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Big Fish photo by Paul Kolnik

Big Fish on Broadway

Big Fish is certainly one of the most eye-popping spectacles to hit Broadway in years. The stage adaptation of Daniel Wallace’s book, which was also turned into a film by director Tim Burton, is a vibrant musical that features high energy numbers, dozens of scene changes and some dazzling visuals in which scenic and projection design are integrated into a seamless blend. The story concerns Will Bloom (Bobby Steggert), a young husband and expectant father who is trying to discern the truth behind the tall tales frequently orated by his flamboyant father Edward Bloom (Norbert Leo Butz), a small town Alabama man whose health is in decline.

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Crumbling Lady Justice and other live concert gags are preserved on the film. Image courtesy of Tait.

A Dark Visual Feast: “Metallica Through the Never”

Metallica: Through the Never merges both the concert and dramatic narrative genres into a feature film with visually stunning results. The Picturehouse Entertainment film is an unusual hybrid that reflects the band’s “go big or go home” style. Even the release of the movie was unique as it first opened exclusively in 3D IMAX in the U.S. before going to wide release a week later. Directed by Nimród Antal, who also co-wrote the script with Metallica, the dramatic portions of the story are interwoven with a Metallica concert that, literally at times, bleeds together for a dark visual feast based on the band’s hardcore metal music.

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Umphrey's McGee performs at the 2,600-capacity Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA. Chad Smith Photography / jambandsjam.com

Umphrey’s McGee

No Matter the Size of the Venue, Big Looks All Around

Since Jefferson Waful, LD for jam band moe from 2003-2008, took over for Umphrey’s McGee LD Adam Budney in late 2008, the band performs in a variety of venues — everything from theaters to sheds and arenas. They can range in size from Oklahoma City’s Diamond Ballroom, with a 14-foot trim and a capacity near the 1,000 mark, all the way up to the 12,000-seat Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta, GA.

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Pet Shop Boys 2013 Tour Photo by Steve Jennings

The Pet Shop Boys “Electric” Tour

The Pet Shop Boys duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, (vocals, keyboards, occasional guitar) and Chris Lowe (keyboards, occasional vocals) may not be boys anymore — they’re in their mid- and late-50s — but the electronic pop duo have continued their ability to top the charts through the decades. Their 2013 Electric tour supports the July 2013 album release of the same name — the band’s 12th. The album was both a popular and critical success, with U.K. chart results besting any of the duo’s albums since the release of Very in 1993. Since the duo first hit the big time in the mid-1980s, they have sold more than 50 million records.

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Univeristy of Michigan vs. Notre Dame, Sept. 7, 2013

The Big House Under the Lights

Michigan Stadium Halftime Crew Goes Long with Beams and Lasers

On Sept. 7, 2013, at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, MI, the University of Michigan Wolverines squared off against the Fighting Irish from Notre Dame in the latest football matchup in a rivalry that dates back to Nov. 23, 1887. (After giving the Notre Dame students a few pointers about the new sport, Michigan won, 8-0).

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Robe Robin Pointe

Robe Robin Pointe

Energy efficiency and fast action— that’s what’s on everyone’s wish list as of late.  We want the most out of a fixture with as little power consumption that moves like a bat outta hell. Having a fair price doesn’t hurt, either! Robe Lighting has answered these demands with the introduction of the Pointe. Let me start off by saying that regardless of how you hear it pronounced in Europe, the correct pronunciation is “point,” not “poin-tay.” I have it straight from the mouth of the people from the factory on that one! But that’s really besides the… well, you know.

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Jack Kelly, Group One Ltd.

Group One Ltd.

Lighting and sound have come a long way in the past 40 years. Gone are the days when it was enough just to get a spotlight and a microphone on a performer, or for the adventuresome, to use a little vegetable oil and food coloring on an overhead projector for “special” effects. Today, audio and lighting installations can be as massive and complex as the creatures and structures in the films Transformers and Elysium.

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The conference's main stage at the Indiana Convention Center. Photo by Robert Gough.

ExactTarget Connections Conference

Dodd Technologies Serves Up a Visual Feast for Multi-Venue, Three-Day Convention

Working a three-day convention event with thousands of attendees and a plethora of live video content is already a challenge for collaborating companies, but add in a live concert event as well as video walls in two other locations, and the juggling act becomes trickier. But Indianapolis-based Dodd Technologies was up to the task of tackling the ExactTarget Connections conference, which included speakers Jim Collins, Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a presentation by Pinterest.

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PRG’s Zach Alexander, the Media Operator on Oblivion, is shown controlling the Mbox media server using the V676 Control Console. Photo by David James/Universal 2013

Lighting ‘Oblivion’ with a Projected Sky

Universal Studio’s sci-fi feature film, Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise, presents a post-apocalyptic earth, which would seem to demand heavy visual effects (VFX), and while there are many in the film, there are some surprising sequences that are, in fact, not CG. For two of the primary, futuristic sets — the Sky Tower and the Cloud Tower — cinematographer Claudio Miranda, ASC, and director Joseph Kosinski filmed most of the visual effects live in-camera rather than using green screens. It’s an old-school style that immerses the actors in the actual environment, but not the first instinct of filmmakers when the environment is supposed to be a cloud-surrounded glass-walled apartment 3,000 feet in the air.

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Keith Urban 2013 tour photo by Steve Jennings

Keith Urban “Light the Fuse” Tour

Australian country music singer Keith Urban embarked on his “Light the Fuse” tour, in support of Fuse, his eighth studio album. The tour launched in Cincinnati, OH on July 18 and ran through Oct. 5 in West Palm Beach, FL on its first North American leg. Urban has two more North America tour legs mapped out for Oct. 18-Dec. 8, 2013 and Jan. 9-Feb. 1, 2014. The album’s lead single, “Little Bit of Everything,” debuted in mid-May and the full album was released on Sept. 10.

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NFL Sunday Night Football Intro video still from Bodega Studios

“Waiting All Day for Sunday Night”

Carrie Underwood and a Digital Cast of Thousands Kick Off the NFL Season for NBC

After six seasons, Faith Hill opted out and Carrie Underwood was chosen to sing the musical introduction to NBC’s NFL Sunday Night Football (SNF). A new intro video was created and shot with Underwood’s take on the theme song to kick off each week’s prime time game. It premiered Sunday, Sept. 8, before the Dallas Cowboys hosted the New York Giants.

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Ultra Music Festival 2013 photo by Adam Kaplan

Andrew Gumper: 20-Year Veteran at Age 31

Andrew Gumper is only 31 years old, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have decades of experience in the live event industry. He has spent the last 20 years immersed in activities ranging from programming lighting consoles, designing the look of various shows and running a production company that took him from his parent’s basement to the helm of AG Light and Sound, one of the fastest-growing production companies in the U.S. PLSN caught up with Gumper to talk about how he did it.

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