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Pop projections

Monday 09 Oct 2006

Jason Harvey has taken pop concert visuals to a new level, working with the likes of Cher, Beck, and Bon Jovi. Digit caught up with Harvey backstage at his most recent project – Madonna’s Confessions tour.

border=0 /><BR></div> </p> <p> When Jason Harvey was 16, he threw his school careers advisor something of a curveball. Unlike most 16-year-olds, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and told his advisor that he wanted to do the special effects at pop gigs. </p> <p> Bemused, the careers advisor said: “What, like Madonna concerts?” Almost exactly 20 years later, backstage at Wembley Arena, that’s exactly what Harvey is doing. </p> <p> Madonna’s <i>Confessions</i> tour is in town, and Harvey is the assistant director and video engineer for the six-month jaunt. Demand for the Queen of Pop in London is such that Wembley is sold out for eight nights – and it’s Harvey’s job to ensure the visuals are as extravagant as the ticket prices. </p> <p> “People don’t just want to see a sound and light show anymore,” he says. “The audience want to see the artist on screens and they want to see a visual backdrop for the stage. </p> <p> “We have to make the visuals wrap around the whole look of the show, making songs mix from one to another and keeping an overall look to the whole production. When its done on a large scale, like on the Madonna tour, it looks amazing.” </p> <p> Harvey works almost entirely in Adobe’s Production Studio, creating backdrops and managing the timings of the performance. </p> <p> “I’m in charge of the visual look of the show, and before that I programmed the show, so I know it back to front,” he says. </p> <p> As Madonna’s main video man, he managed the creation of the visuals from start to finish. After initial meetings with Madonna to assess her vision for the show, Harvey farmed the creation of each song’s visuals out to various video houses. </p> <p> It was then his job to oversee the creative process, and program the final show in the Production Studio. </p> <p> Harvey’s first big break in the music industry was a European tour for 80s musos Toto. Since then, he has taken on the visuals for some of the world’s biggest tours and artists, including Beck, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pink, and a staggering three-year, 325- show tour with Cher. </p> <p> He also wielded the world’s first portable HD system for Bon Jovi’s most recent tour. Harvey owns his own video productions company, Short & Spikey – named after his stature and his hairstyle. </p> <p> He set up Short & Spiky in 1995, after learning his trade in a variety of video jobs. He started by working as a video technician for various equipment hire companies. This led him to London editing-house VTR, where he was a video engineer working on corporate jobs, trade shows, and other live events. </p> <p> “I got bored with that,” he says. “It wasn’t very challenging anymore, and in the late 80s and early 90s it all got too involved in itself.” Luckily, Harvey landed some work with EMI Records, and found a new lease of creative life. </p> <p> “They were willing to let me experiment and have some fun with their artists,” he says. “I turned myself around to actually start directing live cameras, and creating the content for the shows.” </p> <p> He’s now the most sought-after video and projection talent in the live pop industry. But working with some of pop’s biggest names is tough. He’s originally from Milton Keynes, and the London leg of the Madonna tour was the first time he’d been home in five months. </p> <p> Pre-tour schedules are often desperately tight too. “Every show has to be custom made from the ground up, and the Madonna <i>Confessions</i> tour was no different. We had just eight weeks of rehearsals, and there’s never enough time in the day.” </p> <p> <i>Name in lights</i> </p> <p> Once the content was delivered, it was Harvey’s job to work with the lighting and audio departments to sync up the show. He says visuals at most gigs are just free-flowing eye-candy, but for artists like Madonna the visuals are tied to and cued up with the music. </p> <p> “It’s pure theatre,” he says. “The visuals, the music, and the lights all work together.” This is no mean feat in such a short production schedule. </p> <p> “The biggest challenge was getting all the content programmed in time for the opening night. It took us 17 hours just to program the video sequence of the show, once it was all created and approved. </p> <p> “Madonna’s people kept changing the approval, too – in the last seven days I programmed it seven times. I really didn’t go to sleep.” </p> <p> A lack of sleep is a recurring theme with Harvey, and he says the ability to get by with limited shut-eye is key to success in this industry. “It’s a very hard business to get into. We’re looking for enthusiastic people who don’t underestimate the hours they’re gonna have to work. Most of the days are 24-plus hours, and still you have to do a show at the end of it.” </p> <p> Not that he’s complaining. He may even be about to secure his dream gig. “I’m waiting for confirmation on that at the moment,” he says cagily. “My dream job could be happening in about a year’s time.” </p> <p> He wouldn’t bow to speculation (although he denied it was Kylie). Intriguing, and incredible. If he’s got a job lined up that surpasses even the prestige of a Madonna tour, his careers advisor will be dead impressed. </p> </div> <p><strong>Andy Penfold</strong></p> <p id="articlePageList"> </p> <p><strong>Read our informed and inspiring features as soon as they@digital_arts on Twitter.


