Conceptualising and creating Visuals for Big Stages EDM Acts
The visuals on stage are obviously the most visible aspect of any live stage. In this article VJ KayCee, Founder of Pixadoo studios in Bangalore and the mastermind whose high-octane visuals have ignited EDMs like VH1 Supersonic, Cirkus Indigo and many more, took out time from his busy schedule to enlighten PT readers about the art of Conceptualising and Creating Visuals for Big Stage EDM Acts
Today, visuals and EDM acts go hand-in-hand which is why it’s critical that there is perfect synergy between all the various teams working on an event. Like any industry, ours too sees a variety of trends and currently EDM concerts are leveraging large LED screen sets with equally large structures, integrating lights, visuals and lasers, and so on in a perfect time-coded sequence. So, if you’re at a concert and there’s a DJ performing you will experience all of these elements in an extremely synchronised manner. You can’t have one element without the other; it’s almost like a storyline, where each one has a role to play and at a particular time, in order to leave a strong impression on the audience. And world over we are witnessing this trend.
Naturally, in any industry, you will find challenges, more so in one that is considered relatively alternative. The industry in India is nascent, not from an adoption perspective but from a significance perspective. Everyone wants to invest in big events, popular DJs, aspirational visions, but not on actual visuals and visual artists. We need to move past the mindset of working for exposure, artists shouldn’t be put in positions as such. Talent, handwork, and creativity really deserve to be acknowledged and it’s unfortunate that we are still experiencing this on a regular basis. I see that crediting or rather the lack of it is another challenge that artists are facing. We need to ensure a healthy working environment to guarantee sustainability and success and by investing in artists and crediting those responsible for the work, then we are automatically taking a step in the right direction.
We’ve come to learn over the years just how important it is to find a working style that suits us; there’s no one rule or method of working that’s going to be ideal for all, especially when creativity is at the core of what we do.
At Pixadoo, we spend a lot of effort in deeply understanding an event before anything else. What it’s about, communication objective, scale, venue, stage size and design, with an equal focus on the artist/s performing. Having clarity on all these key pieces of information lay the foundation for our work as visual creators to brainstorm with our in-house team of experts and identify a theme that then lends the way for various versions of that theme in the form of sketches.
One thing I do want to emphasise here is the need to be on the same page as the client at every stage of the process. Simply sharing these sketches and ideas is not enough, it is imperative to ensure that they are visualising the content, in the way you intend, and a good way to do this is to go down to the minutest details in your sketches. I truly believe the success of an event lies in ensuring that the objective stays in focus throughout the conceptualisation and creation process.
Once the concept is sealed, we actually create the entire structure in a 3D environment to include all the elements we would use in the real world, working closely with the production head and other members including sound engineers. From sound to engineering and from lighting to SFX and lasers, the one thing we guarantee to all our partners is a fantastic experience.
The next step, and this is one that I especially ensure I am on ground for is the actual creation of the stage at the venue. This is where the 3D concept structure comes to full use, because we create the on-ground stage design in the exact way planned and right down to the T. The final step is to create the visual content and unless you keep in mind the objective of the event, the personality of the artist and the nature of your audience, your visuals just won’t weave magic. The content creation process we follow involves the entire team working together to visualise and construct art work. We then create different themes based on the stage design and the event theme which are then established as the main looks for the stage. When there’s an artist performing, we always try and match the looks as closely as possible. We also send the entire blueprint of the event to each individual artists’ visual team so they can customise their performance and leverage the stage design to their benefit.
While I outline it quite simply, the visual creation process in itself is quite dynamic and can be elaborate. Sometimes we begin with simple sketches, and then move on to Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects and motion graphics. There are also times when we begin with a sketch and then make use of Maya or 3D Max to create the motion graphics and then use After Effects to composite the entire content piece. Whenever I can, I try to keep it basic where I use softwares like Resolume, Madmapper, Modulate and a few others but what I want to say is that if you are able to clearly understand the need and objective, you can create exemplary work even by just using images.
If you look at the industry today, that in itself is considered alternative, and within that your role too is alternative so it’s important to leverage this and keep pushing the boundaries as to what’s possible. The route isn’t paved out for you, and that’s the beauty of it.