LONDON – XL Video UK is supporting the Humbug tour for U.K. indie rockers The Arctic Monkeys, but not in the usual sense. Instead of center-stage I-Mag and moving beam effects, there are no moving lights, and the video plays more of a supporting role, framing the pulsing-but-static light show. The band's lighting and visuals designer, Andi Watson, specified the video elements, configured as two 3:1 vertical aspect ratio screens on the sides of the stage. Made from XL's Pixled F11 LED screen panels, the configuration for the largest tour venues is five F11 tiles wide by 16 high.
And instead of offering up perfectly sharp and color-balanced imagery, Watson sought to achieve a rough-edged, dirty and raw look, creating an organic "analog ambiance" bent on defying any and all "video clichés."
The raw-looking images are carefully woven into the show, and although the screens themselves are symmetric, the imagery shown on them is not.
The video sources are 12 surveillance-quality mini cams, all fed into a Catalyst media server, 24 layers of which is output to screen via a Barco Image Pro signal processor by Watson, using his grandMA lighting console.
The cameras are split into eight remote controlled "domes" and four static cams. The eight robo-cams are positioned all over the stage and operated by four crew members stationed side-stage. There are four cameras mounted on poles at the downstage corners of the stage and four along the front edge.
The images come into Catalyst as monochrome and receive all their editing, coloring and other treatments in there. This includes the creation of a lot of bold, unusual duotones synched with the old-school look of the light fixtures.
For more information, please visit www.xlvideo.tv.