Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Clearly Human Lighting for Todd Rundgren Tour

27/04/2021

Clearly Human Lighting for Todd Rundgren Tour posted: 27/04/2021

Artists continue to be creative and inventive in presenting themselves during these pandemic times, and legendary musician, singer and songwriter Todd Rundgren's ground-breaking new virtual tour' concept took imagination, technology and lateral thinking to another level to bring fans the most exhilarating experience possible! The 25 shows were broadcast live over a five-week period from Radius Chicago, a cool new 3,800 capacity cutting-edge live performance venue in an old Pilsen steel factory. Each day was orientated towards a particular city, complete with special locally related video content, and people living in the relevant area able to access advanced tickets before the box office was opened further.

Lighting designer Hans Shoop utilized Robe BMFL Spots, Spikies and a RoboSpot system controlling three BMFL Follow Spots to great effect on the rig - among other lights - fulfilling a brief to create as much normalcy as possible for a live band show! They specifically didn't want the production looking like a video shoot nor a band in a void' recording scenario, a mission for which he worked closely with Alex Skowron.

Alex - also an LD in his own right - had been the production designer on Rundgren's 2004 Liars' tour. When he heard about this virtual tour project, he reached out to the production team headed by production / tour manager and monitor engineer Paul Froula and asked if he could assist.

He explained how the mission was to make the space appear nondescript and neutral so the audience could think they were actually touring. The last thing we wanted was to have the same architectural features coming up show after show, so we blacked out any features that would give away the fact we were in the same space for 5 weeks and turned the room into a black box.

Alex became involved on the lighting and visuals production, sourcing kit and crew and crunching logistics which included keeping the equipment supplies as local as possible. He was also indispensable in materializing the design explained Hans, adding that Alex's vast fund of experience and attention to detail freed him up to concentrate on finessing the lighting design.

Having worked with the artist for the last 12 years, he knows what he likes and in this case was given a relatively open brief together with a few key constraints, and in response submitted a variety of design ideas which were finessed by Todd Rundgren himself.

Hans' fundamental task was to ensure the artist was well lit at all times and from all angles - so the RoboSpot system helped enormously providing a key, a fill and a backlighting BMFL Follow Spot tracking him constantly. These three luminaires were all controlled by one operator with the RoboSpot Base Station located near the FOH area.

RoboSpot duty was split between five stagehands working in daily shifts throughout the week for the two-hour performance, and they were all kept animated throughout the set tracking Rundgren's many moves!

As well as the tight key lighting, Hans also kept the background elements looking interesting and relevant from all angles.

The full lighting rig was supplied by Upstaging, who rigged 12 trusses above the Radius' stage - seven for lighting, four for scenics including two kabuki drops, and one upstage supporting the LED wall.

The 24 x BMFL Spots were rigged all over the lighting trusses and on the deck used for the key light and specials across the 12-piece band, as well as for lighting scenic elements, keeping the quality of the light and the gobo set consistent .

The 32 x Spikies were lined up along the vertical bars of two pods flown each side of stage and were an essential visual piece filling the wing voids on camera. They became more apparent as the show arc unfolded, explained Hans, initially backlighting the kabuki cloths during the early stages of the show, then after these dropped providing punchy, piercing beams firing through the haze towards the end of the set.

While he had originally spec'd LEDBeam 150s, the little Spikies were in stock at Upstaging and came into their own!

The zoom, prism and Flower effects and the 360 continuous pan-and-tilt gave me multiple tools for crafting a diverse array of looks, stated Hans.

It was his desire for elegant and efficient follow spotting that initially led him towards the RoboSpot system, and from that he decided that adding BMFL Spots would add continuity. He likes many things about these luminaires including the color mixing and the excellent range of color corrected whites.

Hans often specs Robe for his projects and sees them on numerous festivals, house rigs and rental company stock lists. I'm always happy when I see Robe on the kit list! he confirms.

While lighting this show was just like lighting a live performance in many ways, it also required an extra layer of thought and intelligence and considering things like keeping contrast levels appropriate for the cameras.

Alex highlights the cruciality of the human factor' in this project. Gear is gear but it takes the right staff to keep it running smoothly and properly. I tried to use all my regular vendors as I knew they would be hugely enthusiastic and help make it a successful show.

The thousands watching remotely on a device somewhere - also visible to the band on video tiles at the front of stage - and the 30 in-person (masked and tested) audience allowed in the venue each night were treated to a sensational set featuring music from the seminal 1989 Clearly Human album plus many others from Rundgren's prolific back catalogue.

Like everyone, Hans absolutely relished being back at work after the longest break in his professional career as well as seeing a living breathing show every night with great music
LINK: https://www.live-production.tv/news/shows/clearly-human-lighting-todd-...
See more stories from liveproduction

Most recent headlines

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

01/05/2025

Nielsen Launches The Ad Supported Gauge, a New Look at the Ad-Supported TV Landscape

72.4% of overall TV viewing in Q1 2025 is of content that includes advertising ...

