CHICAGO — After completing the first leg of U2’s 360° tour in Europe, the claw-shaped structure featuring the first transformable LED video screen has been erected for U2’s Sept. 12 show at Soldier Field. U2 quickly sold out all 65,000 tickets for Sept. 12, and an extra show was set for Sept. 13.
Read More »LONDON — White Light and United Visual Artists are sponsoring a debate at PLASA ’09 on the future of the visual media, and whether or not still-separate visual disciplines, lighting and video, ought to be thought of as a single entity titled, simply, “visuals.”
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EDINBURGH, Scotland — HSL once again supplied lighting and power distribution to C venues' performance spaces at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. C venues is the home to the largest theatre and new writing program at the event, featuring a schedule of physical theatre, drama, comedy, dance, music, musicals, mime, opera, children's shows, visual arts and more.
Read More »NEW YORK—ESTA has announced the finalists in their second annual Rock Our World Awards. Winners will be named at the ESTA Annual Dinner & Awards Ceremony at LDI 2009.
Read More »This month I’m celebrating a 10 year anniversary. Ten years ago I was fired for the second time in 18 months. Oddly enough, I didn’t receive a single greeting card. Some people might think that getting fired twice in 18 months is no cause for celebration. Those people are wrong.
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“Scream if u luv nick/joe/kevin!” reads the I-Mag, displaying monitored text messages from fans in the arena. Not everyone at a Jonas Brothers concert responds, but anyone arriving without earplugs will leave with a ringing reminder of how excited the girls in the audience can get when even a text-message proxy for the Jonas Brothers comes into view. The lighting and stage design for the boys’ current tour revolves around a Tait Towers-designed main stage with two smaller B stages. The design and gags heighten the excitement of the concert experience for the younger crowd by bridging the distance between the teen fans and their idols.
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For her 50-city Fearless tour, Taylor Swift asked production designer Jonathan Smeeton for a set that was “as multi-dimensional as possible,” featuring a “theatrical presentation of graphics, sets and visual elements.” Smeeton saw the logic of Swift’s ideas. “She is a songwriter who tells stories that have a place and setting,” he said, “so we had the opportunity to provide a very theatrical show for her fans, rather than just dreaming up nice looks for nice songs.”
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LD Stephen Page of DBN Lighting lit the 50-meter-tall façade of the riverfront Port of Liverpool building for LuminoCity, a 30-minute multimedia show that included video projections, pyrotechnics, live performance and sound. DBN also provided gear for the show, which was the culmination of Liverpool’s 2009 Art On The Waterfront event produced by Walk The Plank for Liverpool City Council. Walk the Plank was also produced in conjunction with the Tate Liverpool art gallery and one of its exhibitions, Colour Chart.
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While the recent revival of the classic Broadway musical Guys and Dolls starring Oliver Platt, Craig Bierko and Lauren Graham lasted only 149 performances (including previews), it will likely stand out for a more important reason: its use of 3D video animation to extend the sets and give the show a more cinematic feeling.
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As the lights go up on stage in the Atlantis Resort’s expansive, Imperial Ballroom, 51 teenage girls dressed in matching cobalt blue dresses are waiting nervously in the wings. Only one of them is going to get exactly what she wants tonight; the title of Miss Teen USA 2009. The crew, in contrast, is feeling fine. The stage looks great, the girls look great, and after the show is done, there’s load-out, and then, well, then there’s the Bahamas and the lazy river ride. But more on that later.
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In the pristine setting that is northeastern Pennsylvania resides the staging company known as Mountain Productions. The 17-acre spread is an unlikely location for a business in the live event production industry, but from there they have served local, regional, national and international clients in concert, institutional, educational, religious and commercial productions for exactly 30 years. They provide staging, roof systems, grandstands and bleachers, soft goods, production accessories, as well as rigging needs.
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From a Baltimore teen working raves during high school to designing the video system for the Opening Ceremonies for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, Scott Chmielewski has been at the forefront of lighting and video technology. In this month’s PLSN Interview, we discuss digital technology from the designer’s perspective.
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