16 ATTRACTIONS & EXPERIENCES
most important to him: theatricality, spirituality, songwriting and the transformative power of creativity. There are surreal moments, such as the transatlantic TV interview with Russell Harty in 1975, in which Bowie artfully takes control of the narrative and the interviewer is reduced to asking him questions about his hair. Elsewhere, the reconstructed set of the inimitable Diamond Dogs tour materialises before our eyes, igniting a Bowie performance unlike any other captured on film. FLOATING IN A CONCRETE CAN Sound is integral to the show – and to every other project that comes to the Lightroom. That’s why choosing tech that gives a whole new meaning to sound design was crucial when the space was being constructed. You’re Not Alone makes full use of Lightroom’s unique sound capabilities and specialised HOLOPLOT spatial audio system. Each track used in the show has been newly configured by Gareth Fry, a multiple Olivier and Tony award-winning sound designer. “The HOLOPLOT system is quite a unique thing for Lightroom,” continues Wexler. “It’s also used for Sphere in Las Vegas – albeit their system uses far more units than we do!” The Lightroom has two stacks that are mounted on either end of the room at the front and back walls, and within those stacks there are around 800 individual speakers on each side. Wexler emphasises the main sound challenges of the space and how they overcame them. “It’s a four-storey concrete box with parallel walls, and obviously a lot of projector noise – so it’s a challenging space acoustically, to say the least,” he says. The Lightroom’s HOLOPLOT set-up is a ‘beam-forming’ spatial audio system, in which groups of speakers create
You go from feeling like you’re in the front row of the crowd at a concert, to right next to Bowie in the studio, to inside his head
build environments that incorporate footage, photographs, interviews and ephemera from the David Bowie archive.
beams of sound that ‘bounce off the walls in deliberate ways, using the space to its advantage’. The final effect truly elevates the show from a jazzed-up film screening to a full-blown, multi-sensory experience. “It really is like nothing else,” Wexler enthuses. “You go from feeling like you’re in the front row of the crowd at a concert, to right next to Bowie in the studio, to inside his head – all at the blink of an eye and totally seamlessly.” LIFE ON WALLS Bringing together a wealth of visual material from a wide range of sources, the show combines rare performance footage, photography, drawings, lyrics, personal notes and audio recordings. “There’s coverage from 28 Panasonic laser projectors, so the visuals are intense and vibrant,” adds Sabel. Said visuals were designed and directed by 59, A Journey Studio. A team of editors and animators used a variety of tools that included Adobe Premiere and After Effects, Cinema 4D, Blender, Unreal and Autodesk Maya to
“Rather than trying to faithfully recreate any particular physical environment, we used a mix of 3D geometry and lighting with a
collage-like approach to composition that creates an impressionistic and constantly shifting canvas,” says Wexler. The result is truly dazzling. Instead of magnifying the myth through the lens of his many characters (Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Halloween Jack, The Thin White Duke), You’re Not Alone successfully places its focus on the man behind the masks – the provocateur, the polymath, the shapeshifting icon – in his enduring, human form. Wexler responds with enthusiasm when asked about the future of this popular live entertainment format – but he also offers a personal challenge to the sector: “People are hungry for personal, physical experiences that connect them not only to the subject matter, but also to other people sharing that same moment in a shared space. “The challenge now is to develop the language in this new medium to a point where productions can move beyond spectacle and begin to tell stories that stay with people beyond the instant itself.” He draws us to another Hollywood comparison: “In many ways, there are parallels with the early days of cinema, which began as a sideshow attraction and evolved into a rich art form of its own. Immersive entertainment is well placed to follow suit, with a demonstrable audience appetite and the beginnings of a global availability of venues capable of distributing work.” At time of writing, David Bowie: You’re Not Alone is set to run at London’s Lightroom until January 2027.
A combination of 3D projection, clever lighting choices and collage help emulate Bowie’s abundant creativity
Powered by FlippingBook