEY, GETTY IMAGES

TOM KENNY

I remember when we were in New Zealand on A Reality Tour. He loved New Zealand and Australia. We’d been in LA, played The Shrine for eight days, and the cast of The Lord Of The Rings came to see the show. So there we were in New Zealand, and there was lots of lighting and a big rain storm. Everybody advised him not to go on stage, but David said, “Right, we’re going to do it.” It was everything that’s wrong with safety, but he played for three hours, in the rain, and just blew everybody away.

He said, “If the fans are going to stand in the rain, I’m going to stand in the rain.”

For TV, I’d make sure the lighting and cameras were right for him, but he could switch easily from being a star to a normal human being and say, “Let’s try this tonight,” then laugh if it didn’t work out. He’d always tell you exactly where he got an idea from and had the total knowledge of the theatre and film world. He was also very down to earth, backstage talking to everyone. All of the fans thought he was their best friend—a fantastic guy!

I recently sent him an email about Berlin, and he sent me back an email, and I should have known. It was a very different email, not a David email at all, and in a way, he was saying goodbye. With all of this, I sort of it knew it was coming, but I didn’t want to admit it.

We’ve lost something important in our lives.

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Q&A With Matthew Cotter EMMY AWARD-WINNING LIGHTING DIRECTOR JOINS d3 TECHNOLOGIES’ SALES TEAM

FRAZER HARRISON, GETTY IMAGES

/// B Y M E G H A N P E R K IN S

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T

his year starts a new chapter for Matthew Cotter, lighting director and media programmer for 15 years, as he embraces his new role based on the west coast as technical sales specialist for d3 Technologies.

Upon graduation from high school, Cotter joined the Technical Services Department at Disneyland, working with technical director Chuck Davis, who had been Cotter’s tech teacher in school. While still employed at Disney, Cotter worked for the Obie Company, learning to operate and fix lighting rigs, and also attended California State University, Long Beach, as a business major. Networking at Obie led to concert tours with Creed and Metallica before he decided to forgo the nomadic lifestyle.

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Returning home to California, Cotter became one of the first people to use media servers at Disneyland, where he has since designed lighting for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary fireworks show, Remember…Dreams Come True, handled the video for World Of Color at Disney California Adventure Park, and produced video for Fantasmic! at Tokyo DisneySea. He also broke into live television, programming for Dancing With The Stars, for which he shared an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series with his colleagues in 2014. He will continue to do freelance lighting design and programming as part of his E-Ticket Studios partnership with Jason Badger. Live Design caught up with Cotter at the start of the New Year to hear about what 2016 has in store for him.

FREDERICK M. BROWN, GETTY IMAGES

Cotter handled the video for World Of Color at Disney California Adventure Park.

COTTER BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO USE MEDIA SERVERS AT DISNEYLAND, WHERE HE HAS SINCE DESIGNED LIGHTING FOR DISNEYLAND’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY FIREWORKS SHOW, REMEMBER… DREAMS COME TRUE.

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Matt Cotter has been a lighting director and media programmer for 15 years.

FRAZER HARRISON, GETTY IMAGES

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LIVE DESIGN: How did your interest in theatre and design first get sparked?

MATTHEW COTTER: I’ve loved theatre for as long as I can remember. I’d say it started in my fourth grade teacher’s class in elementary school when I started as the AV kid helping set up the audio PA. In grade school, my mom got a subscription to a Broadway series at Orange County Performing Arts Center, now the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, and just seeing all those various shows and productions truly sparked a lot of my interest and passion. I befriended one of the security guards who worked there, and he would often take me and a friend around and give us a tour. I was pretty much in heaven.

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Simon Miles, Suzanne Sotelo, and Matthew Cotter received an Emmy Award for the lighting design of Dancing With The Stars.

LD: Describe your history with Disney and how it shaped your career.

MC: I started working at Disney right out of high school. I was 18 when I first got hired.

I remember being one of the first really young “kids” to work in the Technical Services Department. Today the younger, 18-to-25 range is commonplace. Disney is an amazing place for someone starting out a career in this industry to work. It was the first time I was surrounded in this environment with other professionals who’d been around the block a few times in a whole variety of fields. With the right attitude, it can be a wonderful place for someone to learn.

After a few years getting my feet wet, I was fortunate to fall into a group that was responsible for handling the technical production for the nighttime spectaculars, the end of night fireworks shows, such as World Of Color, Fantasmic!, etcetera.

The team, led by Chuck Davis, started

out rather humbly, filling a void where these creative technicians and technical directors would push the boundaries of the available technology to meet the demands and needs of the creative teams. I fell into the “media guy” role and kind of invented my own career path. The media technology was so new to the industry, and to the parks for that matter, that it was exciting to develop new and creative ways to wrap it into the shows and solve creative problems with the technology. Many times what was available wasn’t “good enough.” I can’t even being to count the number of technological advances and elements that are now commonplace in our industry because they started out as a custom product for a Disney show. I thoroughly enjoyed my 12 years at Disney and still enjoy going back now as a contractor and partnering with them on projects.

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LD: What people have been most influential to your career?

MC: Some of the folks who gave me a chance are folks such as Marty Wickman, Charlie Mailings, and Fred Waldman, who at CWP gave me a shot with some of my first freelance programming gigs. Chuck Davis, who initially was my high school technical theatre teacher and then became the principal technical director for Disney, pushed me and really allowed me to grow and flourish doing the large-scale nighttime spectaculars. Brian Gale, who was the principal lighting designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, gave me a chance to work on projects for him internationally in Tokyo.

From Brian, I first learned a lot about music and design style, and aesthetic that I’d say is still the basis for how I program and design songs. Simon Miles was one of the first television LDs I was fortunate to work for,

who has entrusted me with serving as his lighting director on Dancing With The Stars.

Bob Barnhart and Jon Kusner gave me my first shot at programming media servers and screens producing for live television.

Matt Firestone, Andy O’Riley, John Morgan, Christian Hibbard, Harry Sangmeister, Willy McLachlan, and Arnold Serame are all lighting programmers/lighting directors who truly laid the groundwork and helped to invent this career path I have as a lighting programmer. There are truly bits and pieces of my programming workflow from each and every one of those guys.

On a personal level, I’d have to say my mom. She’s always been the one to tell me it is okay to march to the beat of my own drummer and go blaze this oddball career path.

FRAZER HARRISON, GETTY IMAGES

Cotter became one of the first people to use media servers at Disneyland.

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FANTASMIC!

IS THIS SHOW THAT COMES OUT OF NOWHERE.

LD: What has been your most challenging or favorite production and why?

MC: I’d have to say the most challenging was Remember…Dreams Come True. It was the 50th anniversary fireworks show at Disneyland. It was the catalyst for so many other projects for Disney and truly the first time I think we all broke out of this mold of what a fireworks show was or could be.

My favorite has to be Fantasmic! I’m not old enough to have worked on the original installation of the show as it was the show I went to the park and watched as a kid in middle school and high school.

Fantasmic! is this show that comes out of nowhere. During the day, as a guest, you are walking around Tom Sawyer’s Island and on the banks of Rivers of America, and at night, it becomes a show stage on a massive scale.

When I was working for Disney, I was fortunate enough to be part of the team responsible for changing over the 70mm projection to digital projectors. Being able to work with Disney Feature Animation and receive the remastered elements from a

majority of Disney’s early animation films and then being responsible for creating the digital master was an amazing experience.

That project then led to upgrading some of the performer barges used in the show with new pixel-mapped LED/video driven technology. I was then fortunate enough to help in creating a new version of the show at Tokyo Disneyland for creative director Steven Davison. Most recently, because of my experience with the show in California, Ryan Stumpp, the lighting designer for the Florida version of the show, brought me out to Orlando to partner with the team out there to not only do the same barge upgrades we did for the California version, but this past September, we also upgraded the 70mm projectors to digital projection.

So, from watching the show as a kid to working on several different incarnations of it, to even meeting my wife, Courtney, who was the production stage manager for the show in California for three years, Fantasmic! is definitely my favorite.

