ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
THE A TEAM Panasonic PTZ
cameras like the UE150 proved the perfect partners, capturing Sheeran on the big screen with precision Tour de force
The perfect symphony of on-stage robotics for a global megastar
P hil Mead is a video director at Colonel Tom Touring (CTT), with the enviable job of going on the road with Ed Sheeran. His big break came most unexpectedly, when he was working as head of electrics at Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts, back in 2010. “A show designer by the name of Mark Cunniffe came into the theatre and asked me if I wanted to go on tour and work on concerts instead,” Mead recalls. “I’d spent six years at the theatre and the time had come to explore and further my opportunities.” Having worked on several tours for the likes of Stevie Wonder and Sir Elton John as a lighting tech, Mead was offered Sheeran’s + (Plus) Tour in 2011. Cunniffe wanted to introduce video and lighting; Mead was charged with looking after both. Doing the maths The team had to raise its game, as the next project involved making video for one of the world’s best-selling artists. “The + Tour design became heavily dominated by video screens, so we took on a video director with some cameras to
76
Powered by FlippingBook