01/05/2025

LiveNow From Fox Hits a Half Billion Q1 Views on YouTube

NEW YORK LiveNow From Fox, Fox Television Stations' national news streaming service, has released viewing data showing the first quarter was the best quarte...

01/05/2025

Android TV Expected to Dominate Smart, CTV Market by 2030

The global installed base of Smart TVs and Connected TV (CTV) devices will reach 4.2 billion units by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2.65 billion in 2025,...

01/05/2025

Samsung TV Plus Adds 5 New Sports Channels

Samsung TV Plus has announced that it is expanding its existing lineup of more than 50 sports channels with five new free, ad-supported streaming television (FA...

01/05/2025

Carlo DiMarco Joins USSI Global

MELBOURNE, Fla. Carlo DiMarco has joined USSI Global as vice president of strategic marketing and growth, with responsibility for strategic business development...

01/05/2025

NAB to FCC: Dont Delete Certain Retransmission Rules

WASHINGTON The NAB has filed a wide-ranging rebuttal to proposals by the pay TV industry that the FCC delete and/or significantly change rules governing retrans...

01/05/2025

Fired CPB Board Members Sue Trump Administration

WASHINGTON The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from firing three of its board members, claiming the pre...

01/05/2025

Riedel Opens Hong Kong Office

HONG KONG Riedel Communications today said it has opened a new office in Hong Kong, enhancing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region....

01/05/2025

NextGen TV: Sinclair Applauds New ATSC 3.0 D2M Phones

MUMBAI, India & BALTIMORE In a development that could advance efforts to bring NextGen TV to cellphones, FreeStream Technologies, Lava International and HMD hav...

01/05/2025

Screen Australia empowers 100+ distinctive Australian narratives

01 05 2025 - Media release Screen Australia empowers 100 distinctive Australian narratives All The Boys Are Here writer/director Goran Stolevski and It s All...

01/05/2025

How PFX Delivered 750 VFX Shots in Just Four Months For Anthony Hopkins Thriller Locked

How PFX Delivered 750 VFX Shots in Just Four Months For Anthony Hopkins Thriller...

01/05/2025

Careline's New Wave Makeup Commercial Shot With URSA Cine 12K LF

Careline's New Wave Makeup Commercial Shot With URSA Cine 12K LF Brie Clayton May 1, 2025 0 Comments CAD Studios relies on large format, full fram...

01/05/2025

Putting the DPA 2017 to the voiceover test

Voice actor and producer Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff shares his first impressions of the DPA 2017 Shotgun Microphone, from real-world auditions to side-by-side compa...

01/05/2025

Toto take DiGiCo Quantum 852 and Quantum 338 on world

With my previous console, Freeman recalls, I always had to run a Waves server for EQ and compression, but when I switched to DiGiCo, I found it was such an op...

01/05/2025

Brand new culinary showdown comes to RT Player

Stream all episodes ofLook Who's Hangry from April 29 An RT Player Original in partnership with Heinz...

01/05/2025

Tnaiste Simon Harris, Lottie Ryan and Boyzlife among guests on Friday's Late Late Show

Here is your host, Patrick Kielty! T naiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and T...

01/05/2025

New documentary Bad Nanny tells the story of serial scammer Samantha Cookes

Exclusive interviews and un-seen footage feature in new two-part series...

01/05/2025

May the Cloud Be With You: GeForce NOW Unveils 21 New Games This Month

May brings more than just rainbows and sunshine - it's also time for fresh adventures and epic battles. This GFN Thursday spotlights 20 can't-miss games...

01/05/2025

RT Investigates reveals details of Christian Brothers who managed congregation's assets are now convicted jailed child sexual abusers

RT Investigates reveals details of Christian Brothers who were senior leaders a...

01/05/2025

RT Statement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project

RT Statement The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project is one of the projects that was funded from the proceeds of RT 's land sale in 2017, the init...

01/05/2025

RT is Supporting 28 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this May

Watch our promo: RT Supporting the Arts | What's on This May, RT is delighted to support Bealtaine Festival, Fastnet Film Festival, and Dublin Dance Fest...

01/05/2025

Wandercraft Begins Clinical Trials for Physical AI-Powered Personal Exoskeleton

For Nicolas Simon, advancing the field of robotics is a personal mission that could change his siblings' lives. Two-thirds of Simon's family members us...

30/04/2025

Inside the Archives: Preserving and Saving At-Risk Films Takes a Village

Film elements held at the Deluxe warehouse in March of 2015. Photo by Luis Silva...

30/04/2025

Spotify and EA SPORTS Team Up To Pilot a New Kind of Audio Experience

EA SPORTS FC 25 fans in Australia and Saudi Arabia, get ready to immerse yourselves in the beautiful game like never before. Spotify is excited to announce a n...

30/04/2025

Tucker Wetmore Celebrates His Debut Album Release With an Intimate Performance for Fans

The past year has been nothing short of a whirlwind for Tucker Wetmore. After th...

