Phantogram US Tour

2500 square feet of projection surface, 20 custom generative effects, 1 smoke cloak

Description:

Phantogram commissioned The Windmill Factory to design their 2016 US headline tour. Smoke, Fog, Mist, ghost reality… our goal with this design is to blur the lines of perceived reality by projecting images through negative space and at key moments reveal them with various smoke, fog, mist, and black scrims. Live feed video, video feedback loops, generative audio AND performer responsive video landscapes synced and sequenced in precision with Ableton Live and the band’s movements.  Working with Anton Marini we crafted over 2500 square feet of generative video.  Meagan Metcalf’s extraordinarily powerful and poetic lighting slowly reveals the band over time, first in shadow, then silhouette, then in video, next subtly lit behind a black scrim, and finally in full light.  A video phantasm dynamically morphed into Sarah and Josh’s human form and back to phantasm.  In one highlight moment during the song Destroyer the stage slowly burns to a massive hyper-color fire as Sarah’s black feather cloak begins to smoke from within.  Possibly the most impressive part of the design though, was that everything fit into 2 trailers pulled behind two buses and scaled from 500 – 5000 person venues.  

Location:

USA National Tour

Commission:

Phantogram + Meta Agency

Creative Director: Jon Morris
Design: Jon Morris with Josh Higgason 
Producer: Ana Constantino
Video Designer: Anton Marini & Rob Sheridan
Lighting Designer: Meagan Metcalf
Management: Barsuk Records
Photography: by Will O’hare, Sunita Martini, Sheva Kafai