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Thursday, September 06, 2018
Drake uses a drone show to light up his live performance
The Verge: On a sticky late-August night in New York, Drake has chosen to share the stage with a non-human entity. As he bounces around the stage during “Elevate,” a cloud of drones illuminates the dark space above him.
13 comments:
Simone Schneeberg
said...
At concerts you’re able to pretty much consistently see some amazing feats of human creativity and technological ability. I’m incredibly curious as to the planning and problem solving that has to go into any large scale (or even small scale) stunt in use at a concert. This article mentioned that the drones have specific flight conditions, but the concert tours so they have to be able to have a certain range of conditions or else the concert wouldn’t be able to happen in many of the planned destinations. I wonder what kind of trade offs the concert/tour managers have to contend with as well as the people at Verity to ensure they are adaptable enough despite the particularities of the technology. Designing and planning for multiple locations is a whole other beast, but yet it is consistently done with more and more complex components, which I find incredibly impressive.
It’s amazing to see how technology can be used in so many different ways. Drake’s concert is kind of a real world BXA program. He is an artist, but is also using technology to enhance his art. I would have love to have been there to see the drones. I’m always a little nervous about them misfunctioning and flying into the audience, but it sounds like Verity was able to train enough members of the crew who would then know what to do. Technology is truly amazing in that it can be used for practical jobs, but has just as much, if not more, potential in the art world. Imagine getting to a point in technology where you barely need a set. Not only would this spark a rise in VMD, but it also would create another platform to display and convey our work.
It’s amazing to see how technology can be used in so many different ways. Drake’s concert is kind of a real world BXA program. He is an artist, but is also using technology to enhance his art. I would have love to have been there to see the drones. I’m always a little nervous about them misfunctioning and flying into the audience, but it sounds like Verity was able to train enough members of the crew who would then know what to do. Technology is truly amazing in that it can be used for practical jobs, but has just as much, if not more, potential in the art world. Imagine getting to a point in technology where you barely need a set. Not only would this spark a rise in VMD, but it also would create another platform to display and convey our work.
Theater, like all other forms of media, is constantly evolving. From using the sun's lights to show the day back in the ancient times to using light boards to create any time of the day in today's time. This article is an amazing example of this evolving quality of theater. It tells us how "drones" are been incorporated into productions at an ever increasing pace. Their use has been manifested in such different ways that it seems like soon drones would be a part of all major productions. Drake, in his performance, has used drones and likely so. He recounts how he did not want to have to worry about being fenced in the stage because the drones were flying in the air. He got to do what he had without being troubled while the drones created the visual images that the production required and that appealed to the audiences. This article is just a proof of how, in the coming times, technology is going to have a bigger role in the theatrical world, in a way that would be liked by everyone.
The Article I read by Megan Farokhmanesh, she brought up how Drake Lights up his Live Performances with a Drone Show . She mentions how he is one of the first artists to do so, which is surprising due to the popularity of using drones in many ways. Megan Clarifies this by showing the concerns brought up by artists’ teams and the company themself, Verity Studios. Though they have worked with recognizable names such as Metalica And Cirque du Soleil, they say they have a lot to go, and are currently trying to “expand its abilities beyond simple light shows”. The lack of usage at the moment is attributed to the risk of usage. Example she gives us to help us picture all the “tricky and vary”ing conditions from venue to venue is: Outdoor and Indoor. Outdoor they have to worry about weather conditions, while indoor Venues worry about space constraints. There is also a common issue found at all venues which is how safe the audience is if the drones are above them. My thought here is how risky can drones be in comparison to other things, like trusts, hung over audiences during live preformances. Drake and the company to work around these concerns had the drones only flying over drake and used only in a few songs. This small usage of drones described in this article excited me to the future of drone usage and new technology used in live theatre in general. As brought up by an interviewee in the article “ ‘I don’t know if drones are the future of entertainment, but I do think robotics and AI has a huge potential in live events,...There isn’t really a lot of high tech in live events. We feel there’s a lot of opportunity there”.
