Video is a vital production element of the show, and equipment includes two of the new Catalyst V.3 digital media servers - specially purchased for the show along with a Jands Wholehog 500 DMX lighting desk. The show's video designer is Jon Driscoll with whom XL has also collaborated on Up For Grabs (starring Madonna) and the Madness musical Our House. XL's clients are JSTO Ltd for Blue Box Entertainment (Iain Gillie - production executive) and The Production Desk (Dan Watkins - production manager)
The XL equipment supplied also includes two flown NEC XT5000 DLP projectors, matrix routing, scan converters, all computer and video monitoring, USB hub switching, and over a kilometre of video control and power cabling needed for the install. To simulate the Jerry Springer studio set, nine Pioneer 40" plasma screens appear and re-appear during the production, flying in at high speed.
Jon Driscoll and his colleague Richard Overall oversaw the video installation, which was tailored to their requirements by XL's project manager Malcolm Mellows. The lengthy set up and tech rehearsal weeks saw several XL Video crew members working at The Cambridge, including John Edwards, John Shrimpton, Richie Jewell, Stuart Heaney and Matt Gourd.
This fully-staged production of JSTO was originally staged at the National's Lyttelton Theatre (after starting life in concert version at Battersea Arts Centre and being a hit at Edinburgh 2002), where the original software and design was devised by Dick Straker and Sven Ortel. Video playback at the National production came from DoReMi hard drives with Dataton control. For the Cambridge staging, Driscoll and Overall re-shot and animated the video images within the Catalyst software for the show's West End version.
Once the programming and installation was complete, all video playback and control (including the projectors and plasmas switch-on/off, shutter control and all fading, cutting and dissolves) was MIDI linked to the main Strand 520 lighting console for daily show operation. This alleviates the need to have a dedicated video person present each night.
With the audience witnessing triumph, tragedy and trailer trash in a fast-moving melange of high art meeting low life, as Jerry descends into 'Hell' the video projectors portray his tortuous journey from Earth into the depths. The plasma screens support scene changes by showing spoof advertising during blackouts as well as scenes from the "Jerry-Cam", showing his guests in often compromising situations!
The show is directed by Stewart Lee, with set design by Julian Crouch, lighting by Rick Fisher and sound design by Mike Walker.
(Lee Baldock)
