Sarah McLachlan performs in B . C . as part of Canada Day Together
given application , or , as in the case of the Gala des Prix Gémeaux , develop the entire visual identity for a televised event .
For Canada Day Together 2020 , Lűz Studio was responsible for the show and production design as well as content and lighting . “ Again , this technology is frequently used in sports and news , but it ’ s a relatively new application for artistic performances ,” Larivée notes of the AR integration . “ If I ’ m not mistaken , I think it ’ s one of the first times that this kind of production has been used here in Canada for this application . But here , it helped us to put on an interactive show with ‘ virtual décor ’ that allowed us to bring together artists from coastto-coast and , using augmented reality , convey a whole range of emotions as well as create a unifying event , even in the current context [ of the pandemic ].”
A significant component of the broadcast ’ s success stems from the fact that Lűz created the tailor-made content surrounding every part of the show and a custom look for each performance that was designed to blend fluidly with each subsequent segment .
Also , the venue itself and the treatment of the space , virtually and in terms of lighting , contributed to achieving that unity . Whether you were watching performances such as those mentioned above that were filmed elsewhere , or elements captured within TOHU ( like hosts introducing artists or certain artists performing ) on the deliberately sparse stage in the venue , it truly seemed as if it was a live , immersive event as opposed to the visually stale and decidedly flat 2D Zoom experience .
In the end , in addition to presenters , roughly half of the performing artists were filmed in the space itself . Load-in took place on June 19 th , and filming for the broadcast ran from the 26 th to the 31 st .
Because of the timeline , there was limited collaboration between Lűz and the performers and presenters . For example , classical pianist Alexandra Stréliski knew that a mountainous landscape would be the background for her part of the show , but little else .
In terms of direction for the artists sending video recordings made elsewhere , there was little provided ; instead , Lűz adapted to each scenario , whether it was high-quality , professionally-created content or something shot on an iPhone . “ For instance , the only direction we had for Avril Lavigne was to try to have a black background , but when we shot the show , right away we sent footage to the artist to approve .”
In-house performances were clearly tied to the space , but for those captured remotely , that connection was achieved by ignoring the limitations a live event would have . In fact , Lavigne ’ s performance looked as if it was filmed using tight shots in a small black box theatre . The presentation of that simple smartphone video , however – within a semicircular AR dome of stars – is truly larger than life , occupying the entire stage space in a way that is monumental and yet still somehow intimate .
“ The idea was to avoid [ being in front of a screen ]; we wanted to be in front of people ,” says Larivée – or at least for it to appear that way . Consequently , roughly half of TOHU ’ s seating was removed to make space and the remaining bleachers behind the central performance area were covered with white fabric and used as a backdrop on which to project a virtual audience and other lighting / AR effects . That audience was then mapped to the
bleachers , but rather than “ fake it ” with video of people clapping , Lűz made a nod to the true makeup of the crowd by , for example , acknowledging the ending of a performance with dots of pulsing light , hearts , and various custom sound effects .
“ That ’ s why we chose this kind of venue , because we wanted to do video projection on those canvases and an empty stage on which to project a map of Canada ,” Larivée explains . “ So that was the basis of the design . Technology-wise it was complex because there was a lot of projection and 3D mapping , but on TV it looked super simple .”
The minimalist approach cut down on cost and allowed Lűz to really drill deep into the use of AR content and design . “ The reason why we were able to afford that with the budget we had was because we didn ’ t have any stage or audio rentals , or truss for that matter , as TOHU ’ s existing rigging and truss system was used ,” he adds . “ Even with the lighting , I wanted to avoid having too many fixtures . Of course , we needed to cover all of the angles , but the lighting rig was still pretty minimal .” Minimal , but highly effective . With lighting , the intent was to create warmth and drama . “ We used a lot of Robe fixtures . They ’ re pretty stable so you don ’ t have to change things all the time , and I wanted to mostly avoid LED , which is why we used Robe ’ s MegaPointe fixtures almost everywhere , to be able to create that warm mood .”
Ultimately , 60 compact MegaPointes were deployed on the floor surrounding the performance area , as well as on stairs between the bleachers and around the space , with 22 BMFL ( Bright Multi-Functional Luminaire ) Spots serving as back light and 22 BMFL Beam Washes for key light .
Some LED fixtures were used as well , but predominantly as specials and FX . In all , 25 Chroma-Q Color Force II 72s were utilized primarily for interior architectural lighting , “ to highlight the building or light up the wall ,” Larivée explains . Additionally , 34 GLP impression X4 Bar 20 battens on the floor surrounded the stage area which , in the absence of an actual stage , provided a way to define the performance area .
Additionally , 22 Claypaky Sharpy Wash 330 fixtures were mounted above the projection canvas surrounding the bleachers behind the performance space , a selection of Portman P-1 and P-2 Retro Lamps were used for some performances as specials ,
24 | Fall
2020