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LD: How did you get into designing for television?

LD: Did you see the expanded use of media servers in television production?

MC: I’m not sure anyone could say they foresaw what this industry would have exploded into. I do remember doing a handful of smaller gigs with Catalyst and what was LSD’s Mbox, and all these video guys would truly shun the technology because it was going to put them out of work, like lighting guys would take over the video world. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

I remember telling one such video guy that, in a few years, they’d have more work than they would know what to do with.

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FREDERICK M. BROWN, GETTY IMAGES

MC: Truth be told, I was terrified of live television. I’d worked as a tech touring for the Obie Company during my summers in college. Getting more and more work led me to leave college and start growing into a programmer, at first for opening acts and then the main acts themselves. As this happened, more people started to know my name, and I soon started to get calls to program smaller TV shows.

While I was working for a rental house, I was sent out on a handful of TV shows as a tech. I knew how fast and furious programmers in the TV world worked. In the concert touring industry, you’d get a couple weeks to sit down and cue out a show. In TV, that all happens in a matter of days or even hours.

Most acts you see for an hour of rehearsal, then a dress rehearsal, and then the show is on its way to Mars, and you’re done.

I knew I wasn’t that fast or that good. I would get calls from Curry Grant at VLPS and would turn them down. As touring started to wear on me, I figured I’d better get over my fear of live TV.

I’M NOT SURE ANYONE COULD SAY THEY FORESAW WHAT THIS INDUSTRY WOULD HAVE EXPLODED INTO.

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ERIC HANSEN

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THE LIGHTING TEAM AT DANCING WITH THE STARS IS TRULY ONE OF THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS. LD: Tell us a little bit about the team that was awarded the Emmy for Dancing With The Stars’ lighting design in 2014.

MC: The lighting team at Dancing With The Stars is truly one of the best in the business.

Simon Miles is the lighting designer, and Suzanne Sotelo and I serve as the programmers/ lighting directors; Suzanne handles all the 46

conventional fixtures and key lighting, while I handle the automated and LED systems.

Maurice Dupleasis and Eric Hansen are our gaffer and best boy, and Matt Benson and Ben Lewis serve as our PRG system techs.

Entering its 22nd season this spring, Dancing With The Stars features a lighting rig with approximately 3,500 fixtures.

ERIC HANSEN

Simon Miles is the lighting designer for Dancing With The Stars, and Suzanne Sotelo and Cotter serve as programmers/lighting directors.

DWTS is definitely one of the more fastpaced shows I’ve worked on. As the show enters its 22nd season this spring, it has had to grow and keep pace with other shows and expectations. This has led to the use of more and more elements on a song per song basis. So when I first started, it was a smaller system, and you programmed a handful of dances, and all was great. This has evolved to a system with something like 3,500 fixtures. Each dance, we add a handful of floor

fixtures, or added lights are flown in, with the goal to give each performance a different element. This truly is only possible because of Maurice and his team. Those guys change around, focus, and power up 20 to 30 fixtures over the course of a commercial break.

I know I’m a little biased, but I think Simon does a wonderful job of lighting the show. I love its clean, bright look. It’s truly a collaborative team that I’m very lucky to be a part of.

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LD: Were you familiar with the work of the other nominees that year?

MC: Yes, that’s one of the best things about this industry. I’ve worked for and am friends with all the other nominees. I occasionally substitute in on So You Think You Can Dance, one of the nominees in our category, when Pete Radice, the main programmer, has schedule conflicts. It’s definitely a unique perspective because you truly do realize how deserving each and every one of the nominees are.

After high school, Cotter joined the Technical Services Department at Disneyland, working with technical director Chuck Davis.

FRAZER HARRISON, GETTY IMAGES

Cotter was part of the team at Disney that was responsible for changing over the 70mm projection to digital projectors.

FRAZER HARRISON, GETTY IMAGES

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LD: How did you transition from design to sales for d3?

MC: Well, I don’t really look at it as a “transition,” if you will. When I was chatting with d3 about the role, they definitely adapted it to suit who I was more than a regular 9-to-5 sales position. I’m responsible for the technical sales here in the US, as well as growing into, and helping handle, some of the US-based special projects. Hans Beijer, our VP of sales for the US region, is definitely the more experienced “sales” one of us, and I am the one with the technical advantage. So I feel we complement each other very well. I’m more the person who helps with the initial product demo, integrating the product into various projects and helping with the workflow and technical speak. I enjoy it because it’s helping customers solve problems with technology.

LD: How do you hope to apply your technical knowledge and experience to this role with d3?

MC: As part of my agreement with d3, I’ll also continue to do the freelance projects I’ve always done as part of my own company, E-Ticket Studios. I’ve been freelance in this industry, working on shows and projects, for the better part of 20 years. I couldn’t just stop doing that and give it up. I am who I am because of all of those experiences. I also feel that gives me an added strength with d3, as I’m constantly using the technology for my own needs. It gives me more of an in-depth view of what our customers need because I’m a customer at the same time.

FRAZER HARRISON, GETTY IMAGES

LD: Where do you think projection design technology is going in the next year? In the next five to 10? And what part will d3 and you play in it?

MC: I really see this industry starting to explode, and I say that hesitantly as we’ve been watching this “explosion” for the past couple years already. I think we’ll start to see a lot more interactive technology. I think we’ll start to see more implementation of these products and elements in the consumer worlds as everything continues to help push the creative story. I think we’ll start to see the technology continue to streamline itself even more. I remember with the advent of media servers, it was the media server and all this outboard processing gear. As the technology grew, it grew smarter as features were implemented that allowed for smarter decisions and better implementation. I think d3’s VFC card is a great example of that. Building a product that can grow and adapt as technologies grow and adapt is an important thing.

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WRAPPING THE WHITE HOUSE IN HAUNTED HALLOWEEN IMAGES

NORMAN COATES

/// BY ELLEN L AMPERT-GRE AUX

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“THIS IS THE

FIRST TIME

ANYONE HAS PROJECTED ON THE WHITE HOUSE,” COATES ADDS.

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BRAD PETERSON

I

magine the façade of the White House as the canvas for your projection-mapping project. Last Halloween, the balconies and columns of the South Portico of one of the world’s most iconic residences were wrapped in holiday images as 85 costumed acrobats and actors helped turn the South Lawn of the White House into an enchanted forest, with color-changing lights, gobos, and a video loop mapped onto the famous façade at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Norman Coates, director of lighting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Design and Production

(UNCSA) and the Winston Salem Light Project, worked with students and alumni from UNCSA on the lighting and projection for the event. “Everybody from the school volunteered,” he points out, noting that the majority of the projection gear was loaned

by WorldStage, along with four staffers: TJ Donoghue, an alumnus of UNSCA; Michael Kohler, also an alum who did the d3 Technologies media server mapping; Dennis Alfonso, the projector tech; and Zak Haywood from d3, who helped with programming jams. “This is the first time anyone has projected on the White House,” Coates adds.

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IT WAS TWO SHORT NIGHTS TO LOAD IN AND TEST, ON TOP OF HEAVY RAIN ON LOAD-IN DAY, AN EVER-EVOLVING SCHEDULE, AND WORK RULES. TJ DONOGHUE

The projection show comprised a 4-minute 18-second loop that played from just after sunset until 11:00pm, utilizing five Christie Roadster HD20K-J projectors provided by Nationwide Video. These were perched atop three scaffold towers on the South Lawn, draped and decorated with erosion cloth donated by Rose Brand. “It looked like abstract netting in white and black,” notes Coates. The projector towers were placed with one dead-center behind the press stand, about where the Marine One helicopter lands, and two stacks of two projectors each, one on either side about 45° from the centerline.

“Definitely the most challenging aspect was the schedule,” recalls Donoghue. “It was two short nights to load in and test, on top of heavy rain on load-in day, an ever-evolving schedule, and work rules. Other than that, it was really exciting to be part of the first team to projection-map the White House, and the opportunity to meet the president and first lady was really wonderful.”

