(06/05/2014) XL Video is supplying a large customised curved LED screen for James Blunt's current Moon Landing world tour, together with cameras and PPU, projection and crew. The 9.5 metres high by 9 metre wide Pixled F-15 screen was specified by the tour's show's Production Designer Paul Normandale, who together with Lighting Director Glen Johnson and XL Video, started working with Blunt in 2005. This fourth world tour is by far the largest to date in terms of production.
The idea was that the onstage video should be curved at the back and offer the appearance at times that he's walking on it, and also be visible through the risers which reflect the lunar landing pods. The overall vibe was to bring a spacey horizon' look to the video content, very much in the style and spirit of the 1970's moon landings.
Having a curved at-the-bottom screen also gives a different visual perspective to all those in the banked seats of an arena.
XL's Project Managers Phil Mercer and Steve Ackein, Normandale and Johnson worked hard to get the artistic requirements in on budget, Great work from XL comments Johnson.
He and Mercer then worked on creating an ingenious solution for the straight and curved elements to be optimised for touring and deployed onstage as straightforwardly and rapidly as possible - particularly with summer festivals in mind.
In this scenario, the main back part of the screen can be pre-rigged during the overnight changeover and flown off motors as per standard, while the bottom section with the curve is assembled in the changeover immediately before Blunt takes to the stage. It is then wheeled in to place on five special supporting dollies, and the two elements are joined together.
On Blunt's own-shows, this practical quick-build technique is also a great asset to the video crew of four and the process of constructing the entire screen takes around three hours.
The F-15 is mounted in touring frames and packs away into bespoke transportation dollies where the requirement was that these fitted into an 8 ft. row in the back of the truck. Together with the curve support elements, these were fabricated by XL in Belgium.
The camera package comprises of three Sony HXC-100s, two robo-cams and a Kayak mixer, with Mark Cruickshank directing.
Two Barco 12K projectors are feeding left and right 16 x 9 ft side IMAG screens.
All the video playback content is being stored on two Catalyst media servers from Lite Alternative, who are also the lighting contractors. These are run by Johnson for the show, going to both the F-15 screen and the side screens, and the cameras are also fed into the Catalyst, so he and Cruickshank can select different shots throughout the show.
Playback content is also routed to the side screen where it can be treated by Cruikshank via his Kayak, and it's one of Normadale's creative trademarks to blur the roles of stage and IMAG screen as the material and the performance demands.
Normandale, Johnson and video artist Judy Jacob were all involved in creating the playback video content. Normandale oversaw the process and had the final say, it was produced by Jacob, with all the NASA footage sourced by Johnson and three songs of visuals created to a brief by Brett Sullivan.
Mark Cruickshank is joined by three other XL crew LED Tech's Patrick Vansteelant and Marcus Wareham and engineer Gerry Corey.
The show is already receiving rave reviews, and Johnson comments that the service from XL has been, Hand-on-heart brilliant!
Phil and Jo (XL Project Manager Jo Beirne) have worked with us all the way on the curve, the budget and the system and XL are by far the best video production company. They also have a long reputation working with James Blunt, and have really pulled out all the stops this time around, truly making a huge difference to the smooth process of the tour .
Most recent headlines
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
(06/05/2014) XL Video is supplying a large customised curved LED screen for James Blunt's current Moon Landing world tour, together with cameras and PPU, projection and crew. The 9.5 metres high by 9 metre wide Pixled F-15 screen was specified by the tour's show's Production Designer Paul Normandale, who together with Lighting Director Glen Johnson and XL Video, started working with Blunt in 2005. This fourth world tour is by far the largest to date in terms of production.
