Eric Prydz – EPIC 4.0 Visuals
February 2016 ––Coming off the very successful campaign for Eric Prydz's Generate music video, our friend Michael Sershall hired the team back to design the visuals for his EPIC 4.0 tour. The setup for the live show was fairly insane, with content screen forming a cube with a 28mm see-through LED in front, a Holo Gauze through the middle for a mesmerizing hologram projection, and finally a 12mm 4:1 wide-screen LED in the back enclosing the cube and playing back the key content.
For the gig, Munkowitz tapped his favorite collaborators, the great Conor Grebel and Michael Rigley, both ridiculously talented Cinema4D Artists and Animators, who brought their A-Game for this throwdown. All the content was rendered with the amazing Octane Renderer which meant the team bought two superComputers and a fuckLoad of graphics cards to render all the wetness. In the end, the project was about making beautiful art for entertainment, and we sure do love those.
For the gig, Munkowitz tapped his favorite collaborators, the great Conor Grebel and Michael Rigley, both ridiculously talented Cinema4D Artists and Animators, who brought their A-Game for this throwdown. All the content was rendered with the amazing Octane Renderer which meant the team bought two superComputers and a fuckLoad of graphics cards to render all the wetness. In the end, the project was about making beautiful art for entertainment, and we sure do love those.
INTRO Film
–– 01INTRO Description
–– First Impressions
Legendary talent Conor Grebel led the charge for the Intro Animation, which carried the pressure of making a dramatic first impression for the show. When the lights are dimmed, the crowd restless, chanting Eric’s name - this was the first visual and sonic presence that materialized. Conor and Munkowitz crafted a story of emergence and evolution, where a pristine and sacred object from nature emerges in a stylized captivity hangar and begins to undergo a metamorphosis, destabilizing the entire environment. We then plunge into a holographic state – where the geometry whirls and modulates into various states, culminating on a sacred crystal that releases it’s natural energies on the hangar. The camera then begins to dolly back as the environment has evolved into a crystal cavern, the virus from nature released on the scene, causing every visual element to undergo a dramatic physical transformation.
The music was just as vital and element, as the multi-dimensional Grebel designed the score using incredible samples and creative execution. It says something to design audio for a massive mainstream musicians show, and to be so perfect that said musician approves it’s use to open their concert. Overall, the intro was a statement of dramatic first impressions, and was a huge boon for the team to be able to create such a memorable sequence.
–– View the Full Breakdown at Bedtimes.xxx
The music was just as vital and element, as the multi-dimensional Grebel designed the score using incredible samples and creative execution. It says something to design audio for a massive mainstream musicians show, and to be so perfect that said musician approves it’s use to open their concert. Overall, the intro was a statement of dramatic first impressions, and was a huge boon for the team to be able to create such a memorable sequence.
–– View the Full Breakdown at Bedtimes.xxx
–– 02
OPUS Sequence
–– Final Impressions
One of Eric Prydz’s biggest hits is the track OPUS – an epic 9 minute build of synthesizers and percussive sequences. For concert visuals to have such a generous amount of time to establish a visual arc meant that Uber-talented lead designer Michael Rigley had a fuckload of work to do – essentially generating the 9 minutes at a 4K 4:1 resolution. In sum, this one proved to be a beast of a technical challenge for him.
However gnarly the challenge, this sequence was chosen to close out the show, essentially serving as the final impression for the concert goers. So of course the stakes were ultra-high for the team to come up with something delightful to compliment such an epic track, and the Riggles delivered; as always.
–– View the Full Breakdown at MichaelRigley.com
However gnarly the challenge, this sequence was chosen to close out the show, essentially serving as the final impression for the concert goers. So of course the stakes were ultra-high for the team to come up with something delightful to compliment such an epic track, and the Riggles delivered; as always.
–– View the Full Breakdown at MichaelRigley.com
–– 03
OPUS Design Direction
–– Interstellar Objects
For OPUS, the team wanted to tell a continuation story of the intro, but this time the vibrant geometry is found in deep space, floating among a series of self-illuminating asteroids. It begins as a mysterious reveal amongst the debris, then evolves further before plunging into a vortex of terrestrial material that continually evolve throughout the track, combining a variety of industrial settings and cityscapes with alien terrains.
One key to memorable concert visuals is to synchronize big drops in the music with key moments in the visual arc of the motion design, so Rigley and the team took great care in capitalizing on those opportunities. For instance, the first big drop in the track is when our Interstellar Geometry plunges into the Tunnel Void for the first time – with the anticipation building to an epic release of explorative energy – it’s a fun moment.
One key to memorable concert visuals is to synchronize big drops in the music with key moments in the visual arc of the motion design, so Rigley and the team took great care in capitalizing on those opportunities. For instance, the first big drop in the track is when our Interstellar Geometry plunges into the Tunnel Void for the first time – with the anticipation building to an epic release of explorative energy – it’s a fun moment.
–– 04
Live Show Recording
–– Epic 5.0 London
The legendary Eric Prydz Epic 5.0 live tour boasted a massive stage design, four giant LED displays fronted by a holographic cube. You can look at fancy stills and flat videos, but it doesn’t do the magnitude of the show justice, as it was in the end, a massive installation of light and insanely palpable energy. Below is a very shaky and embarrassingly shitty video of the entire show, but will help visualize all of the elements working together in epic visual harmony.
Cues of the content in the video clip are as follows:
00:02:05 at the beginning for the Show Opener.
01:53:20 for OPUS – all the way at the end – was a long ass show.
Cues of the content in the video clip are as follows:
00:02:05 at the beginning for the Show Opener.
01:53:20 for OPUS – all the way at the end – was a long ass show.
–– 05
Eric Prydz - EPIC 4.0 Visuals Credits
INTRO Sequence
Design Director: Bradley G Munkowitz
Lead Designer: Conor Grebel
Lead Animator: Conor Grebel
Sound Design: Conor Grebel
OPUS Sequence
Design Director: Bradley G Munkowitz
Lead Designer: Michael Rigley
Lead Animator: Michael Rigley
Music: Eric Prydz - OPUS
Client Credits
Client: Eric Prydz via Virgin EMI Records
Management: Sershall Management
Producer: Michael Sershall
Art Director: Liam Tomaszewski
INTRO Sequence
Design Director: Bradley G Munkowitz
Lead Designer: Conor Grebel
Lead Animator: Conor Grebel
Sound Design: Conor Grebel
OPUS Sequence
Design Director: Bradley G Munkowitz
Lead Designer: Michael Rigley
Lead Animator: Michael Rigley
Music: Eric Prydz - OPUS
Client Credits
Client: Eric Prydz via Virgin EMI Records
Management: Sershall Management
Producer: Michael Sershall
Art Director: Liam Tomaszewski