As Kohler explains, “The schedule was tough. We ended up doing two nights’ worth of work in about two hours of actual allotted time, and it turns out you can’t actually ask for a laser scan of the White House, so we just purchased a model online, and it turned out to be not totally accurate, but it was enough of a starting point that it was better than nothing. The night of the show, we started projecting before sunset, and as the images were beginning to become visible, we started doing geometry correction live as the content was playing in order to make it look as good as possible. At one point, the Halloween-themed black cat in our content showed up, and our mapping was so far off that it looked like it had three eyes, so we had to fix that one pretty quickly in order to not be too scary.”

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COURTESY OF JONATHAN DEULL

As there was also no guest Wi-Fi available on the South Lawn of the White House, Kohler adds, “We had to download most of our content with my WorldStage Wi-Fi hotspot, which racked up quite the data bill.”

The content creation was done by projection designers in New York City, all once again UNSCA grads: Michael Clark, Brad Peterson, and David Palmer, the most recent of these alumni. There was no specific audio to the projection. “They were just playing music for the trick-or-treaters,” says Coates. “If we do this again, we’ll sync music to the video.” In addition to the black cat and the White House dogs, images ranged from a full moon and scary ghosts to jack-o’-lanterns, bats, and electric bolts with sparks that made the columns appear to sway.

In addition, first family dogs Bo and Sunny “saved” the White House from the black cat.

“We had to work through the White House to get enough high-res images and video of the dogs,” notes Coates. “We got them the day before the show and had to cut them out of the background and insert them into the content.”

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RICH RIGGINS

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GEAR LIST PROJECTION Provided By WorldStage 2 d3 technologies d3 4x2pro Media Server 2 d3 technologies D d3 3 4x4pro Media Server With VFC Cards 1 NMRC/Apple Mac Pro 2.7GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon E5 with 30MB L3Cache/32GB/1TB COMPUTER PACKAGE 1 10-Gig Ethernet Networking Package 1 Lightware MX17 DVI-PRO 16x16 (+Test) DVI Matrix Router Package 1 Apantac DE-12HD Multiviewer 12 DVI-I Ins/2 HD/SD-SDI Ins & DVI/VGA Outs 2 Thinklogical Q Series Module Rack Chassis DVI Transmitter x 4 Package 1 Thinklogical Q Series Module Rack Chassis DVI Transmitter x 2 Package 5 Thinklogical Fiber VEL3 DVI Video Extender Receiver x 2 Package 2 Avocent HMX 1070 User Station Package 4 22’’-24’’ Graphics/Video Monitor HDMI, DVI, VGA Package (1,920x1,080) PROVIDED BY NATIONWIDE 5 Christie HD20K-J ProjectorDVI Over Fiber 1 Thinklogical Fiber VEL3 DVI Video Extender x 2 Package, Neutrik NETWORK 1 Cisco Linksys SRW2008 8-Port Managed Gigabit Switch & Fiber Cable Package 1 Netgear WG102 ProSafe 802.11G Wireless Wi-Fi Access Point Package 1 Netgear GS108 Gigabit Ethernet Switch Package 1 Netgear GS105 5-port Gigabit Ethernet Switch 10/100/1000Mbps Package LIGHTING Provided By 4Wall Entertainment Lighting 12 ETC Source Four 70° 12 Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlast TRX 6 Rosco Dual Indexing Revo Gobo Rotator UNCSA EQUIPMENT 1 ETC EOS Programming Wing 1 ETC Sensor3 Portable Pack1 Lex Power Distro 2016 FEBRUARY \\\

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“Norman Coates coordinated the content,” explains Kohler. “He came up with the storyboard and vision of how the content was supposed to come together during a series of online meetings where we collaborated. From there, we split the different sections up among the designers and had each of them deliver the elements needed to build their sections. Some designers delivered pieces, while others delivered entire rendered compositions, but almost all of the files were delivered via Dropbox remotely.”

COURTESY OF JONATHAN DEULL

The team created two separate delivery maps, one for the columns and one for the back facade, so that elements could be separated even if the artists were not working in 3D. “Some designers chose to work flat in [Adobe] After Effects, while other designers wanted to work in 3D using [Maxon] Cinema 4D,” says Kohler. “However, they all delivered files in the HAP codec, so we didn’t need to bother with transcoding onsite. Because our storyboards included the transitions between each section, we were able to plan alpha transitions or dis58

solves between each of the sections.” Once they received the media, they programmed the show from their hotel’s business center on Kohler’s laptop and then loaded all the files into the d3 system at the venue. “We didn’t make too many show flow decisions onsite since we already had a plan,” says Kohler. “We only cut out sections that we realized were never going to be finished on time. Playback was quite straightforward; we simply ran all the pieces we had in a big loop.”

RICH RIGGINS

With the Winston Salem Light Project, Coates works on public art projects and brought that expertise into play to light the façade. Gear loaned by 4Wall Entertainment Lighting included 12 Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlast TRX fixtures placed right at the base of the façade and hidden behind the columns on the balconies, including the Truman Balcony. Rosco dual-indexing Revo Gobo Rotators were used behind the first-level columns.

The lighting design was also done by the UNCSA team. “They needed some treatment, so we volunteered to light it,” says Coates, who designed the system, with students running the cues during the projection-mapping using the school’s ETC EOS programming wing.

Coates found the experience “thrilling and frightening: thrilling to think of where we were, doing something there for the very first time and frightening as things don’t operate the way they do in the theatre or other public art projects I have done.”

Projection-mapping was one part of the big picture for this event, which also featured extensive scenic elements around the grounds and rigged from the building, acrobatic performers flying through the air, fanciful costumed characters, live musicians, and, of course, trick-or-treating for around 5,000 children and their families.

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NORMAN COATES

WE SAW IT NOT ONLY AS A BIG PARTY BUT AS A THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE EMPHASIZING STORYTELLING.

JONATHAN DEULL

TJ DONOGHUE

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Event co-producer Jonathan Deull has been involved with the White House Halloween event over the past four years, after originally being engaged as a production consultant to the White House on rigging for aerial performance. “This is an event produced largely with volunteers and donated resources,” says Deull. “We are deeply grateful to UNCSA, WorldStage, 4Wall, Rose Brand, and our other partners, along with our volunteer designers, cast, and crew. Together, they made it possible to invite 5,000 people, including many military families with kids, to the White House to experience magic, trick-or-treat at a well-known address, and meet the president and first lady.

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ETC Source 4 WRD LED ™

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RICH RIGGINS

“The event was really scaled up this year,” Deull adds. “We saw it not only as a big party but as a theatrical experience emphasizing storytelling. In addition to the projection-mapping, we created an immersive scenic journey through a magical enchanted forest and close encounters with live musicians, fantastic characters, and acrobatic performances including, for the first time at the White House, a fullscale flying trapeze.” The team of volunteer scenic designers included Paige A. Hathaway, Ryan Howell, and Edward Morris, working in consultation with Tony Award-winning designer Donyale Werle.

As in previous years, event co-producer Philip Solomon and his team at Way2Much Entertainment brought a friendly fantasy world to life, creating ten different tented stations decorated and populated with thematic approaches to Halloween. These included New Orleans, the Day of the Dead, Old Timey America (featuring topiary statues of Bo and Sunny dressed as the characters from Grant Wood’s iconic American Gothic painting and set in front of a model of that house), and classic movie monsters in a participatory movie set.

The president and first lady greeted their young guests and handed out White Housethemed treats while standing on a wavy ribbon of orange carpet surrounded by hanging spider webs, with two performers swaying gently back and forth on poles 16’ overhead. “The production challenge is familiar,” notes Deull. “It is a complicated show with lots of moving parts, many unknowns, and extremely limited time and resources. Doing it at the White House only adds to the adventure.”

Coates worked with UNCSA students Will Witner, Clara Freeze, Patrick Angle, and Noah Trimner, as well as fellow faculty member Josh Selander.

