XL Video is
supplying a high powered projection system, Pandora’s Box mapping and media
server control, cameras and PPU to the current #willpower tour by will.i.am,
which originated in the US and is currently in Europe.
The tour’s all-white
stage and production design was created by will.i.am and is heavily video
orientated with minimal lighting. The tech savvy artist is involved with all
aspects of his visual presentation –
overseen by Production Manager Neil Porter – as well as bringing his innovative
musicology and techniques to the stage.
The set features
three large inflatable heads – a larger central one which moves on and offstage
throughout the show – flanked by two smaller ones. All three have a DJ set up
on top and were constructed by All Access, together with three roll-down
projection screens upstage of the heads.
The projection
system design was created by XL’s Clarke Anderson working very closely with
will.i.am and Media Server Programmer Ben Miles who joined the tour in Europe,
and features 12 Barco projectors with a minimum brightness of 26k lumens.
With the three
heads – often running content of will.i.am’s face lip-synched to his
vocals – the dominant aesthetic element
of the show, the main challenge is to ensure that the 270 degree projections
are perfectly mapped with no shadows, a complex task requiring the precise
positioning of every projector at each venue, and each machine having its own
discreet video feed.
Four Barco HDQ-2K40
machines are placed at FOH and run in two pairs. One pair covers the front-most
projected imaged onto the three heads when all are in position, and the other pair covers all three roll drop
screens when they are in the down position and covering the entire back of
stage (with the two side heads staying in position).
The roll drops
also have a header section which is projected on to and remains in place for
the whole performance.
In the middle of
the stage deck left and right is a double-stacked pair of Barco HDF-W26
projectors which cover around to the ears of the two smaller heads. Depending
on the venue, sometimes these are ground stacked on towers and sometimes flown,
and the warps are tweaked daily for full precision as with all the projectors.
Another two
pairs of HDF-W26s flown just wide of the stage on the downstage edge fitted
with .7 wide angle lenses are used to cover the rear cyc projections when the
front projections can’t be used because the centre head is in place.
The Pandora’s
Box media server was specified to handle running content on to the heads during
the initial production rehearsals in LA, chosen for its clever and very
flexible warping and multi-layer mapping capabilities.
Three Pandora’s
Box servers are on the tour, two running live and one as a hot backup, each
offering four outputs, giving a total of 12 x outputs. They are triggered by
MIDI inputs from the backline.
The cyc
projections and header areas are run via a separate Catalyst media server
system, with two machines fed via Datapath X4 devices giving a total of eight
outputs.
There is a
substantial mash-up section in the middle of the show which is improvised each
night – both musically onstage – and video wise, with content run VJ on-the-fly
style by Miles and Pandora’s Box Operator Erica Frost – together with Laser
Operator Mike Hartle from Strictly FX. Miles comments, “It’s a really exciting
way to work and we are all loving it”.
The video
content was originated by a team of video artists in LA with all final editing
and onsite content creation completed by Ian McDaniel from Good Theory. “We
worked very hard to get a good selection of dynamic material,” says Miles, “and
we are all really pleased that Ian was brought onboard”.
The dramatic
opening sequence starts with the stage and two side heads being revealed and
the central roll drop out, with the gap filled by a large piece of circular
scenery. will.i.am emerges from the floor on a stage left and is silhouetted
against the scenic piece by the projections … which then continue as the main
visual element and lightsource throughout the show.
XL is also
supplying two left and right IMAG projection screens in 16:9 format and a five
camera package, three operated Sony’s (one at FOH and two in the pit) and two
Panasonic robo-cams, all directed by Charlie Woods, The images appearing on the
sides are primarily wide shots, and Woods takes in one of the Catalyst outputs
to provide graphics and selected playback content which is output to the side
screens via his Kayak switcher.
Gerard Corey is
the engineer. Clarke Anderson is also the Crew Chief and he, Ben Miles and
Erika Frost are joined by Richie Jewell and Marcus Wareham on projection and
cameras. The tour’s Lighting Designer is Paul Normandale.
XL Video’s
Project Manager for the tour Gareth Jeanne sums up: “This was a very
challenging and complex project. It was clear from the first meetings that the
show was going to be led by the video elements with other departments needing
to make some big compromises to make it work.
“Thankfully this
was fully embraced by the other departments. Everyone came together as one team
and the end product really demonstrates that. Working with will.i.am, who
himself is very technology aware, has been a great experience. It is rewarding
to work with someone who pushes the limits of what can be achieved which
encourages all of us to approach a
project differently.”
