Howard explains, "When the band finished the recording, I had the opportunity to go in for a listen and was just blown away. I had already designed the backbone of the system; because it was called Clockwork Angels and was steampunk themed, I decided to create something angelic. Angel wings were in my design head and I wanted something in the rig to move like an angel, so I designed those trusses with the video panels in them. Surrounding those I put in a dozen custom designed Lightlock stabilized mini-pods.
"They are free hung, and work in conjunction with what I call the satellites - the panels that are articulating with the video screens. So I had a lot of moving parts to replicate the angels flying. After having the opportunity to hear some tracks, I was then inspired to blend all the ideas that I had, and asked them to send me the lyrics and the storyline. At that point I was able to really get into the design of the rig and finish it off."
Alan Weinrib and Dale Heslip are the core creative team behind the video with Geddy and Howard also brainstorming new concepts. "I put my two cents in," says Howard, "but for the most part I make sure that the coloration and the integrity of what's happening on the screen will blend with what I'm designing, so the video and lighting complement each other. For the live aspect of it, our video director David Davidian launches many of the videos from behind the stage, and I'm launching a lot of them through Catalyst servers. We took the saturation to a steampunk vibe to give it a different feel, and put film scratches on the black and white - all sorts of little tricks to create this atmosphere."
(Jim Evans)