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Holiday Ro

THE ART AND CRAFT OF PRESTO

/// B Y S A R A H

oundtable

ONWOOD’S GIFT OF CHRISTMAS

H ROSENBERG

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M

att Webb grew up at Prestonwood Church in Plano, TX, starting his career there at the age of 13 running a followspot. Now 26 and a partner in New York’s UVLD, he has been the lighting designer for its holiday spectacular, The Gift Of Christmas, for the past six years and has served as the production designer for the past two.

The annual holiday tradition runs for 13 performances over two weekends in the church’s 7,000-seat worship center. It has grown steadily since its inception and has become a highlight of the Christmas season for tens of thousands of Dallas-area residents. This year, Prestonwood decided to reimagine the show and turned to Webb and the UVLD team to create and execute an all-new production design.

Cameron Yeary, UVLD’s senior visual media developer, has also had a long history with Prestonwood that culminated this year in his work with Webb to expand the production. I had the opportunity to sit down with Webb and Yeary to discuss their work with Prestonwood and the myriad technical design challenges of a show of this scope and scale.

THE ANNUAL HOLIDAY TRADITION RUNS FOR 13 PERFORMANCES OVER TWO WEEKENDS IN THE CHURCH’S 7,000-

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JORDAN MONK

SEAT WORSHIP CENTER.

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SARAH ROSENBERG: This year, the production changed dramatically from years past. Can you give us a quick overview of the new production design and the process that went into its current iteration?

MATT WEBB: After last year’s show, I sat down with the Prestonwood creative team, led by creative director Andy Pearson and executive producer Larry Brubaker, to start kicking around some ideas about where we wanted to go with the show in the future. We had pushed the limits of our old setup about as far as it could go, and we were looking for a new direction. The new design really centered around two main elements: an all-new, custom-designed show deck and several tracking front-projection panels that could close the stage down.

The new deck tripled our stage space, created different levels for staging casts that often numbered well over 100 per song, and allowed us to move seamlessly from the main deck to the upstage choir loft, a huge help during the nativity section. The tracking panels created a solution to an issue we had long been experiencing with moving so many actors, while another part of the show is meant to be in focus.

The challenge when you work with a proscenium show is that sometimes, it’s desirable to shut down one part of the stage to highlight a different scenic element, and in our old design, there was really no way to do that.

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It was really enjoyable for Andy and me to find a way to reframe the image and change the scale to direct the audience’s attention, allowing parts of the stage to be repurposed during the show without breaking the flow.

Our new staging system comprises eight pairs of panels. One pair of panels is static and creates the show’s main portal, and the remaining seven pairs are capable of being opened and closed, thanks to independent automation hoists that enable us to create several interesting configurations and movements.

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SR: How would you describe the flow of the show in terms of new material versus material that gets carried over from year to year?

MW: The show is informally structured into three acts. The first act is very “pop culture”—Christmas with Santa Claus and all that sort of stuff—similar to the experience of seeing a Radio City Rockettes show.

The second act is a choral section, and the third act is the traditional live Nativity, complete with three camels and seven flying angels. As for new material versus carried-over material, I would say that 30 percent of the show is new music each year.

The new design centered on an all-new, custom-designed show deck and several tracking front-projection panels.

The biggest change we made this year was that we took what had historically been a two-and-a-half-hour show, split up by a 20-minute intermission, and turned it into a 90-minute show that ran straight through with no break. To accommodate the new structure, we did an extensive reworking of the existing music and combined that with a new storyline to create a fresh-feeling Act One. For Act Two, we combined a few new choral songs with a few we had done before. Act Three remained the same musically, but the new production design changed the way it was presented.

SR: Cameron, talk a bit about your history with Prestonwood and how you and Matt came to work together again on this show this year?

CAMERON YEARY: I did my very first Prestonwood show in 2002, and I was brought on board as just the lighting director and programmer. They had brought a show they had been performing in Dallas, The Dallas Christmas Festival, into this new building in Plano, and it was the first time they were staging the production in their new space, which had been designed specially to house this show.

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I was the programmer, but during the process, the designer had health problems, so I was asked to take on the entire show as programmer and electrician.

I was brought back the next year as the programmer and director with a new designer, and I stayed on for the next three years. During that time, I had been changing my professional direction and moving into the video world, so after that three-year stint, we parted ways. This was about the time when I met Matt, and we began to work together on many projects.

I worked with Jordan Monk, who created all of the video content, to make sure there was an efficient and complete way to deliver media with multiple uses across multiple depths to get the most efficiency out of the creation as well as out of the playback system. Overall, the design template for this show was 6,500x1,500, which is quite a big template when you start to design things. The downstage pixel space for projection was 4,760x1,080—three-wide blend, with seven pairs of moving panels to track in that space—and we had several types of LEDs. I was brought on to help them move video in between different elements and resolutions without looking like it’s all losing something in translation.

SR: Matt, can you expand on how you and Cameron worked together?

MW: The scenic of the show this year had several new and complex video elements. Cameron’s expertise and guidance were critical as we navigated how to handle the content creation around these new scenic elements.

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He and I work together on so many projects that we both have a great sense of where the other is coming from. It allows us to dive deep into the needs of a particular show very quickly.

CY: My goal in all my work is to give the graphic artist a canvas and say, “Here, paint on this,” by just pressing a button. I want it to be as turnkey as possible in order to eliminate any last-minute glitches.

SR: In terms of onsite challenges with the Prestonwood production this year, can you go into some detail about what worked and what didn’t?

MW: Creative process-wise, Prestonwood is a unique environment for us, certainly one of my favorites. Andy Pearson is one of my best friends, so we have a great history of developing shows together, but beyond my relationship with Andy and our built-in trust, I think Prestonwood is the most intrepid of any clients we tend to deal with. They possess what we fondly refer to as “fearless execution.” What might start as a crazy idea thrown out at a meeting can quickly go from, “Hey, what do you think of this?” to “Let’s go for it!”

Prestonwood’s ever-growing audience numbers and increase in ticket demand have given them some leeway to push the envelope this year, but our real motivator was to get the show down to 90 minutes in an effort to be more mindful of the audience’s time.

The panels we designed allowed us to create transitions that we didn’t have to allocate time for.

The biggest change was going from a two-and-a-halfhour show with a 20-minute intermission to a 90-minute show with no break.

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Jordon Monk created all the video content, and Cameron Yeary helped transition video between different elements and resolutions.

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What might start as a crazy idea thrown out at a meeting can quickly go from, “Hey, what do you think of this?” to LET’S GO

JORDAN MONK

“

For example, what was formerly an opening processional of the 350-voice choir became an onstage reveal simply by moving panels, and we were able to close down the panels to allow the choir to exit, change costumes, and then reenter in individual roles for the biblical Nativity scene, all without having to stop the action on stage.

SR: What other elements did you design that distinguished this year’s Prestonwood show from past shows?

Also, can you talk a bit about the lighting design?

MW: The flying and scenic automation on this show was pretty intense.

ZFX Flying Effects does it all, and I can’t say enough good things about working with that team. In addition to the panels, there were five, 150’long flying tracks over the house.

The center track was able to tran-

FOR IT!”

sition from flying Santa’s sleigh to a soloist on a flying platform and finally to an angel. In addition, there was another 50’-long track over the stage, a vertical travel point USC, and six drummers who flew over the audience. Brian Owens was the ZFX flying director for the show and did a fantastic job of juggling all of that.

One of my favorite scenic elements of the show was possibly also the most low-tech of all. We created a 70’-wide pinhole drop rigged from a double action Kabuki midstage, so when the panels opened during the Nativity scene to reveal an angel flying over the stage, we had filled the space with fog and shot a ton of lights through the pinhole drop to create a field of stars that the angel appeared to fly though.

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FC EO AV TE UR R SE T O R Y

The new deck tripled the stage space, creating different levels for staging casts well over 100 per song.