I don’t know why anyone would want to share the stage with a drone. A drone is probably cooler then any show that could be performed. That being said, I’m very curious about the price tag on these drones. Right now it seems that they are too expensive to become the next thing, but they could the thing after that. Though I see the appeal for concerts, more for the shock factors than anything else, I don’t see an appeal for theater. In addition to the safety concerns, I feel that drones flying around would break the allusion and distract from the performance. The only application that I could possible see in is a futuristic show, but even then there is probably a theatrical trick that would work just as well. There might be a day were people are so use to drones that they are just a second thought and therefore not a distraction, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
It's always amazing to see what new kinds of things are implemented into touring concert rigs. The first time I really saw drones used to draw shapes in the sky autonomously was during this past winter Olympics in South Korea. There Intel used their drones to draw the Olympic rings and a person snowboarding. Just a few months later, I was lucky enough to see Odesza use drones during his Coachella set this year. Drake seems to be one of the first artists to implement it into every one of his shows on his tour. When it comes to theater I do not think that there is a place for drones quite yet. As of right now, I don’t think they are quite enough and I do think there is still a slight safety hazard with flying them over people. For example, even at Coachella, they flew them above and a little behind the stage as a precaution. But, that being said, I hope one day technology will allow us to use drones in theater
One of the things I love most about the theatrical community is that it is ever changing. I think back on my theatrical history and recall some of the first forms of stage lighting being actual flame being reflected onto a performer by a reflective dome housed around the flame, and even earlier, the ancient greeks utilized the sun for lighting. Times have obviously changed from ancient times and even in the past 10 years. Drones seem to be rapidly growing in popularity not just from a hobby standpoint, but a photography, videography, and now live event lighting. Drake is one of the first performers I have heard of to consistently use drones as part of a touring concert. There could be many reasons for that and ones that come immediately to mind are cost, space, and reliability. I agree with DJ when he says that drones may not have a permanent home in the theatre quite yet, but I would not be surprised if I do not see them at some point further down the line in my career.
And so it has begun. As I said back last year during the opening games, it was only a matter of time before we start seeing these things on stage. However, I did not think that it would have happened this quickly and in some ways this badly. I first thought we would see them replacing fireworks first but the cost trade-off for most places and events isn't quite there yet, and the industry is not prepared for that level of support yet. In my opinion, watching the video, it feels as though it is a half-baked idea and only done because one can. The biggest thing I think is the proximity to everything. Drone shows and displays sine in large groups that are spread out in the field of view thus allowing them to create shapes and movements like flocks of birds. One day when these get much smaller, then I think they will be more effective in large groups on stage. But, until then I will think they are too large to be forced into a small stage like space.
While this is not the first time that drones have been used in a concert setting like this, it is interesting to see nonetheless. Another example of drone usage for a pop-music, mass market audience would be the super bowl earlier this year, where Lady Gaga made use of (albeit pre-recorded) drone movements. However, drones have also been used in live shows by Disney, who briefly held the record for the most drones used at once. Another notable use of drones in a performance would be Cirque du Soleil, where they reportedly made use of nearly half a million drones. I believe that this is an interesting use of a new technology in entertainment, but I am not quite sure how practical it truly is. Drones are inherently much more expensive than, say, a screen. And these drones really function as just one flying, movable screen. In most of theatre, the audience is stationary, making a traditional screen generally more effective. I’m under the impression that drone use such as this is nothing more than an expensive gimmick.
I don’t know about you, but I know Drake is such a cool performer. He bring such a theatrical touch to all his shows. His music becomes major hits and even created a meme as stated in the article “one whose latest meme-frenzy of a song, “In My Feelings,” defined the entire summer through dance challenges and memes.” Because of this, I think Drake will always need to step up his performance and his fans are expecting something crazy. The company who’s in charge of the Drones must have had very hard time trying to figure out how to make drones work in a theatrical way. One challenge they stated was the difference between being in an indoor vs outdoor venue. I do find it interesting that it only took 30 days for them to create all of the drones for the tour. I think more artist should use drones in their concert as they can do such cool things like becoming an iPhone and scrolling through Instagram for the audience!
I was completely unaware of the huge leaps that Drake has been taking when it comes to the technology in his shows. This article mentions a time where he creates his entire stage into what appears to be an iphone scrolling down his instagram feed. I personally think that's hilarious and iconic to create in a Gen-Z, Millennial world. The change in the aesthetics and what is considered to be interesting new technology makes creating impressive live shows much more difficult than before. The drones Drake utilized remind me of the ones that were scheduled for the Olympics in Seoul. I had watched a video on these drones, which were supposed to create flurry-like images depicting snowboarders, the olympic rings, and other interesting shapes. I believe that in the end the drones were not used. If the technology can develop further, I am interesting in what it will be like to possibly even see movies in full 3D, where each pixel is its own flying light drone.
I don’t think people understand how fast technology is developing these days. Something that was considered to be cutting edge last year could almost be considered out of date today. Drone technology is one of those things that will only continue to evolve and improve as time goes on. I remember seeing drone technology in a performance way back during the super bowl halftime show. I think it is important to observe that theatre and live performance as a whole went from being an industry that was “behind” because it couldn’t afford the cutting edge technology to an industry that doesn’t know how to use the technology effectively. I think as applications like drone integration become more defined in the industry we will start to see more standard applications in live production. Until then this type of gag will continue to be rare on stage.
