Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.
For more than 15 years I have been directing multi-camera shoots at large outdoor music festivals, and live events.
Producing and creating the visuals to a live music show is a complicated yet fascinating discipline of filmmaking. And when you work with a passionate and dedicated team of camera operators and technicians it becomes much more than simple shots of musicians on a stage.
In these fifteen years behind the switcher at major concerts and other events, I have learned a lot about how to adapt and coordinate a team of professionals to get the best results and offer the audience an insight to what is happening on stage in a narrative, and aesthetic form.
More than 15 years directing multi-camera shoots at a large outdoor music festivals.
I felt from time to time that shooting live music is the most purely cinematic thing you can do. Ideally, the cinema is becoming one with the music. There is little artifice involved. There's no acting. I love it.
-Jonathan Demme
A guitar solo flashback.
I am a geek, I admit it, and there is a relationship in my way of seeing the world and understanding language, rythm and composition with the films I saw in my teens. And of course their music So when Crispian Mills suddenly suddenly broke into this amazing solo of the “Yoda and the Force” Theme from The Empires Strikes back, I was hooked and so was all the audience.
There are moments in live shows, when everything flows together and this magic happens. Focus intensifies, you can feel the music channeling everything, and then, and then the images flow harmoniously.
That is the power of music, and one of the reasons why I am thankful at having the honour to create images for these live shows and concerts, it is more than a job, it is the chance to coordinate and orchestrate how and what is seen in the screens by the main stage, and by all means trying to honour the musicians on stage by creating visuals that try to encapsule that moment.
Some of the bands that have gone through my switcher include:
WILCO, KULA SHAKER, BLACK PUMAS, MADNESS, LANA DEL REY, THE DIVINE COMEDY, FLEET FOXES, CALEXICO, IRON AND WINE, BENJAMIN CLEMENTINE, THE WAR ON DRUGS, CHK CHK CHK, M WARD, TEMPLES, HOT CHIP, YO LA TENGO, SHARON VAN ETTEN, PHOENIX, DEVENDRA BANHART, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, THE FLAMING LIPS, and many others…
Simplicity
Adapting to the artists scenography, rythym and mood is essential in order to make the IMAG part of the experience. That means that, the lighting, the camera work, the editing (switching) need to converge and harmonize.
Sometimes, like when José González took the stage, alone with his guitar, the rythym changes and winds down, allowing the visuals to mold themselves to the energy on stage.
Live concert/event multicamera-director/producer
So you are thinking of creating stunning visuals for your venue?
Need a reliable, professional, experienced director for your concerts or live events?
Lets chat about your needs, your ideas and lets roll!
I think that is what film and art and music do; they can work as a map of sorts for your feelings.
An impecable Show
When Vetusta Morla confirmed their attendance to Vida Festival 2021 I felt a rush of excitement run down my spine. Their music is not only clear, direct and powerful, but their show is visually extremely curated and they travel with a troupe of visual, video and lighting technicians that create the amazing backdrop they play their set to.
They transform the proscenium into a captivating space, drawing all eyes and ears to the show, where their songs reach out in a pulsating flood of sounds and visuals.
Understanding how to integrate all that work, into a viable, and dynamic visual narrative for the IMAG was a challenge me and my team took up happily.
Communication with the bands technical team was an essential part of the success of this multicamera live show.
contact me for enquiries about my services and activities using this form and lets start creating audivisual content together!