JORDAN MONK

For this show, I used an almost completely automated system, including 210 moving lights. The front- and sidelight was from a package of about 60 [Philips VariLite] VL3500 washes and spots. Over the stage for backlight and beamage, we had a system of 82 [Harman Martin Professional] MAC Viper DXs and Profiles. The punch of those units was super important to cut through all of the LED walls. Rounding out the rig were 36 [Elation Professional] Platinum Beam 5R Extremes and SBXs for effects work. The show was controlled by an MA Lighting grandMA2. Gemini Stage Lighting provided the lighting and rigging package for the show, and Nick Deel was our production electrician, about whom I can’t say enough great things. There is nothing easy about putting a rig like this 78

into a space that it isn’t designed for, but he handled it so well.

On the video side, we had four coolux Pandoras Box Quad Server Pro units, two player Pros, four Widget Designer Pro machines, and two PhidgetEncoder boards.

In addition to a three-wide blend with 14 tracking panels treated by three Christie Boxer 4K30 projectors, we also added four high-res LED surfaces made up of Absen F6, ROE MC-7, and Pixled F-11 panels, supplied by XL Video.

SR: On the design side, was there anything notably not used in this show that you would normally see in this sort of production?

CY: There were absolutely no cameras or I-Mag used in this production, and I think that, from the audience’s perspective, there’s

something nice about not having to look at I-Mag during a production of this size.

Because the scale of this show is so big, it moves a lot more like a concert than a theatrical production, and I’ve worked on concerts where people in the tenth row would be watching the I-Mag screen instead of the artist directly in front of them, which feels like it wastes the whole experience. I think Matt and Andy have done a great job of keeping the scale of the show appropriate so that the focus is never on a single character who is so far away as to be difficult to see.

SR: Matt, is there any standout look or moment you’re particularly proud of?

MW: We had to shift the show from the high-impact and high-energy choir numbers of Act Two into the Nativity section, and in order to ramp the audience down, we transitioned with seven minutes of video that allowed us to turn the audience’s attention away from the mass exodus of 170 people from the stage by closing the wall completely over the course of a 25-second transition. The video playback we integrated into the song was originally shot on a green screen of ten high schoolers giving their responses to what the birth meant to them and ending with these same kids doing a reading of the Luke 2 Christmas story. We created a cool look using 34’ tall by 150’ wide, individual head-to-toe video shots transitioning in and out.

As this was happening, Andy conceived this modern, Taylor Swift-sort of version of “Silent Night” that flew the soloist in from the balcony in a bucket to create a moment that turned everyone’s attention from the stage. She performed over the crowd, got

to the stage, and then it flew her out at the end, all in a way that modulated the show elegantly from its major choral section into the quieter Nativity section. Notwithstanding the actress’s deathly fear of heights, this creative solution and its execution turned out to be flawless, and I feel certain that even a wizened theatre professional would have been distracted by this number and not registered the scene change that was going on upstage while this number was going on downstage. This certainly was one of my favorite moments in the show, and we were able to create this unbelievable effect because Andy had no fear of going big to solve a big challenge.

Sarah Rosenberg wears many professional hats emblazoned with titles like “writer” and “event producer.” Her best moments are those in which she is able to merge multiple disciplines in a single effort, like this interview. Contact her at saraherosenb@gmail.com

ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENIC ELEMENTS OF THE SHOW WAS POSSIBLY ALSO THE MOST LOWTECH OF ALL.

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GEAR 46 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Spot 10 Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 Spot 8 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash 42 Harman Martin Professional Viper DX Wash 40 Harman Martin Professional Viper Profile 10 Harman Martin Professional Mac Aura 2 Harman Martin Professional Viper Performance 40 Elation Professional ELED Strip 32 Elation Professional Platinum Beam 5R Extreme 12 Elation Professional Platinum Beam SBX 40 Chauvet Professional COLORado Batten 72 Tour Strip 18 Chauvet Professional 4×4 Nexus Tile 8 Clay Paky Sharpy Wash

Watch video

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90 ETC Source Four ERS 300 Meters of LED Tape 2 MA Lighting grandMA2 4 coolux Pandoras Box Quad Server Pro 2 coolux Pandoras Box Dual Player Pro 3 Christie Boxer 4K30 Projector 2 Absen 6mm LED Walls 6 Pixled F-11 LED Wall 1 Radiant MC-7 LED Wall 30 Total Axis of Automation 1500’ Automated Traveler Track

2014

PRODUCTION TEAM

VENDORS

Creative Director: Andy Pearson Technical Director: Greg Norgeot Production Management: Cyndi Nine, Alex Perry Production/Lighting Designer: Matt Webb Additional Production Design: David Sumner Visual Media Developer: Cameron Yeary Video Content Creation: Jordan Monk Lighting: Nick Deel, James Maddux, David Sietz Audio: Bob Bell, Charlton Combs, Christopher Do, Armando Escobedo, Jon Jensen, Stephen Harms, Alex Mooney, Ryan Sartell, Chris Schutz Media Server Programmer: Branden Roth Projectionist: Georges Tourtellotte Production Rigger: Clay Carter Production Carpenter: Dan Kirsch Lighting & Rigging Gear: Gemini Stage Lighting

LED Gear: PRG XL Video Projectors: Media Solutions Flying Effects & Scenic Automation: ZFX Flying Effects Scenic: Communilux Productions

Watch video

2015

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The new staging system includes eight pairs of panels: one static pair for the show’s main portal and the remaining seven pairs capable of opening and closing with individual automation hoists.

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ZFX Flying Effects handled flying and scenic automation.

JORDAN MONK

Matt Webb created an almost completely automated system, including 210 moving lights.

JORDAN MONK

In addition to a three-wide blend with 14 tracking panels treated by three Christie Boxer 4K30 projectors, there were also four high-res LED surfaces comprised of Absen F6, ROE MC-7, and Pixled F-11 panels.

86 JORDAN MONK

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FE ATURE

Sixty Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 washes and spots provided front- and sidelight, with 82 Harman Martin Professional MAC Viper DXs and Profiles for backlight and beams.

JORDAN MONK

Video equipment included four coolux Pandoras Box Quad Server pro units, two player Pros, four Widget Designer Pro machines, and two PhidgetEncoder boards.

JORDAN MONK

The rig included 36 Elation Professional Platinum Beam 5R Extremes and SBXs for effects work.

JORDAN MONK

JORDAN MONK

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Webb created a 70'-wide pinhole drop rigged from a double action Kabuki midstage and filled the space with fog and lights to create a field of stars that the angel appeared to fly through.

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All Bohem Fir Rhaps

RIVERVIEW SYSTEMS GROUP SHOWCA SKILLS FOR NATIONAL

/// B Y E VA N

COURTESY OF RIVERV

mian red sody Up

ASES CREATIVE AND TECHNOLOGICAL L SALES CONFERENCE

N WILLIAMS

VIEW SYSTEMS GROUP

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n the heels of our 2015 event work for the Stryker Neurovascular Global Sales Conference in Prague, my company, Riverview Systems Group, partnered again with the medical technology provider to execute a comprehensive and challenging production for their 2016 National Sales Conference, held January 27-30 in California. The latest event marked the eighth year we have collaborated with Stryker on this all-important sales force meet, with Riverview again taking the full-service approach by providing concept/theme development, stage design, original video content, plus the technology and expert personnel to execute it.

You hear it all the time: Content is king. No surprise there, but more than ever before, content is driving production design, rather than the other way around.

Clients demand such things as wide aspect ratios and display technologies to fit with their content desires, and we, as content providers, have to muster the design acumen and technologies to make it happen.

Our work with Stryker on this year’s conference allowed us to put this into practice in a big way.

Our company’s relationship with Stryker has grown exponentially over the years, with Riverview taking on an ever-increasing role beyond designing the complex stage, which featured a sleek LED screen display and 3D projection mapping.

In addition to developing the overall concept and theme of the conference, we also produced a series of video segments seen throughout the event, as well as crafted 94

an array of digital content ranging from a mobile app to digital signage and assorted print material. Why has our relationship with Stryker grown? Because we consistently make the right decisions and, most importantly, really listen.

These conferences are like the Academy Awards for the Stryker sales force, celebrating their achievements from the past year and motivating them for the coming one.

