As we roll into 2021, there’s a sense of optimism, after all, what could be worse than 2020? 2020 was a watershed year. COVID 19 unceremoniously closed offices, schools, clubs, theatres, and concert venues, and put almost the entire events and touring industry on hold. Fortunately, the people who make shows found ingenious ways to surprise and entertain the millions of people stuck at home.
Here’s a roundup of the stand-out Notch productions from 2020.
Installation: ARTECHOUSE
INTUS Interactive Design kicked off 2020 with their breathtaking immersive installation SUBMERGE.
SUBMERGE was a month-long installation that celebrated the Pantone color of the year — Classic Blue. This carefully considered design combines a 360-degree projection and interactive screens for an unforgettable immersive experience. Curated and produced by ARTECHOUSE in collaboration with INTUS Interactive Design, this exhibit is a class in successful immersive design.
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Events: The Superbowl 2020 Parties
Partnered with DeFacto Entertainment, MEPTIK produced a series of visuals for three separate events at the week-long Superbowl Party in Miami, Florida.
Working with event sponsors AT&T and Pepsi, MEPTIK created original animations for a range of unusual and unique surfaces. The events were a sensory success. MEPTIK’s immersive multi-screen production cultivated an environment where the music, visuals, and atmosphere reflected and enhanced the overall experience.
Live TV Broadcast: Dave at the BRITS
UK grime artist Dave gave an emotionally and visually impactful live performance at the BRIT Awards 2020.
TAWBOX commissioned Bluman Associates & Stout Studio to bring Dave’s lyrics to life. The team faced integrating a complicated technical workflow into a large, long-running live show and live TV broadcast. The live audience at home and in the studio experienced Dave’s lyrics in three-dimensions on screen. The combination of Dave’s powerful performance and the flawless delivery of contextual visuals produced a goose-bump inducing live-performance.
Live TV Broadcast: American Idol Katy Perry
Katy Perry’s performance of ‘Daisies’ on the season finale of American Idol set the stage for this year’s rise in virtual production techniques.
Silent Partners Studio re-imagined Katy Perry’s illustrated lyric video ‘Daisies’ as a virtual environment for her American Idol performance. The team flawlessly implemented the colorful illustrative style into a virtual production that transformed the American Idol stage and surprised the unexpecting viewers at home.
Broadcast TV: Inside the Boys
Aggressive TV, Brandon Epperson, and Tigrelab created an immersive virtual set and opening credits in Notch for the Amazon Prime series Inside the Boys.
Nine-part Amazon Prime series ‘Inside the Boys’ used virtual production to create an immersive environment in which the host could speak with her guest’s eye to eye in real-time. The COVID safe methods in place required a lean team of specialists to deliver a dynamic set using real-time animation.
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Music Video: Rina Sawayama
Bild Studios and Real Good Liars used a virtual production workflow in Notch to turn Rina Sawayama’s dreams into reality for her new music video ‘Lucid’.
‘Lucid’ features flying, reflections, forests, and a duplicate of Rina Sawayama. To execute the technically challenging elements, the team at Bild unified a range of hardware technologies such as camera tracking and motion capture in perfect harmony, using Notch and disguise. Limited by creativity only, the team could transport Rina to fantastic worlds identical in composition to those storyboarded by Dave Ferner. The resulting video imbues the pure creativity and endless possibilities of a technically brilliant virtual production workflow.
Live Concert: Billie Eilish: Where do we go?
Moment Factory and XR Studios used virtual production techniques in Notch to innovate the live-stream experience for Billie Eilish’s ‘Where do we go?’ virtual concert.
The live stream delivered an arena-level pop experience, tailored to at-home viewers. Consequence of Sound magazine wrote: “the design of Eilish’s live stage not only exceeded expectations; it provided effects that would be nearly impossible to pull off at an in-person concert.”
Live Concert: Gorillaz — Song Machine Live Stream
Block 9, XR Studios, and Pixels and Noise used live effects combined with AR graphics to re-imagine Gorillaz well-known music videos as a live stream performance ‘Song Machine’.
This live-stream format presented the opportunity to merge the Gorillaz animated characters with live performance using AR. Damon Albarn and his band performed alongside their animated counterparts and holograms in this performance that merged live-show and music video genres.
Live Stream Festivals: Lollapalooza Festival
T2 Visuals combined Notch, Kinect cameras, and TouchDesigner to recreate an otherworldly at-home festival experience for NGHTMARE’s set at Lollapalooza.
Also on the line-up was Yeh Me 2, who performed in a series of post-apocalyptic virtual scenes created by Immanent.
Listen to the podcast episode:
COVID 19 has changed the world and the daily lives of everyone. It has also — naturally — reshaped how the world sees live events and how they are being produced.
2020 saw performances that inspired audiences at home, gave rise to political movements, and challenged designers to think outside the box. Creators have had to rethink how they deliver at-home experiences while working at safe distances with remote teams, and we would like to thank you all.
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