In the last quarter of 2018, we were called in to assist with one of Stevie’s visions for his latest concert tour. For him, it was an important message to connect with all his fans and share a profound love for all that is wonderful about life. He called it a Stevie Music Moment.
One of the most celebrated artists in modern history, Stevie Wonder personally demands and deserves the best from all his partners and crew. Absolute Live Productions has been privileged to work with Stevie Wonder on many occasions providing audiovisual production and live stream services.
On this occasion, Stevie’s vision was to collect photos from fans attending the concerts that shared a very special life moment for them, and a choice of one of his songs that they felt appropriate to accompany those beautiful memories. They then hoped to display these images on the IMAG screens during the concert tour, specifically on the nights when those fans were attending.
While a platform had been set up to receive uploads of photos and a call-to-action video message from Stevie himself had been created and released, it had become clear that delivery over regular social media channels and web media was not reaching the demographic of the majority of ticket buyers. The whole idea was on the verge of being scrapped, but fortunately they gave Absolute a chance to serve the big picture.
We believed wholeheartedly in Stevie’s idea, and quickly understood why more traditional methods of communication needed to be exploited to reach the fans. We anticipated the makeup of the audiences pouring into the venues in Vegas and on the East Coast, and by co-ordinating with the experienced team that always works with Stevie, we were able to come up with a plan that transformed a dying idea into an emotional and memorable success.
Concert Tour AV Team
We sent a production team of two technically skilled video and creative professionals on the concert tour with Stevie who, for each performance, guided the message to the concert-goers utilizing house video displays, a live DJ, custom designed and produced leaflets using Adobe InDesign and Photoshop and co-ordinated with security and front-of-house personnel for product distribution and guest services. Then in real time, as fans were entering the arena, the team analyzed the photos that guests shared from their phones and assembled them into a video montage that we then displayed on the IMAG screens in synchronization with some of Stevie’s timeless songs, such as My Cherie Amour, Master Blaster and others.
Every night during the tour, due to the success of our communication efforts, we were swamped with wonderful photos of that special day of marriage between people and those vacations and moments shared with loved ones. Yet the two person team efficiently processed and created HD video photo montages under time pressure using Adobe Premiere Pro and delivered our feed using PlaybackPro to the video team and their Grass Valley switcher and the IMAG projection system.
It was a perfect compliment for Stevie’s impassioned wish for making Love great again!
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