Video is the central visual concept to Blue’s energetic, up-tempo show. The artistic director is Kim Gavin, whilst the set is designed by Paul Staples, and the show’s video baseline developed by lighting designer Peter Barnes. Central to video being the defining visual counterpoint is an enormous 60ft by 24ft low resolution Westerhagen LED screen from Germany. This was originally designed and built by XL Video for German touring and recording artist Paul Westerhagen. Barnes had heard about the screen, and XL arranged a visit to Europe for him to assess its suitability for the application. Barnes intended to utilize the screen as a moving backdrop, showing a cool mix of highly original liquid-style video graphics content throughout.
Barnes has a great reputation for pioneering new visual ideas. With the Westerhagen being low resolution, it’s ideally suited to receive specific types of video material. Barnes wanted to experiment with shining lights through it from the rear as well as having material on the front. This was easily possible with the LED panels being less densely packed than usual.
The main video challenge for XL was in accommodating Kim Gavin’s desire to also run some high definition footage on the screen. The show has a storyline revolving around the band escaping from prison and a meteor storm about to hit to the earth, which is introduced and kept rolling with newsroom flashes and other video inserts. XL found a solution for running and integrating the two different types of video into the visual equation by inserting an 8 x 4 module block of Unitek 17 mm high resolution screen in the ‘middle’ of the Westerhagen. The effect makes the high definition block of screen appear like a TV, bordered on all sides by the large Westerhagen screen.
To maximize the entire screen surface area and use it for graphic effects, video patterns and texts from two sources - conventional video footage stored on hard drive and a RADLite system - the Unitek screen is masked and matched in with the Westerhagen modules when not showing high definition material. This is achieved via a Magic DVE effects device. This generates a downstream key mask and also has a DVE behind it, thereby matching the pixels of the Unitek to those of the Westerhagen.
Barnes specified the RADlite system to create video effects, animations and moving wallpaper, mixed at the lighting desk. The RADlite system itself resides in XL’s backstage video rack, and is triggered by DMX from the Icon Show controller run by lighting director Baz Halpin, before being output on the screen by live video director Ruary MacPhie.
Other video animations and effects were supplied by Blink TV, produced by their in-house production team, including all on-screen text messages and images for ‘One Love’ and ‘All Rise’ plus glitter balls and stars and spangly bits for the seventies medley. These, plus the newsroom footage, produced by Fishpot, are stored on two Doremi hard drives.
In addition to all these sources, XL Video is also supplying the tour with a four camera live playback IMAG system. This is beamed on to two 14 x 12ft fast fold, soft side screens by two Barco G10 projectors. Sony D35 cameras are in the pit, onstage and at FOH, and this live element of the video show is directed by Ruary MacPhie using a GVG4000 mixer/switcher.
(Ruth Rossington)