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border=0 /><BR></div> </p> <p> <b>Who:</b> Jason Harvey <BR> <b>Event:</b> Madonna <i>Confessions</i> Tour <BR> <b>URL</b> <a href="http://www.shortandspiky.com" target="_blank">www.shortandspiky.com</a> </p> </div> <div id="articleFooter"> <div class="alternativeReview" align="center"> <p> <a href="/features/index.cfm?featureID=1520&page=1&pagepos=2">«previous</a> | <a href="#Applicaton.url#/features/index.cfm">Back to index</a> | <a href="/features/index.cfm?featureID=1515&page=1&pagepos=0">next»</a> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="rightColumn"> <!-- begin ad tag --> <div class="adContainer skyscraper" id="topSkyContainer"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/digitalartsonline.co.uk/features1;kw=;tile=2;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1280439812197?"></script> </div> <noscript> <a href="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/jump/digitalartsonline.co.uk/features1;kw=;tile=2;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1280439812197?"> <img src="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/ad/digitalartsonline.co.uk/features1;kw=;tile=2;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1280439812197?" border="0" alt="" /> </a> </noscript> <!-- end ad tag --> <p> </p> <!-- begin ad tag --> <div class="adContainer skyscraper" id="topSkyContainer"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/digitalartsonline.co.uk/features2;kw=;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1280439812197?"></script> </div> <noscript> <a href="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/jump/digitalartsonline.co.uk/features2;kw=;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1280439812197?"> <img src="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/ad/digitalartsonline.co.uk/features2;kw=;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1280439812197?" border="0" alt="" /> </a> </noscript> <!-- end ad tag --> <br /><br /> </div> <!-- this non-breaking space is needed for IE/Win to display the background -->  <div class="separator"><!-- xxxxxxxxxxxxxx --></div> </div> <div id="footer"> <style type="text/css"> #sponsoredLinks{ padding : 0 10px 10px 10px; text-align:left; width : auto; height:1%; } #sponsoredLinks dl img { margin-right : 10px; } #sponsoredLinks dl a{ text-decoration:none; } #sponsoredLinks dl a:hover{ text-decoration:underline; } #sponsoredLinks h3 { text-transform : uppercase; } </style> <div id="sponsoredLinks"> <h3>Digital Arts MARKETPLACE</h3> <dl> <dt><a href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/" target="_new"><img src="http://media.digitalartsonline.co.uk/cmsdata/sponsoredLinks/ciao.gif?20100415" border="0" alt="Ciao" align="left" /></a></dt> <dd> <p style="margin-bottom: 0;"><a href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Digital_Cameras_5302351_2" target="_new"><strong>Digital Camera Reviews</strong></a><br />On Ciao you find consumer reviews on digital devices like digital cameras including components like <a href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Memory_Cards_5302355_2" target="_blank"><strong>memory cards</strong></a>, <a href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Camera_Lenses_5302485_2" target="_blank"><strong>camera lenses</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Camera_Filters_5302486_2" target="_blank"><strong>camera filters</strong></a>. 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