Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever, The World Tour Relies on URSA Broadcast G2 Cameras
Fremont, CA – September 27, 2022 – Blackmagic Design today announced that the Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever, The World Tour has implemented a multicamera live production workflow from Blackmagic Design.
Video production specialist Vis a Vis, led by Stuart Merser, has embarked on a year long tour spanning 43 dates that included a live performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In addition to the on stage visuals, Vis A Vis also streamed the singer songwriter’s headline set to the festival’s YouTube channels.
While venues differ each night, the core production setup remains the same essentially and includes six Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 cameras with SMPTE fiber chains. Several smaller camera systems complement this, including a Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K with a detached fiber back solution rigged on a Polecam system.
“All of the cameras around the stage are on railcam systems from Blackcam. Storytelling is vital, and so by extension, is the need for consistency. Those positions are all remotely operated from dedicated stations featuring SmartView 4K and SmartScope Duo 4K preview monitors, allowing the operators to view their TX (transmission) and returns,” says Merser.
The main production desk is built on the ATEM Constellation 8K live production switcher with an ATEM 2 M/E Advanced Panel for hardware control. Signal management relies on a Smart Videohub 12G 40×40 router with multiple HyperDeck Studio HD Mini recorders. The engineering rack also features a Teranex AV standards converter for up, down and cross conversions.
As part of the tour video package, Merser specified the use of 5mm LED panels from PRG. “I didn’t want this to be projected,” he explains. “We’ve got 16×9 side screens on either side of the stage, with portrait screens on stage and a central LED wall, which means we can feed live IMAG to every surface.”
When it came to planning for Coachella, much of the tour’s video elements were adapted to the festival stage. According to Merser, “That included incorporating disguise xR and Notch Blocks to create stunning and dynamic backdrops for Billie to perform against.”
Vis A Vis also had to cater to special guest appearances and a live stream on YouTube. As a result, two additional URSA Broadcast G2 cameras and a dedicated production desk for the stream were incorporated.
“Having to cater for wide shots in the live stream, I had a second desk put next to me running an ATEM Production Studio 4K so I could throw in wides on the stream cut,” explains Merser.
Many artists, including Billie, go straight to their Instagram after the show finishes explains Merser. “And more often than not, if I get any feedback, it’s from a clip they’ve watched on social media,” he concludes. “With fans filming the screens and sharing that content to social media, it is vital more than ever that what we produce is the best possible quality, regardless of how or where fans will consume it.”
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com
Tour Credits
- Video Director: Stu Merser @visavisvideo www.visavis.video
- Media Server Programmer and Operator: Andréanne Fine Lafrance @andreanne.fine.lafrance
- Video Engineer: Dakota Bennett @cordurooooooy
- BlackCam Tech/ Operator : Nick Pishghadamian @npish89
- Crew Chief/ Blackcam Rachael Hudson @spraychael
- Blackcam/ LED: Noel Galan @indiesyn
- Polecam/ LED Processing: Lorenzo Loche @zosfozzy
- Camera/ LED: Jordan Wesolek @thejordanw
- Show Director: @tarikmikou
- Production Manager: Nicole Erin Massey
- Tour Manager: Brian Marquis
- Stage Manager: Jayy Jutting
- Production Coordinator: Dick Massey
- LED Supplier: PRG