30/04/2025

Spotify Celebrates Mexico's Booming Podcast Scene With First-Ever Podcast Awards

Mexico's love for podcasts is no longer a trend-it's a lifestyle. With m...

30/04/2025

Slam poet Huda the Goddess wins 2025 Les Murray Award

Slam poet Huda the Goddess wins 2025 Les Murray Award 30 April, 2025 Media releases Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Huda Fadlelmawla...

30/04/2025

SBS, NITV and NIDA partner to empower the next generation of screen creatives

SBS, NITV and NIDA partner to empower the next generation of screen creatives 30 April, 2025 Media releases SBS, National Indigenous Television (NITV) and ...

30/04/2025

Why Now is the Perfect Time to Join HPA

By Joyce JC Cataldo The media and entertainment industry is evolving faster than ever. Technology is shifting the way we create, distribute, and experience c...

30/04/2025

On-Demand Imagery: Enhancing Monitoring and Analysis with Advanced Streaming Platforms

An image of Valencia, Spain, in the OneAtlas Living Library...

30/04/2025

WPSD-TV Taps Bitcentral To Modernize Playout

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. WPSD-TV, the NBC affiliate in Paducah, Ky., has selected Bitcentral's Central Control playout system to upgrade the station's mast...

30/04/2025

Baris Zavaroglu Appointed CEO of Zero Density

AMSTERDAM Zero Density, a global provider of virtual studio productions and on-air graphics, has appointed Baris Zavaroglu as its new CEO. Zavaroglu succeeds Of...

30/04/2025

The Avit Group Elevates Audio-visual Experiences with Mar...

The Avit Group, a forward-thinking audio-visual technology company, is bringing over 50 years of combined experience in delivering audio-visual design and insta...

30/04/2025

NXTGENbps brings portable, sustainable battery solutions...

NXTGENbps will be showcasing its latest sustainable battery power solutions at this year's Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), appearing alongside pa...

30/04/2025

Van Dyke Scores Hit with Hockey Comedy Shoresy Shot on Ze...

Van Dyke skates and operates on Shoresy | photo by Dave Ferguson Toronto-based Cinematographer Brett Van Dyke (Heartland, Jann, Carter) stepped into the rink...

30/04/2025

PlayBox Neo presents Next-Generation Smart Media Solution...

Leading provider of media playout solutions PlayBox Neo will exhibit a vast array of significant upgrades to its range of smart media innovations at CABSAT from...

30/04/2025

QuickLink StudioEdge Transforms Remote Contributions for...

ITV Studios is renowned for its award-winning productions, including the reality TV phenomenon I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! Produced by Lifted Ente...

30/04/2025

UK Pavilion exhibitors continue to impact at CABSAT and S...

The UK's presence at this year's CABSAT brings together 20 innovative companies under the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland banner. From advanced infra...

30/04/2025

Lightware Reinforces ESG Commitment with Participation in...

Lightware continues to strengthen its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives by fostering diversity, inclusion, and community engagement within...

30/04/2025

LiveU to Demonstrate LiveU IQ in UK For The First Time at...

LiveU is demonstrating for the first time in the UK, its revolutionary technological breakthrough in IP-video transport, LiveU IQ (LIQ ) and bringing its expand...

30/04/2025

Calrec MPTS 2025 Preview

Stand: A40 Calrec has been putting sound in the picture for more than six decades and is still pushing the boundaries of audio broadcasting with a full range o...

30/04/2025

Buckinghamshire New University opens advanced virtual pro...

Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) has opened its new virtual production studio, designed and integrated by CJP Broadcast. The installation equips students wi...

30/04/2025

Collective Newsroom chooses nxtedition for seamless workf...

Independent news producer in India focuses on delivering stories nxtedition has supplied a complete newsroom system to Collective Newsroom, based in New Delhi,...

30/04/2025

FOR-A Showcases Next-Generation Broadcast Solutions at CA...

Connecting the present, building the future FOR-A, a cutting-edge video broadcast technology company backed by more than 50 years experience, will showcase it...

30/04/2025

DAD by NTP Technology Highlights Upcoming Expansion Optio...

DAD by NTP Technology reports a successful NAB Show in Las Vegas where the company focused on upcoming expansion options in development for its Thunder | Core a...

30/04/2025

CVP and Canon unveil 2025 Canon Stories in Motion Young F...

CVP and Canon UK & Ireland are proud to announce the winning projects from the third annual Stories in Motion Young Filmmakers Awards, which took place on the e...

30/04/2025

beIN scores world first with new beIN STREAM using Syname...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that beIN MEDIA GROUP ( beIN'), one of the foremost global sports and entertainment broadcasters...

30/04/2025

The Canadian Premier League launches new digital experien...

The Canadian Premier League (CPL) today launched a new-look website and app, offering supporters of Canada's men's domestic professional soccer league a...

30/04/2025

FCC's Carr Says Regulator Wants to Empower Local Broadcasters'

WASHINGTON In a wide-ranging press conference, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr had both good and bad news for broadcasters, stressing that ...