After our experience delivering creatively at the global conference, they trusted us to handle the execution of this new, technically challenging event.

Stryker Neurovascular is a global organization and wants its messaging to be consistent; by producing this conference, we were essentially providing the template for additional sales events that will take place throughout 2016 around the world. That, of course, brings its own set of challenges thanks to different technical formats in different regions.

Our recently launched Creative Services division offered us the opportunity to showcase our full palette of services, starting with creative concept development. The overall theme, “Ignite,” built off the global conference theme, “The Fire Within,” and symbolically reflected the event’s mission: to inspire the Stryker sales team and spur them toward even greater success in the coming year.

We approached the messaging like an ad campaign, in which we previously laid out the concept of “The Fire Within” at the global conference and were building on that idea and taking it up a notch.

The recently launched Creative Services division offered Riverview Systems Group the opportunity to showcase their full palette of services.

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Riverview Systems Group designed a complex stage, which featured an LED screen display and 3D projectionmapping.

We achieved that by designing a main stage that featured a sleek, immersive set with a primary wide screen that delivered the bulk of the visual content we designed.

This main screen was surrounded by a series of six smaller screens with accompanying LED panels and mirrors placed at 45° angles. It was a look that added both a sense of texture, color, and motion to the stage, while also serving as an additional way to deliver branded graphics, images, and text.

The LED panels, coupled with the mirror units, provided a sense of depth to the set, seemingly curving around the audience, bringing them into the message and the visuals.

Ultimately, it’s all about building moments. What I mean by that is when you start a conference and bring everyone into the general session, you want to build up to it in a dramatic way. This can be done by 96

using a combination of onscreen graphics with music, live performers, or inspiring video content. The point is to get people to emotionally respond to your message.

One of the important things when you’re developing an environment like this is to be able to create a flexible space that makes each speaker feel comfortable and their presentations look unique. It’s crucial to give the client a wide canvas on which we can build different environments or themes, while still maintaining a sense of consistency to the event overall. When we built this out, we took into account the different uses for the room, such as opening and closing keynote sessions where corporate executives presented their slides on the large main screen along with our graphics packages. We built the stage in such a way that it was not just beautiful to look at, but flexible enough for the different types of

A series of six smaller screens with accompanying LED panels and mirrors at 45째 angles surrounded the main screen.

presentations and information that needed to be communicated to the audience.

Even before we pitched the set design to the client, they had to know that it would work. That meant building out the full set in our warehouse and testing the technology in realtime. Moving from a creative vision to a technical reality is where 28 years of experience comes into play.

Rigging the immersive experience

proved to be uniquely challenging. Since the magic of the production design required the LED panels to be at a 45째 angle to the mirror surfaces, we needed to explore several options to make it appear that the surfaces were floating off the ground at the appropriate angle to each other. Scott Robinette, our in-house engineer and set builder, overcame these obstacles using a series of custom mounting solutions.

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Riverview developed the concept and theme of the conference, produced a series of video segments for the event, and crafted an array of digital content.

Using ROE Visual Black OnyX P3.47 LED tiles proved a critical part of the design process. Because of the refraction process of the mirror surfaces, we needed both an impressively wide viewing angle and a beautiful resolution. From the audience’s perspective, the 110° horizontal viewing angle worked perfectly, and of course, the 3.47mm pixel pitch and 5,000:1 contrast ratio were equally as impressive.

Other technology that proved crucial to the delivery of this project included the Barco E2 switcher, in conjunction with content delivery via the Synchromesh media playback system. One Synchromesh DDR allowed us to deliver multiple native resolutions for the main screen blend projectors, the six outboard vertical screens, and the 98

LED modules simultaneously through E2’s multiple HD-SDI outputs.

Beyond the look of the main stage, Riverview also produced several video content packages seen throughout the conference, including a series of “Woman On The Street” interviews with Stryker executives and conference attendees.

Even more impactful was the emotional conference opening video montage, produced by Johnathan Regnier, our senior creative manager. The heartwarming film captured the special moments in life where one might feel “ignited,” such as first steps, first time riding a bike, college graduation, first job, first sales win, all of which were tied conceptually to the conference theme and sales roles at Stryker.

A series of custom mounting solutions helped make the mirror surfaces appear to be floating off the ground.

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Our work for Stryker’s national sales conference continued the conversation we started: Now that you’ve discovered that fire within, let’s ignite it, and let’s get to work. Our goal was for attendees to come away feeling inspired and ready to achieve great things in 2016.

We’re always aiming to bring a new perspective to event production, especially with a client with whom we’ve had a long-term relationship. The event allowed us to marry our technical ingenuity with our passion for artistic excellence to create an incredible audience experience. Not only is this deeply satisfying for my talented team and I, but it is a testimony to our work that we have repeat business from many of Silicon Valley’s most influential brands. Though we are entering our 29th year in the rental and staging business, our truly full service offering is really just taking off in 2016.

Evan Williams is the CEO/co-founder of Riverview Systems Group in Milpitas, CA, a Silicon Valley-based technical and production design firm established in 1987 that produces engaging and innovative live events. Recognizing that creative delivery of digital media is the new frontier of event staging today, Riverview offers a comprehensive array of technical and creative services, as well as an extensive inventory of state-of-the-art, well-maintained equipment including cutting-edge wide-screen projection, media server delivery, and LED display technology.

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From the audience's perspective, the 110째 horizontal viewing angle of the ROE Visual Black OnyX P3.47 LED tiles worked perfectly.

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What’s Trending Audio (And Video) Gear /// BY EL L EN L A MP ER T- GRE A U X

S

ound design obviously comprises more than making the singers’ voices soar over the strings or recitative resonate clearly to the folks in the back row. When checking in with a few sound designers about recent challenges and solutions in terms of gear, it was interesting to get their responses. From fitting a small loudspeaker into a shallow show deck, to finding a better way to cable an orchestra pit, and ensuring minimal latency for video monitoring, there is definitely more to this art than meets the ear.

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K-Array KZ12

CHARLES COES

For The Confederacy Of Dunces at The Huntington Theatre Company (December 2015), Mark Bennet and I had a big job in the sound department. In addition to reinforcing the live musicians and voices in a very open set in a huge fly tower, we had to create the illusion that there were props on stage. Every one of the props was to be played by sound. We had to convince the audience that books were in people’s hands—opening, pages turned, closed, and dropped—glasses clinked, ice dropped in, bottles opened and poured, and cockatiels swooped in to attack our lead. It was clear that we needed to find a way to hide some speakers on the set. Unfortunately, the scenery was a wonderfully conceived blank slate, which left us with no stationary vertical surfaces to hide in, so we had to get speakers into the floor, which was a 3'' show deck, not quite high enough to hide any of our usual suspects. We needed speakers capable of creating a high enough SPL to lead the aural image for the entire 850-seat Boston University Theatre.

After searching for a while, I found the K-Array KZ12s, which seemed to fit the bill. They were tiny enough to fit and could push out enough energy to work for us. Because these would be a purchase on a tight budget, I wanted to be sure and went to demo them, and was absolutely astounded at how good such tiny speakers could sound.

When combined with a matching subwoofer and amplified by their proprietary amp, they had a very pleasing frequency response. Josh Radin of K-Array America looked a bit askance at me when I asked if we could turn the sub off. We wouldn’t be using their subs and would be relying on some EAW subs on stage to add some low end in, so we needed the KZ12s to stand alone in the mid-range. With their proprietary amplifiers, or at least some compensatory equalization, they were still very impressive. The KZ12s did a fantastic job, driven by the house amplifiers, and equalized the LCS unit that was allowing us to manage spatialization for the show.

The speakers produce 82dB SPL (1W, 1 meter) and, despite their tiny size, go down to 250Hz in their frequency response in a package that is less than an inch wide, four inches long, and half an inch deep*. This makes them an absolutely fantastic option for hidden effects speakers. I look forward to having the perfect answer to situations where we need hidden speakers on a realistic set for things like cell phone rings, doorbells, phones, iPods, and radios. These are speakers so diminutive that one of the manufacturerprovided rigging options is an adhesive strip.

