Epic Cinema designed a 22-camera setup of high performance RED cameras for live Cine-Broadcast workflows producing a consistent look across live broadcast and cinematic capture.
Celebrated DJ David Guetta staged a massive event titled ‘The Ultimate Monolith Show’ held over three nights in mid-June at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, near Paris All three dates were sell-outs and the event drew more than 240,000 fans. The tour’s finale was a fully immersive audiovisual experience featuring innovative live-performance technology, and a striking stage set-up inspired by monoliths.
David Guetta is among the world’s best known DJs, and has been voted number one in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs polls five times. The Paris show’s director Stijn Verlinde and his production company Epic Cinema chose their gear and workflow with care, deploying a fleet of RED cameras including RED's Cine-Broadcast live production system.
Stijn said, "This was truly a career milestone for our team. David is one of the biggest performing artists in the world, and the energy his shows generate is unmatched. His 'Monolith Show' demanded a solution that could deliver a cinematic impact – cameras with a high dynamic range to shoot into the crowd and to capture the LED show without over- or underexposing. RED gave us that flexibility to operate across live broadcast and cinematic capture without forcing us into compromises."
Cameras - From Live Broadcast to Cinematic Capture
Epic Cinema was tasked with a broad agenda, delivering video capture to support the live IMAG projection, the near-live highlight creation, as well as cinematic content production for the official aftermovie and an upcoming documentary.
To handle the diverse demands of the project and deliver eye-catching, memorable visuals, Epic Cinema designed a 22-camera setup consisting mostly of RED KOMODO-X and V-RAPTOR cameras, plus V-RAPTOR XL [X] systems for the live Cine-Broadcast workflows, which are described in more detail below.
V-RAPTOR XL [X] combines features of two RED camera lines. The frame rates, lowlight performance and resolution of the V-RAPTOR line are combined with the global shutter developments of KOMODO, and built into the XL camera body, along with RED’s new 8K VV sensor. This design meant Epic Cinema could move into production, taking advantage of large format, global shutter, high framerate, 8K acquisition inside one camera.
Handheld and gimbal systems were used for dynamic crowd and stage coverage while fixed-position cameras throughout the stadium captured wide and beauty shots. Speciality rigs, including a Spidercam and telescopic jib helped capture more stylised shots. The team also achieved live long-range stage coverage using dedicated RED Cine-Broadcast configurations equipped with Fujinon DUVO 25–1000mm PL-mount box lenses.
Furthermore, several unmanned RED cameras, strategically positioned on and around the DJ booth and stage architecture, were operated remotely to capture immersive performance angles without disrupting the visual design.
In parallel, multiple camera feeds were transmitted back to the live production control room, where they were colour-matched and switched in real time for IMAG screens. These steps ensured a consistent, cinematic look across both the in-venue experience and the recorded content.
Bridging the Gap
Through the integration of RED's Cine-Broadcast Module, Epic Cinema successfully bridged the gap between high-end digital cinema and traditional live broadcast workflows. RED's distinctive image quality could be combined with real-time signal output, which gave the team the chance to deliver broadcast-ready feeds for live switching and projection, while capturing high-resolution RAW footage for post-production at the same time.
The Module supports live broadcasting of up to two channels of 4K 60P (HDR/SDR) via 12G-SDI and IP broadcasting compliant with SMPTE ST 2110 (TR-08) and a feed of up to 4K 60P JPEG-XS. It includes a Lemo SMPTE 311M/304M hybrid fibre optical cable connector linked to a rack-mountable 2U full rack or 4U half rack base station.
This workflow also supported on-site highlight editing and rapid content turnaround. Overall, the production team was able to maintain a cinematic aesthetic while meeting the demanding timelines and technical constraints of a live stadium production.
Broadcasting Cinematically
A live event like the Monolith Show brings many opportunities to take advantage of cinematic storytelling techniques in a broadcast environment. Using larger sensors, for instance, allows the cameras to capture expressive sharp foregrounds against blurred backgrounds.
The dynamic range also makes a recognisable difference in these cameras. Shooting Log gives the video files a higher dynamic range than a standard gamma curve, supporting a Log workflow to capture the extra detail in the bright and dark areas. The Log files can then be synchronised with a change in colour space to the final HDR image. On the other hand, the global shutter of the V-RAPTOR keeps laser lights and pyrokinetics focussed, essential in live event production, without the strobing or motion blur associated with cinema cameras with rolling shutter.
"This event vividly demonstrated how RED's live cine-broadcast solution can truly capture the power of the emotional experience for the artists and the audience," said Andy Newham, head of sales, EMEA at RED Digital Cinema. "The cinematic image quality of the RED camera, combined with the global shutter and low-latency output, suits the rigorous technical demands of a show of this impressive scale.
“It was a privilege to support Stijn and Epic Cinema in delivering results that were cinematic, scalable and fully optimised for a live production, delivering a singular experience." www.reddigitalcinema.com
