I’ve had the privilege of traveling to Disney World on three occasions for the Holiday Season 2016-2018. MAC Cosmetics would throw incredible live performance spectacles that I covered with video: Nutcracker Sweet, Snow Ball, and Shiny Pretty Things. The amphitheater on the waterfront in downtown Disney Springs transformed into an interactive concert venue/shopping experience, and drew an audience of hundreds of thousands over the course of the week. Since there was so much to cover on my end, I would shoot every night for 3-5 nights, sometimes with the assistance of a local videographer. Each night was a huge undertaking, as I had to time-manage filming multiple dance performances for linecuts, interview key staff on site, and capture gobs of b-roll to be able to create a 3 minute re-cap sizzle.

The most complex yet rewarding show was Shiny Pretty Things, a massive event that had three different dance performances that told a story of inclusivity & acceptance. For me, one of the biggest challenges of this event began before it even started. It was my responsibility to design the video backdrops that were to be displayed on a giant, ultra high-res LED tower & floor that served as the main stage. Because the shows were very high concept & told a story to the audience, the client had specific themes & timed cues in mind for these videos. Once I received the music tracks & general design guidelines, I got to work.

Using the supplied artwork (basically just some colored bows) I set to After Effects & created three separate performance comps with colorful elements: a technicolor 3D tree, raining/exploding bows using a plugin Trapcode Particular, and energetic moving/sparkling backgrounds that changed on musical cues with the choreography in mind. To render all of these comps in time for the rehearsals, we had simultaneous renders going on three MAC Pros. It came down to the wire but we pulled it off!