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PL & P
speaking , we were show-ready ! This saved us precious minutes , which makes me eternally grateful for this fixture choice .
Of course , these rules regarding dim speed apply to the Quantum Wash as well . The Quantum Wash ’ s added LED rings and lens rotation really put it over the top for me . There are other fixtures on the market that can do these effects , but none with the reliability of the Quantum Wash . I don ’ t wanna slag on any one product ’ s reliability , but I really didn ’ t want to watch my tech mess around with jammed lens rotators on 20-minute changeovers .
Lastly , due to the size of Euro outdoor festivals and often shitty wind and weather , we went overboard on conventional fixtures in the floor kit – 16 four-light Moles aimed straight at the audience and 16 more in the roof . These lights always provided an impressive effect regardless of a lack of haze , and being that many Rise Against songs are sing-alongs , it didn ’ t hurt to have more audience light , either .
PL & P : What about the video elements ? How comfortable are you in that domain , and what were the pros and cons that came with handling both disciplines yourself ?
MH : The video element was something that made me particularly excited to kick off this project . I had been really honing my skills over the past two years in my MA2-Resolume programming on a few other projects . I am lucky enough to have a wonderful partnership and friendship with the owner of Triangle Media Servers , George Gorton . We actually shared a house in Toronto for a couple years . Triangle Media Servers are essentially custom high-end computers that we run Resolume on . The sheer horsepower and number of inputs and outputs allow Resolume to be utilized in a different manner than what you see guys doing on laptops at festivals .
I would be remiss not to mention George ’ s Chief Engineer , Brady Villadsen . Brady has really educated us all in how to get the most out of the servers . Multiple inputs and outputs , Art-Net DMX out , Art-Net merges … All happening seamlessly can be very much attributed to Brady ’ s vast knowledge of the Resolume software . He taught us about taking the festival IMAG feed into my servers and sending it back to the festival video crew just so I can clone an RGB fixture from my light show to the cooler palette of the IMAG screen , keeping all the colours matched . Pretty basic stuff , but these are things we were doing when rolling into festivals last minute with no prep – just kind of adding more cool things where we saw opportunity . Tons of map-able LEDs on the wings of a stage ? No problem . Art-Net DMX in Resolume Arena 5.4 makes this feasible . It ’ s great to see your video playback get utilized in so many ways .
Over the years , being George ’ s go-to MA2 guy exposed me to a lot of programming issues other users were having with the platform . All of this experience has made me feel extremely comfortable in approaching the video element of this tour . I knew I could deliver a unified front in achieving a consistent aesthetic over the video and lighting elements . We run video wall processors at 100 per cent and sometimes are very much using our two video walls as light fixtures . Handling both elements allows me to do things like make negative space in the light show when the video walls are strobing at 100 per cent or any other over-the-top pieces of content .
I think it is inevitable that the elements of lighting and video will compete when two people work on the show ; it ’ s a normal problem to have and one that you work out . Handling both elements allows me to have this worked out from the start .
PHOTO : KIRSTEN OTTO
The cons ? We only had content generated for the segue and interlude pieces ; no specific songs had content created . This left a lot on my plate . I had our content director , Stephen Steeleman of Brigantine Films , create custom masks that I married with generic content to create the content for the show . With lots of time on my hands , it was really fun and intriguing ; as the clock winded down , it became pretty daunting to create different visual styles to put against each of Rise ’ s songs . Resolume ’ s vast real-time effects engine gave me the opportunity to take this generic content and turn it into something that you would never recognize .
With handling both elements myself and looming deadlines , creating a new aesthetic for each song and keeping away from anything that looked too “ screen saver-like ,” as the band says , is something that is still proving difficult . This is a problem that can be solved with some elbow grease .
For our upcoming run , I am now pulling more real-world footage from the band ’ s music videos and creating custom loops . Using this footage and continuing to marry it with our custom masks is proving to be a winning combo . To explain a little more , our masks are new and old logos and artwork that Stephen has animated ever so slightly to keep the show from feeling stagnant .
PL & P : Very cool . Speaking about specific songs , looks , or moments in the show , what are your personal highlights from this run and why ?
