XL Video, the UKs leading live music video production specialist, is supplying LED screens, and IMAG projection system and camera / PPU for the continuing Il Divo A Musical Affair tour, now on its final leg through the UK and Europe.
The tours video elements are being co-ordinated on the road by Stuart Merser of Vis- -Vis Video who designed the touring screen and visual concept, is directing the camera mix and also produced all the playback content together with James Cooksey from Basic Monkey and Ben Mason at Red Dog.
Mersers working relationship with XL Video dates back 13 years to the start of his professional career, and comments, They are still my first choice of touring video supplier the service is consistently good and the crew are excellent.
Production Manager Andy Proudfoot and XL also go back a long way, and XLs project manager is Paul Macca McCauley who has worked on the Il Divo account for the last three tours.
The Musical Affair show originated as a special run at the Marquee Theatre in New York, and the set peppered with the odd Il Divo favourite here and there is action-packed with classics from all the best known Broadway blockbusters.
These very theatrical references informed the creative starting point for the touring video, together with the fact that a large section of the tour in Asia was utilizing local productions, so Merser wanted to ensure that the design was likely to be attainable without compromise worldwide.
The addition of a female vocalist for some numbers Lea Salonga being the most regular also added new dynamics to the show, together with Il Divos own input into the brief, which was that they wanted to be able to feel the atmosphere and emotion of each of the different songs through the visual elements of lighting and video.
To attain this goal, Merser worked very closely with Lighting Designer Dan Tiley on developing the show into a highly integrated experience that synergised the two disciplines. Its very evident that lighting and video cues have a fluid and harmonious relationship producing lots of beautiful big pictures emphasising the epic, memorable nature of the songs.
The upstage screen product specified by Merser and Proudfoot is XLs Pixled F-11 measuring 20 tiles wide by 10 high a 2:1 aspect ratio which floats just above the set and completes the scenic essence of the stage.
With an orchestra, conductor, Il Divo and the various soloists onstage, Merser wanted to use video and moving images thoughtfully to achieve two further things a sense of theatrical intimacy however large the venue might be, and a simple and uncomplicated narrative that added to the music and lyrics.
The latest Catalyst media servers feeding the F-11 are all owned by Merser and are timecode triggered, along with the autocue, with a DVI matrix in-line to route the sources to screen.
XLs camera package comprises four Sony HXC-100 HD operated units, two fitted with long lenses and positioned at FOH, and two on track-and-dolly in the pit fitted onto Osprey air pedestals which adds another dimension of movement to the IMAG mix.
Many of the tracks are slow building and require a degree of finesse and subtlety with the mixing and some skilled work from the camera operators, who - Merser is the first to comment - are doing A fantastic job
Hes using a Panasonic MX45O mixer to cut the mix and comments, Its a neat and compact system that fits well into the truck.
The IMAG is output to two 20 ft wide by 11.5 ft high side projection screens each fed by two Barco 22K machines, which he reckons are, Really punchy and great quality.
XLs crew are Roger Nelson (Crew Chief, cameras and LED), Tim Bolland (Engineer), Saria Ofogba (Projection & cameras) and Phil Johnson (Projection & cameras).
They are all talented technicians, very dedicated to the job and we make an excellent team, says Merser concluding that, It has also been great working with XL and a pleasure working with Macca again hes been on the road himself and fully understands and appreciates all the issues and challenges involved.
Photo: Louise Stickland
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
XL Video, the UKs leading live music video production specialist, is supplying LED screens, and IMAG projection system and camera / PPU for the continuing Il Divo A Musical Affair tour, now on its final leg through the UK and Europe.
