Red Bull
Listening to Yung Nnelg’s Balans album we found a combination of high energy tracks, acoustic tracks and very personal lyrics. Traditionally most artists play on one stage. We felt that dividing his performance over multiple stages would elevate this album launch into a very intimate and personal event and really enhance the different types of tracks. Adding a rich visual language to the music and performance.
We created a three stage setup:
The ‘traditional’ center stage: the start- and endpoint of the show.
The projection stage, using rear projection to fully enclose the artist.
The installation stage, intimate and acoustic.
By switching between these stages during the performance we could engage and captivate the audience whilst keeping elements of surprise.
Yung Nnelg was so kind to provide us over 12 hours of MiniDV tape content of his childhood in Ghana. This resulted in a unique look into his personal life and as a visual start for his more personal songs. It also was the base for interludes between every stage change.
VISUAL DEVELOPMENT
The projection stage showed edits made of footage shot by Yung Nnelg’s family during his youth in Ghana, providing a very personal and unique inside view. We combined these edits with serene color gradients during the more intimate songs about love and relationships, putting the artist central in a huge field of color.
To complement further his personal and acoustic tracks, we developed an intimate theater like installation. Using multiple sheets of cotton fabric that changed in vertical position and color splashes, allowed us to create a different tactile look that changed each time between individual tracks.
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT
To have this whole show feel as one continuous flow, we came up with a detailed run of show. This plan scheduled all tracks and visuals elements in such a way that all computer controlled elements could be automated. For every automation there was also the option to do a manual override, to leave room for improvisation by the musicians.
The center stage was controlled with a standard lighting system. The projection stage and installation staged were controlled by two synchronised mediaservers which handled the projection playback, audio playback, kinetic control and lighting control.
The projection playback incorporated a scripted generated gradient . This gradient used an adjustable randomiser to animate begin and end points. Running this gradient at 60 frames per second (the maximum refresh rate of the projector used) resulted in a fluid look & feel that resembled more a huge light box then video projection.
Kinetic and lighting control was done creating multiple art-net timelines that synced together the movements of the installation and the lighting.
For lighting fixtures we used dedicated film lamps. These allowed us to create a very cinematic intimate color mood.
Client: Red Bull – Yung Nnelg
Show concept, Visual concept, Visual design, Technical design, Technical realisation, Run of Show, Show & Assets Production
with Beambrothers
All images by @segraphy / Red Bull Media House
www.tdm.space - @tdm.space