Live Design Online: Freelance video engineer, operator, and lighting technician Rebecca Gerhard was instrumental in bringing Doja Cat’s Ma Vie world tour visuals to life on stage. Traveling to 30 shows across five continents, Rebecca did everything from physically building the tour infrastructure on a Disguise system for visual consistency, through to using a Sockpuppet workflow to busk the whole operation live, night after night.
2 comments:
From a theater perspective, looking at this style of live visuals, with VJs, cameras, and video walls as a predominant element of a show is very different, as you rarely see that in almost any main stream show. However, I think it is a very interesting side of the live entertainment industry that can often cross over to our neighbor the broadcast industry. It is really interesting how ubiquitous it has become, and to an extent, I feel like from the little I've seen, it hasn't really pushed the art yet because the technology is still growing so much that artists and designers aren't forced to come up with new creative uses. On a different note, I really liked the interviewee's advice about getting into the industry, with finding a shovel and using it to dig your way in. I would also be interested in the technical details of how the MA works with live video, as I know very little.
I found the Live Designs interview/QA with Rebecca Gerhard to be interesting and engaging in both the aspects she contributed to on Doja Cat's recent international tour and the larger movement of video design as a prominent element. It was intriguing to see how Gerhard had to take on a multitude of roles that included the creative supervision of the projections and also the technicality of it. It was shocking to see that the video system would change at each venue and location - I would have expected a more uniform system throughout the tour. Additionally, it was interesting to read how Gerhard grew up in a more EDM/club scene, and that is what got her hooked on projection and visuals, and now she is working for a major pop artist. Lastly, I think the article and interview alike make some bigger commentary on the use of projections and, particularly, the use of projections to replicate physical scenery. That discussion is prominent in the theatrical industry, as we start to see a major inclusion of video elements.
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