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13 comments:
At concerts you’re able to pretty much consistently see some amazing feats of human creativity and technological ability. I’m incredibly curious as to the planning and problem solving that has to go into any large scale (or even small scale) stunt in use at a concert. This article mentioned that the drones have specific flight conditions, but the concert tours so they have to be able to have a certain range of conditions or else the concert wouldn’t be able to happen in many of the planned destinations. I wonder what kind of trade offs the concert/tour managers have to contend with as well as the people at Verity to ensure they are adaptable enough despite the particularities of the technology. Designing and planning for multiple locations is a whole other beast, but yet it is consistently done with more and more complex components, which I find incredibly impressive.
It’s amazing to see how technology can be used in so many different ways. Drake’s concert is kind of a real world BXA program. He is an artist, but is also using technology to enhance his art. I would have love to have been there to see the drones. I’m always a little nervous about them misfunctioning and flying into the audience, but it sounds like Verity was able to train enough members of the crew who would then know what to do. Technology is truly amazing in that it can be used for practical jobs, but has just as much, if not more, potential in the art world. Imagine getting to a point in technology where you barely need a set. Not only would this spark a rise in VMD, but it also would create another platform to display and convey our work.
It’s amazing to see how technology can be used in so many different ways. Drake’s concert is kind of a real world BXA program. He is an artist, but is also using technology to enhance his art. I would have love to have been there to see the drones. I’m always a little nervous about them misfunctioning and flying into the audience, but it sounds like Verity was able to train enough members of the crew who would then know what to do. Technology is truly amazing in that it can be used for practical jobs, but has just as much, if not more, potential in the art world. Imagine getting to a point in technology where you barely need a set. Not only would this spark a rise in VMD, but it also would create another platform to display and convey our work.
Theater, like all other forms of media, is constantly evolving. From using the sun's lights to show the day back in the ancient times to using light boards to create any time of the day in today's time.
This article is an amazing example of this evolving quality of theater. It tells us how "drones" are been incorporated into productions at an ever increasing pace. Their use has been manifested in such different ways that it seems like soon drones would be a part of all major productions.
Drake, in his performance, has used drones and likely so. He recounts how he did not want to have to worry about being fenced in the stage because the drones were flying in the air. He got to do what he had without being troubled while the drones created the visual images that the production required and that appealed to the audiences.
This article is just a proof of how, in the coming times, technology is going to have a bigger role in the theatrical world, in a way that would be liked by everyone.
The Article I read by Megan Farokhmanesh, she brought up how Drake Lights up his Live Performances with a Drone Show . She mentions how he is one of the first artists to do so, which is surprising due to the popularity of using drones in many ways.
Megan Clarifies this by showing the concerns brought up by artists’ teams and the company themself, Verity Studios. Though they have worked with recognizable names such as Metalica And Cirque du Soleil, they say they have a lot to go, and are currently trying to “expand its abilities beyond simple light shows”. The lack of usage at the moment is attributed to the risk of usage. Example she gives us to help us picture all the “tricky and vary”ing conditions from venue to venue is: Outdoor and Indoor. Outdoor they have to worry about weather conditions, while indoor Venues worry about space constraints. There is also a common issue found at all venues which is how safe the audience is if the drones are above them. My thought here is how risky can drones be in comparison to other things, like trusts, hung over audiences during live preformances. Drake and the company to work around these concerns had the drones only flying over drake and used only in a few songs.
This small usage of drones described in this article excited me to the future of drone usage and new technology used in live theatre in general. As brought up by an interviewee in the article “ ‘I don’t know if drones are the future of entertainment, but I do think robotics and AI has a huge potential in live events,...There isn’t really a lot of high tech in live events. We feel there’s a lot of opportunity there”.
