Elbow improvises screen effects

Director Jon Shrimpton worked with Mark Thomas from Soup Collective who designed and produced all the playback visuals, and Hugh Davies Webb, who was brought in by XL to run the Catalyst media server that was at the hub of the live  video show control.

The screen was shaped like an offset cross, referencing back to artwork on the ‘Seldom Seen Kid’ album, and constructed from 60 panels of 10mm Barco O-Lite LED, forming an upstage backdrop.

Onto this went a blend of playback and IMAG footage, sometimes with the two elements dynamically overlaid, and sometimes with them each running separately. Shrimpton’s camera system consisted of three operated Sony D35s, one stationed at FoH, one in the pit and one hand-held onstage.

There was also a collection of remotes, one robot cam, three mini cams and three IR cams, dotted all over the stage, pointing at the band members and their instruments, along with one pointing at a black & white TV for special effects. This was used once and highly effectively  for ‘Some Riot’ on of the numbers off the new album.

Six feeds from Shrimpton’s GV Kayak mixer were output via the Catalyst, and between the two of them, they applied specific treatments like tinting and black & whiting. The playback sources were also stored and played back via the Catalyst, and like the camera feeds, were masked and shaped in the media server.