MH : These guys have too many great moments for me to choose from , but off the top of my head … The acoustic section featuring the songs “ People Live Here ,” “ Swing Life Away ,” and “ Hero of War ” is always a treat . We keep the lighting real simple and almost static for this section of the night . Hearing tens of thousands of people scream every lyric of these songs with just a man and his acoustic guitar on stage is always a reflective and emotional moment for me during every show . It ’ s also the one time I get to stop operating and pray that we are on an outdoor stage so I can light a smoke ( laughs ). Did I just basically describe my favourite moment of the set as when I get to light a smoke ? I think I did . Please forgive the roadie humour ; we don ’ t have an off switch .
The band ’ s massive hits like “ Give It All ,” “ Prayer of the Refugee ,” and “ Savior ” were moments that I loved every night . The energy in the venue really goes all the way to 100 when the band drops these tunes . Getting to take this lighting rig up to full throttle is really fun . There was quite a bit of head banging done at front of house on this tour . Matching this band ’ s energy is something that is hard to do , and you really need to be present and in the moment to do so . This is arguably what I love most about lighting bands .
PL & P : Were there any particularly challenging aspects of this tour , or perhaps any new looks or solutions you came across that you think might be useful for your future work ?
24 | Fall 2017
speaking, we were show-ready! This saved us precious minutes,
which makes me eternally grateful for this fixture choice.
Of course, these rules regarding dim speed apply to the Quan-
tum Wash as well. The Quantum Wash’s added LED rings and lens
rotation really put it over the top for me. There are other fixtures on
the market that can do these effects, but none with the reliability
of the Quantum Wash. I don’t wanna slag ������䁽����ɽ�Սӊéɔ�)��������䰁��Ё$�ɕ���䁑����eЁ݅�ЁѼ�݅э����ѕ������́�ɽչ��ݥѠ)����������́ɽхѽ�́����������є��������ٕ�̸)1��ѱ䰁�Ք�Ѽ�ѡ��ͥ锁����ɼ���ё��ȁ���ѥم�́������ѕ��͡����)ݥ�������ݕ�ѡ�Ȱ�ݔ�ݕ�Ё�ٕɉ��ɐ�������ٕ�ѥ����������ɕ́��)ѡ������ȁ��Ѓ�L�����ȵ����Ё5���́��������Ʌ���Ё�Ёѡ���Ց�����)�������ɔ����ѡ��ɽ����Q��͔������́��݅�́�ɽ٥����������ɕ�ͥٔ)�����Ёɕ��ɑ���́���������������锰�����������ѡ�Ё����I�͔�������)ͽ��́�ɔ�ͥ��������̰��Ё�����eЁ���ЁѼ���ٔ���ɔ��Ց����������а)��ѡ�ȸ)A0�@�]��Ё����Ёѡ��٥��������������!�܁������х�����ɔ)�ԁ���ѡ�Ё������������ݡ�Ёݕɔ�ѡ���ɽ́�������́ѡ��)�����ݥѠ������������Ѡ���͍������́���͕���)5 �Q���٥����������Ё݅́ͽ��ѡ����ѡ�Ё�����������ѥ�ձ�ɱ�)�፥ѕ��Ѽ����������ѡ�́�ɽ���и�$����������ɕ���䁡��������ͭ���́�ٕ�)ѡ�����Ё�ݼ�啅�́�����5ȵI�ͽ�յ���ɽ�Ʌ��������������)�ѡ�ȁ�ɽ����̸�$�����Ս�䁕��՝��Ѽ���ٔ���ݽ���əհ����ѹ��͡��)�����ɥ���͡���ݥѠ�ѡ���ݹ�ȁ���Qɥ������5�����M��ٕ�̰���ɝ�)��ѽ���]�����Յ���͡�ɕ�������͔����Q�ɽ�Ѽ���ȁ���������啅�̸)Qɥ������5�����M��ٕ�́�ɔ���͕�ѥ���䁍��ѽ����������������ѕ��)ѡ�Ёݔ��ո�I�ͽ�յ������Q���͡��ȁ���͕��ݕȁ�����յ��ȁ��)�����́����������́����܁I�ͽ�յ��Ѽ�����ѥ��镐�����������ɕ�Ё����)��ȁѡ���ݡ�Ё�ԁ͕�����́������������ѽ�́�Ё���ѥم�̸)$�ݽձ�����ɕ���́��ЁѼ����ѥ�����ɝ��é
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