U2 3D - The Virtual Event
You’re busy on Sunday - we know that. There’s the small matter of legendary sports history on the line in Arizona at Super Bowl XLII. On Saturday, I suggest you seek out your nearest IMAX theater and witness the greatest virtual event ever - U2 3D.
Even if you’re not a big U2 fan, and I’ll admit - I’m only a casual fan - you will find this event, at times, simply breathtaking. They have captured the live U2 experience and delivered it to your nearby IMAX on a massive screen with masssive sound and in 3D. And it’s not just any old U2 experience - this was a massive energy ball of a concert assembled from 100 hours of footage shot in South America from their Vertigo tour. At times you are given the perspective of one of the fans on the floor, crammed in like a massive sardine mosh pit. You see the concert in the distance through a forest of waving hands clutching cell phones and cameras. You can see the shots of the stage on the viewfinders of all those cameras, and you feel you can reach out and snatch one from the sweaty palm of a screaming fan.
Other times they afford you a perspective that you simply can’t get from any concert no matter how much money you have or who you know in the band. We were hovering just above and just in front of The Edge as he ripped through a solo or filled the song with one of his signature rhythms. The neck of the guitar seemed close enough that you almost had to duck to avoid a bonk on the noggin. Sometimes we were given a bird-on-a-cymbal’s view of the drum kit, while the slightly sweetened sound of each drum hit in our faces reinforced the experience.
It wasn’t a perfect experience - some of the early edits were distracting, some of the 3D effects at the end were over the top, and the kick drum mapped to the IMAX butt-kicker subwoofers was a gimmicky replacement for the pounding chest we enjoy when standing in front of a 100,000 watt audio system. Still, this was a shining example of how we can capture a live event and deliver it, with maximum impact, to a remote audience. It shows us what we can do with 3D and a great deal of attention to production value. Start with great content, capture it well, and manipulate it to make maximum use of the capabilities and limitations of the delivery vehicle. The same approach pays dividends for webcasts, second life, and podcasts.
In our part of the marble this show only runs through mid-February. So don’t wait. Tomorrow is good.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...
February 10th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Yeah, that rocked. I happen to be a massive U2 fan and the 3D movie was unbelievable. You are right, money and connections will never get you a seat this good to any concert. Being able to see the musicianship (is that a word) up close was unbelievable. The depth and perspective of the experience was amazing (have you ever seen so many people in one arena?). The only bummer was experiencing such an amazing concert…and having to sit in your movie seat, not clapping or participating.
U2 was on the forefront of iPod, and now they are on the forefront of this 3D concert experience (which seems like it will become commonplace for those acts (think Bruce) who continue to sell out arenas). They are surely establishing another legacy of using technology to make music accessible in ways we never dreamed of.