Perhaps they aren’t what you’d want for your mains, but for a well-hidden speaker for a specific, mid- or high-frequency sound effect, they are absolutely ideal. Who doesn’t like a speaker whose “road case” fits in the palm of your hand? *Actual dimensions are 3.9'' long by 0.6'' wide by 0.5'' deep.

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BlackMagic Design Smart Videohub 40x40

JOSH REID

One of the most overlooked and misunderstood aspects of theatrical sound design is the support given for the video monitoring infrastructure. Since latency and electrical integration are common concerns of the sound department, this task has been appointed to us to execute and maintain. Any backstage visual support including, but not limited to, orchestral video and scenic automation monitoring must provide the highest possible resolution with low-latency realtime response.

Since realtime latency is not necessarily a concern of other industries, such as broadcast and video production, the task of providing this support has been rooted in practices and technology that are dependable but tremendously outdated. High-resolution video technology has commonly been dismissed due to its high latency and processing requirements.

On a large-scale Broadway production, such as American Psycho, the need to deliver control over multiple cameras to a number of personnel at various locations has created the demand for a large format, flexible distribution system. One new system on the market that helps facilitate these needs is the BlackMagic Design Smart Videohub 40x40 and Videohub Smart Control units. The combination of these devices provides the ability to distribute high-definition video to multiple locations with minimal latency and maximum control.

Configured in a star-network, with all cameras patching directly to the inputs of the 104

Smart Videohub 40x40, and all video screens patching directly to the outputs, any screen in the system now has the capability to view any camera in the system. In a conventional video system setup, each of these inputs would have to be split, amplified, and distributed to each location based on its specific needs. Since all inputs and outputs meet at a single device, this also allows the ability to sync multiple input and output sources at one location, dramatically improving video latency and dependability.

The added Videohub Smart Control units allow specific locations, such as the stage manager calling desk and automation operators, to change and configure these views on multiple HD monitors at any point during the production with a push of a button. Each control position can be specifically configured for the needs of that viewing location. Since these devices are only control units of the central video distribution hub, there is no longer the need to distribute each input to every location in the production that requires viewing of a specific source, dramatically reducing the installation system size but increasing flexibility and control.

As with any advancement in technology, there will inevitably be obstacles to overcome.

The surge in video technology in recent years has also created a wide variety of video formats.

While the BlackMagic system is compatible with many of these, there are still formats out there that are not compatible. As with any production video system, special attention must be paid to what video formats are being used and how much latency with format conversion is acceptable.

Sound designers can only hope that low-latency, high-resolution video solutions continue to advance with the common market.

TECH ///

WH AT ’S TRENDING

ETS InstaMusician

SHANNON SLATON I have been designing and mixing musicals for years—decades, actually—and I am always looking for ways to improve things. Whether it is how we deal with Clear-Com or video, or whether it is how we program the console and sound cues, I am always looking for better, easier, or more logical ways. One of the complicated aspects of doing musicals is dealing with the orchestra and the pit. It’s a lot of cable running everywhere for all kinds of things, and it takes a long time to set it up and test it. I am always looking for anything that can make the process of cabling an orchestra pit easier or quicker, and the InstaMusician series of baluns by ETS definitely does that.

The InstaMusician came about after some discussions with my friend and associate, Harry Platt. Harry has worked with me on musicals for years, and he understands my joy in streamlining. One day, he suggested running video down the same shielded Cat5. I thought it was a brilliant idea, so I contacted my friends at ETS, and they worked with me to create the InstaMusician.

The InstaMusician carries a discrete sig106

nal down each of the four pairs of a Cat5. There are three balanced audio lines and one video line. Drop one of these babies at every music stand, and run a shielded Cat5 to it, and you have up to three mic lines and a video line that could be used for a conductor shot. You could also use a turnaround on one of the XLR lines to send a monitor signal to a powered speaker—not bad for one Cat5. I run one to each side of a drum kit and one in the center, and that takes care of all my mics and a conductor shot on all sides of the drummer.

I have now used the InstaMusician on the national tour of Bullets Over Broadway, two Elf tours, and the international tour of Shrek, and my pits have never looked so clean and been so easy to cable and troubleshoot. I have a friend who suggested using it to run to a chorus position, which he is now doing for all of his musicals. With one shielded Cat5 run to a chorus booth, he has a mic line, monitor feed, conductor video shot, and a spare line to boot.

This is a great device and very cost-effective. The InstaMusician comes in two model numbers. The SDS903 is a 3’ tail set of three male XLRs and one BNC, and it retails for $225. The SDS904 is a box with three female XLRs and one BNC, and it retails for $200. Give them a try and tidy up those pits.

LOADOUT ///

F I F T Y S H A D E S O F D AY

Fifty Shades

Of Day SUPER BOWL 50 HALFTIME SHOW SHINES IN BROAD DAYLIGHT /// BY M A RI A N S A NDBERG

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he Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show featuring Coldplay, BeyoncÊ, and Bruno Mars might have taken place in nearly full daylight, but that didn’t make the design aspects of the show any less interesting (yes, including the lighting design).

Production design was by Bruce Rodgers of Tribe, inc., with lighting design by Robert Barnhart of Full Flood, and screens creative direction by Ben Miles, with content by Northhouse Films, Shop, and My Accomplice. Sets and staging were done by All Access Staging & Productions, video supplied by VER, lighting by PRG, pyro by Strictly FX, audio from Audiotek, and rigging by StageRigging.

Rotate your device and scroll through images for more, and check out extensive coverage of the Halftime Show in our project in focus at livedesignline. com, sponsored by VER. 2016 FEBRUARY \\\ 109

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CHRISTOPHER POLK, GETTY IMAGES

Lighting was programmed by Peter Radice and controlled via a PRG V676 console.

The show’s lighting director was Dave Grill, with gaffers Tony Ward (lead), Paul Bell, Jr, Keith Berkes, Dean Brown, and Joe Faretta, and best boy Jose David Serralles.

From PRG were project manager Robert Minnotte and lead techs Jeff Anderson and Matt Geneczko. Chris Conti was the PRG systems tech.

EZRA SHAW, GETTY IMAGES

The video and projection team consisted of VER account executives Graham Buttrey and Susan Tesh; VER crew chief Michael Spencer; VER assistant crew chief Luke Pilato; VER LED technicians Trace Deroy, David Imlau, Chad McClymonds, Brandon Oosterhof, and Rod Silhanek; and media server tech/VER system engineer Matt Waters.

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Audiotek worked with Meyer Sound to rig SB-1 parabolic long-throw sound beams and SB-3F sound field synthesis loudspeakers at the stadium.

SEAN M. HAFFEY, GETTY IMAGES

Brad Duns and Jenny Stanley were production supervisors, with Amanda McDonough and Shelby Sundling Lathrop as production managers. Renderings for the shows were drawn by CAD and sketch artist Evan Alexander of Tribe, inc.

CHRISTOPHER POLK, GETTY IMAGES

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Harman Martin Professional Atomic LED Strobes backlit BeyoncĂŠ and her dancers for her on-field entrance.

SEAN M. HAFFEY, GETTY IMAGES

Mark Grega and his team at Strictly FX handled pyro for pre-game and the Halftime Show. Grant Sellers programmed and operated DMX, and Adam Biscow programmed and operated the pyro. Ron Bleggi was the SFX crew chief.

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Video was run on an MA Lighting grandMA2 light console, supplied by VER, with two media servers supplied by Jason Rudolph’s Möbius Productions: Green Hippo Hippotizer Boreal V4, with three feeds of video total and five universes of LED pixelmapped in the floor and for the perimeter Chroma-Q ColorBlocks. Media servers were programmed and operated by Rudolph.

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The main stage, 33’5’’ x 35’5’’, featured 309 Winvision 9mm tiles and eight Winvision 9mm ¼ tiles from VER, as well as an LED processing system and power distro feeder. More than 500 Elation Professional Elar Q1 fixtures were mounted in the stage wings.

