Duran Duran at BST Hyde Park 2022

With a rich aesthetic history to pull from, Harrison Mead and team exceeded expectations for Duran Duran’s British Summer Time performance.

Earlier this summer, Harrison Mead of Visual Impact Productions was hired to create six IMAG looks for Duran Duran’s performance at BST Hyde Park Festival 2022. The legendary group, aware of their long-established aesthetic, wanted updated versions of content from previous shows alongside IMAG looks that would blend smoothly with the lighting and rendered content.

Mead decided to add elements taken from Duran Duran’s music videos, finding freedom in the band’s typically abstract style, which allowed for creative and interactive looks.

In pre-production, Mead worked alongside the team’s video designer and media server operator in a pre-vizualisation suite. Using Notch’s network editing feature, they connected to the show file in the media server, allowing for real-time changes without needing to update the show file with every change. Using the same workflow on-site allowed Mead to see the entire show from front of house and make live adjustments as needed.

The team also used the NVIDIA AI background removal for many looks. For best results, they had to be aware of a few fundamentals of the production, such as the band’s wardrobe, to ensure that the background and content would not clash.