I don’t know why anyone would want to share the stage with a drone. A drone is probably cooler then any show that could be performed. That being said, I’m very curious about the price tag on these drones. Right now it seems that they are too expensive to become the next thing, but they could the thing after that. Though I see the appeal for concerts, more for the shock factors than anything else, I don’t see an appeal for theater. In addition to the safety concerns, I feel that drones flying around would break the allusion and distract from the performance. The only application that I could possible see in is a futuristic show, but even then there is probably a theatrical trick that would work just as well. There might be a day were people are so use to drones that they are just a second thought and therefore not a distraction, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
It's always amazing to see what new kinds of things are implemented into touring concert rigs. The first time I really saw drones used to draw shapes in the sky autonomously was during this past winter Olympics in South Korea. There Intel used their drones to draw the Olympic rings and a person snowboarding. Just a few months later, I was lucky enough to see Odesza use drones during his Coachella set this year. Drake seems to be one of the first artists to implement it into every one of his shows on his tour. When it comes to theater I do not think that there is a place for drones quite yet. As of right now, I don’t think they are quite enough and I do think there is still a slight safety hazard with flying them over people. For example, even at Coachella, they flew them above and a little behind the stage as a precaution. But, that being said, I hope one day technology will allow us to use drones in theater
One of the things I love most about the theatrical community is that it is ever changing. I think back on my theatrical history and recall some of the first forms of stage lighting being actual flame being reflected onto a performer by a reflective dome housed around the flame, and even earlier, the ancient greeks utilized the sun for lighting. Times have obviously changed from ancient times and even in the past 10 years. Drones seem to be rapidly growing in popularity not just from a hobby standpoint, but a photography, videography, and now live event lighting. Drake is one of the first performers I have heard of to consistently use drones as part of a touring concert. There could be many reasons for that and ones that come immediately to mind are cost, space, and reliability. I agree with DJ when he says that drones may not have a permanent home in the theatre quite yet, but I would not be surprised if I do not see them at some point further down the line in my career.
And so it has begun. As I said back last year during the opening games, it was only a matter of time before we start seeing these things on stage. However, I did not think that it would have happened this quickly and in some ways this badly. I first thought we would see them replacing fireworks first but the cost trade-off for most places and events isn't quite there yet, and the industry is not prepared for that level of support yet. In my opinion, watching the video, it feels as though it is a half-baked idea and only done because one can. The biggest thing I think is the proximity to everything. Drone shows and displays sine in large groups that are spread out in the field of view thus allowing them to create shapes and movements like flocks of birds. One day when these get much smaller, then I think they will be more effective in large groups on stage. But, until then I will think they are too large to be forced into a small stage like space.
While this is not the first time that drones have been used in a concert setting like this, it is interesting to see nonetheless. Another example of drone usage for a pop-music, mass market audience would be the super bowl earlier this year, where Lady Gaga made use of (albeit pre-recorded) drone movements. However, drones have also been used in live shows by Disney, who briefly held the record for the most drones used at once. Another notable use of drones in a performance would be Cirque du Soleil, where they reportedly made use of nearly half a million drones. I believe that this is an interesting use of a new technology in entertainment, but I am not quite sure how practical it truly is. Drones are inherently much more expensive than, say, a screen. And these drones really function as just one flying, movable screen. In most of theatre, the audience is stationary, making a traditional screen generally more effective. I’m under the impression that drone use such as this is nothing more than an expensive gimmick.
I don’t know about you, but I know Drake is such a cool performer. He bring such a theatrical touch to all his shows. His music becomes major hits and even created a meme as stated in the article “one whose latest meme-frenzy of a song, “In My Feelings,” defined the entire summer through dance challenges and memes.” Because of this, I think Drake will always need to step up his performance and his fans are expecting something crazy. The company who’s in charge of the Drones must have had very hard time trying to figure out how to make drones work in a theatrical way. One challenge they stated was the difference between being in an indoor vs outdoor venue. I do find it interesting that it only took 30 days for them to create all of the drones for the tour. I think more artist should use drones in their concert as they can do such cool things like becoming an iPhone and scrolling through Instagram for the audience!
I was completely unaware of the huge leaps that Drake has been taking when it comes to the technology in his shows. This article mentions a time where he creates his entire stage into what appears to be an iphone scrolling down his instagram feed. I personally think that's hilarious and iconic to create in a Gen-Z, Millennial world. The change in the aesthetics and what is considered to be interesting new technology makes creating impressive live shows much more difficult than before. The drones Drake utilized remind me of the ones that were scheduled for the Olympics in Seoul. I had watched a video on these drones, which were supposed to create flurry-like images depicting snowboarders, the olympic rings, and other interesting shapes. I believe that in the end the drones were not used. If the technology can develop further, I am interesting in what it will be like to possibly even see movies in full 3D, where each pixel is its own flying light drone.
I don’t think people understand how fast technology is developing these days. Something that was considered to be cutting edge last year could almost be considered out of date today. Drone technology is one of those things that will only continue to evolve and improve as time goes on. I remember seeing drone technology in a performance way back during the super bowl halftime show. I think it is important to observe that theatre and live performance as a whole went from being an industry that was “behind” because it couldn’t afford the cutting edge technology to an industry that doesn’t know how to use the technology effectively. I think as applications like drone integration become more defined in the industry we will start to see more standard applications in live production. Until then this type of gag will continue to be rare on stage.
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