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Rodgers’ team from Tribe, inc., responsible for production design and renderings, consisted of Shelley Rodgers, Lindsey Breslauer, Evan Alexander, and Amber Stinebrink. Kristen Patterson “KP” Terry handled choreography, and Dana Neillie was the costume/wardrobe supervisor.

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Barnhart’s lighting design featured Clay Paky A.leda B-Eye K20s backing the performers on stage. Gold Clay Paky Sharpys and Ayrton MagicBlade-R fixtures featured heavily around Bruno Mars’ side of the stage, with GLP impression X4 Bar 10 and impression X4 Bar 20 units on the staircase.

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Coldplay’s creative team consisted of Philip Harvey, Paul Normandale, Misty Buckley, Ben Miles, and Chris Martin.

Bruno Mars’ and Beyoncé’s creative team included Cory FitzGerald, Tim Routledge, Joel Forman, and Ed Burke.

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save the dates!

october 17-23, 2016 • exhibits: october 21-23, 2016 • las vegas

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TMB Solaris LED Flares were positioned above the vom behind the main stage while Chroma-Q Color Blocks dotted the stadium perimeter. PRG Best Boys sat around the stadium roof.

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Six Barco ImagePro IIs were used for projection, supplied

by VER, with a BlackMagic Design Smart Videohub 16x16 HD/SDI router, four AJA Video Systems FiDO-TR SDI/LC fiber transceivers for fiber video signal transmission, and one Evertz 7700 multiframe configured for multiviewing, Genlock distribution, and HD/SDI signal distribution.

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All Access Staging & Productions, led by Erik Eastland, built the sets and staging for the production.

That team also included Timothy Fallon, Jr, Jesus Arroyo, Roger Cabot, Kyle Duarte, Micky Dymond, Fidel Garza, Logan Gibson, Dale Jewett, Bobby Marshal, Julio Rocha, and Matt Garrett.

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SUPER BOWL 50 HALFTIME SHOW STAFF Executive Producer: Ricky Kirshner Director: Hamish Hamilton Supervising Producer: Rob Paine Production Designer: Bruce Rodgers, Tribe, inc Lighting Designer: Robert Barnhart, Full Flood Coldplay Creative Team: Philip Harvey, Paul Normandale Misty Buckley, Ben Miles, Chris Martin Bruno Mars/Beyoncé Creative Team: Cory FitzGerald, Tim Routledge, Joel Forman, Ed Burke

Choreographer: Kristen Patterson “KP” Terry Pyro Designer: Mark Grega Costume/Wardrobe Supervisor: Dana Neillie Head Stage Manager: Gary Natoli Stage Managers: Jeffry Gitter, Harve Levine, Arthur Lewis, Vince Poxon CAD & Sketch Artist: Evan Alexander, Tribe inc Tribe, inc.: Shelley Rodgers, Lindsey Breslauer, Amber Stinebrink Production Supervisors: Brad Duns, Jenny Stanley Production Managers: Amanda McDonough, Shelby Sundling Lathrop Screen Creative Director: Ben Miles Content: Northhouse Films, Shop, My Accomplice Video & Projection General Manager: Graham Buttrey VER Crew Chief: Michael Spencer VER Assistant Crew Chief: Luke Pilato VER LED Technicians: Trace Deroy, David Imlau, Chad Mcclymonds, Brandon Oosterhof, Rod Silhanek Media Server Operator: Jason Rudolph 130

Media Server Technician/VER System Engineer: Matt Waters Lead Video Operator: Guy Jones Lighting PRG General Manager: Brian Edwards PRG Project Manager: Travis Snyder PRG Lighting Programmer/Director: Peter Radice Lighting Directors: Dave Grill, Jason Rudolph Gaffers: Tony Ward (lead), Paul Bell, Jr, David Serralles, Keith Berkes, Dean Brown, Joe Faretta Best Boy: Jose David Serralles PRG Chief Tech: Robert Minnotte PRG Lead Techs: Jeff Anderson, Matt Geneczko PRG Systems Tech: Chris Conti Followspots: Timothy Altman, George Sennefelder, John Warburton Arch Light Tech: Quinn Smith Prelite Rep: Tom Thompson Staging, Rigging, Set Staging Supervisors: Tony Hauser, Cap Spence Consultant: Stephen Thomas Head Rigger: Joel Magarian Staging Coordinators: Shalah Cave, Aaron Chawla, Doug Cook, Robert Cray, Matt Gorenc, Glenn Ingram, Graeme Lagden, George Mcpherson, Tony Menditto, Hans Wert All Access Staging & Productions: Erik Eastland, Timothy Fallon, Jr., Jesus Arroyo, Roger Cabot, Kyle Duarte, Micky Dymond, Fidel Garza, Logan Gibson, Dale Jewett, Bobby Marshal, Julio Rocha, Matt Garrett Staging Assistants: Daniel Carlton, Michael Mutti Props: Jan Parent, Carl Robertshaw

Howard Siegel and Adam Sauer from National Flag and Display Co. supplied banners and flags.

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Time-lapse of rehearsal tunnel run

Time-lapse of rehearsal load-in

Pyro & Special Effects Pyro Lead: Dave Yarbrough Pyro Techs: Ciro Scotto D’Antuono, Justin Seedle Pyro Product Wrangler: Eric Muccio CA Local: Sherry Souza Flame Lead: Tony Alaimo Flame Techs: Mike Hartle, Jeffrey Kasdroff Pyro Field Assists: Anthony Amato, Joey Atkinson, Max Kennedy, Chad Whitlock, Eric Whitlock System Engineer: Clifford Sharpling DMX Operator/Programmer: Grant Sellers SFX Crew Chief: Ron Bleggi Pyro Operator/Programmer: Adam Biscow

Bench Tech: Bill Brungard Stadium Crew/Quad Leader: Dave Caldwell, Jay Helgedalen, Bryan Kiger, Max Valasek Stadium PA Optimizer: Scott Harmala FOH: Alex Guessard

PA & Monitors Project Manager: Paul Liszewski Engineer In Charge: Kirk Powell Stadium PA Mixer: Jack Bowling Monitor A2: John Protzko Compound Manager: Eddie Safarian Rack Room Engineer: Luis Montes De Oca RF Engineer: James Stoffo RF Techs: Deb Munini, Cameron Stuckey Stadium Mix A2: Graig Greco Stadium & Monitor Crew: Dave Ingels, Danny Lane, Jim Sanders Monitor Lead: George Schwartz

Vendors Sets and Staging: All Access Staging & Productions Video: VER Lighting: PRG Pyro: Strictly FX Audio: Audiotek Rigging: Stage Rigging Card Stunt: Joe Kivett Productions Umbrellas: Carl Robertshaw, Richard Ince Birds: Karl Longbottom, Kites Up Digital Printing Banners and Flags: National Flag and Display Co. (Howard Siegel, Adam Sauer)

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A1 and Production Broadcast Mixer: Paul Sandweiss Pro Tools Operator/Mixer: Pablo Munguia PA Designer/FOH Entertainment Mixer: Patrick Baltzell Entertainment Monitor Mixer: Tom Pesa Lead Audio A2: Skip Kent Audio A2s: Craig Rovello, Justin Milner, Sean McClintock

The DJ booth on the main stage was manned by producer Mark Ronson and made use of seven Revolution RS 5mm tiles and two Revolution M2 LED processors from VER.

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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

ELLEN LAMPERT-GREAUX Creative Director

STELLA SPIEGEL Audience Development Manager

MEGHAN PERKINS Content Producer

LAURA WELDON Digital Project Manager

DOUGLAS LUGO Show Manager

KELLY TURNER Sales Manager

JOHN ANDERSON Attendee Services Manager

SUZANNE GREGORY Operations Manager

BETH WEINSTEIN Marketing Manager

JAESON LOKATYS Marketing Designer

KEN BAIRD Sales Manager

KELLIE WAHLHEIM Operations Coordinator

PiKA TABLET Digital Implementation

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