For her 50-city Fearless tour, Taylor Swift asked production designer Jonathan Smeeton for a set that was “as multi-dimensional as possible,” featuring a “theatrical presentation of graphics, sets and visual elements.” Smeeton saw the logic of Swift’s ideas. “She is a songwriter who tells stories that have a place and setting,” he said, “so we had the opportunity to provide a very theatrical show for her fans, rather than just dreaming up nice looks for nice songs.”
Smeeton’s multi-layered design made full use of the available stage real estate with LED screens in the background, fabric in the middle field and hard white surfaces up front. The design also let Smeeton place Swift, the band and dancers into detailed panoramas.
To help fulfill the technical details of his vision, Smeeton turned to CT Touring’s J. Barry Otto. “Barry got the idea right away,” Smeeton said. “He didn’t ask me technical questions. He told me what could be done and gave me solutions. He paid attention and was all over it.”
During Otto’s visit to Smeeton’s Nashville studio, the two mapped out an equipment strategy to meet his artistic ideas. “It’s an ambitious set with a variety of surfaces and depths,” Otto noted. “But we were easily able to bring the right people and gear together to bring Jonathan’s ideas to life.”
CT Touring supplied 12 Barco FLM HD projectors, 56 panels of Martin 40mm Creative LED, four Sony HDC1500 HD cameras and a Grass Valley Kayak 200 HD flypack system.
“We’ve had nothing but amazing support,” Smeeton said, “from the help I got while designing the show to the way the package was set up to the crew that’s working on the tour. CT Touring came to the table with a can-do and will-do attitude before they ultimately did-do. It’s been a great experience.”
