Metallica: Through the Never merges both the concert and dramatic narrative genres into a feature film with visually stunning results. The Picturehouse Entertainment film is an unusual hybrid that reflects the band’s “go big or go home” style. Even the release of the movie was unique as it first opened exclusively in 3D IMAX in the U.S. before going to wide release a week later. Directed by Nimród Antal, who also co-wrote the script with Metallica, the dramatic portions of the story are interwoven with a Metallica concert that, literally at times, bleeds together for a dark visual feast based on the band’s hardcore metal music.
The concert footage was shot in 3D by cinematographer Gyula Pados and his team during live concert performances at actual fan-filled shows. The concerts themselves were fully designed and realized by a legendary concert show designer, the late Mark Fisher of Stufish, and live concert producer Dan Braun, taking the band’s usual high production values to an extreme level. Metallica: Through the Never features elaborate staging concepts with dynamic scenes of mayhem and destruction that were created by the team at Tait. The show itself
included a massive statue of Lady Justice that crumbles onstage and a giant working Tesla coil. Tait partner Adam Davis and project manager Pat Seeley believe that this maybe one of the largest arena shows ever built.
John Broderick, LD for Metallica over a 25-year-span, served as concert lighting designer for the film, with Rob Koenig as concert lighting director and programmer and Troy Eckerman, an 11-year Metallica veteran, working as programmer for the concert scenes. Lighting for both the live audience and preparation for the film footage pushed the lighting crew to the limit during an eight-show run in Mexico City, followed by two shows each in Edmonton, Alberta and Vancouver, BC. The Canadian shows were the ones filmed to capture the concert sequences for the movie.
Along with the lighting and staging complexities, another primary element of Metallica concerts, and heavily featured in the film, was the concert’s video design and content. It was conceived and produced as a joint project of creative collaborators KPX Video and ML Studio. The palpable energy of the band itself is reflected in the custom-created video content, which balanced the needs of the live show with those of the 3D film production. Rising to this unique challenge, they built bold, unambiguous content that supported both the music and the narrative. Video producer/director Marcia Kapustin, who has worked with Metallica for over 12 years, leads KPX Video and creative director Marcus Lyall heads London-based ML Studio.
Known for their organic live-action approach, KPX and ML conceived and created very specific content to underscore the themes in the band’s music. For Metallica: Through the Never, they set up a range of unusual shoots, filming physical theatre performers battling to escape coffins, a World War I battle scene, and an execution by electrocution. KPX and ML also worked with the film’s creative team on playback needs and were set up on-site to modify and address changes as required during rehearsals and filming. PRG Nocturne provided personnel and equipment in support of the video team, supplying the projectors, their own LED video products, as well as camera crews and technicians. Leon Roll was the PRG Nocturne crew chief for this project.
Last month, PLSN published an interview with Broderick, Koenig and Eckerman about the challenges of handling the lighting for the live Metallica concerts that were also filmed. (See “Designer Watch,” PLSN, Oct. 2013, page 65.) For this month’s Production Profile, PLSN spoke with Braun, Kapustin, Lyall and Davis about the unique challenges involved in the video production, video content and staging elements of this unquestionably creative production.
PLSN: Tell us about the incorporation of video surfaces in the concert set itself.
Dan Braun: We had a large amount of video surfaces in the show, including the mammoth stage [131 by 49 by 5 feet, LxWxH], which was all video floor; we had hundreds of square feet of LED on the back of the coffins; and we had roll drops that came in and out during the show that were 20 by 30 feet (WxL).The palette for Marcia and Marcus to work on was incredible; yet they were undaunted by the size or scope of it.
Marcia Kapustin: There are three video surfaces — the 30mm LED floor from Tait; 10 coffins that Tait built and covered with LED modules from PRG Nocturne; and scrim projection screens that Tait engineered. I had the idea of the coffins that hung in the air with footage of a person trapped inside. They were almost cut at one point for being too dramatic. We had life-sized coffins built for the video shoot, where we shot actors writhing inside of the coffins. The sequence of them waking up trapped in the coffins was outstanding.
Marcus Lyall: We built a coffin in the same proportions as the LED coffins with a Plexiglas cover. We had a great cast that we got from a physical theatre company. The actors would get into the coffin and we would shoot in one take; a single six-minute performance with each person in a coffin. Which it turns out is really difficult, just to sustain the physical performance for that amount of time is very tricky.
Adam Davis: We built massive coffins [20 by 8 feet, LxW] with LEDs on one side and lighting and pyro positions on the other side. They were all motion-controlled old school with chain hoist control. The LEDs were 656 V-9 panels from PRG Nocturne that were custom built for the coffins. [LD] John Broderick had a Syncrolite and moving lights in each, as well as pyro…We created 12 roll drops for the projection system that were a huge challenge. They were 20’ wide and positionable down to 40 feet and were servo-controlled. Dan Braun had a vision for the drops that could be both front and rear projected on. We went through testing of about 150 materials to be able to have them projected from one side and be seen on the other side, as there were very limited positions for the projectors in the rig. We ended up with a scrim material, and the projectors were mounted in the center of the grid and shot outwards.
Marcia Kapustin: For the scrim projection for the song “One,” we used two projectors on each of the 12 roll drops, for a total of 24 20K Barco projectors from PRG Nocturne. Dan Braun wanted this gauze effect for these screens that were used for the World War I sequence of soldiers marching. We arranged to shoot a WWI reenactment troupe, which was haunting; it was a standalone piece. We than had cut out shadows of the army marching, and they would march from screen to screen. It’s an amazing cue.
Tell us about the massive LED video floor.
Adam Davis: The stage floor is entirely covered in a 30mm video product that is a part of the Tait MagDeck line — MagVideoDecks. They were custom-built so the pitch all worked out evenly. They use 448mm tiles. We built the video floor from scratch. Also, the LED video floor had to lift and slide aside for scenic effects. We built the deck with a high load capacity as well as dealt with the glare and intensity. We have a custom plastic covering with glare and scratch resistance. It filled the arena floor.
Marcus Lyall: Dealing with the video floor was really challenging. Obviously, in a normal show, you’ve got an orientation to the screens. Everyone has an up or down orientation. The challenge with this video floor in the round is that there is no up or down. All the shots have to work from any angle. The way that we approached this was to have a sequence of shots, which don’t have a narrative of sorts. We tried to come up with shots that would read in 360°. Like with the number, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” we came up with an image of carrion birds circling a soldier’s corpse; kind of dark and swooping down. The idea was, the camera was looking straight up.
Talk a little more about the content that was created for the concert sequences.
Marcia Kapustin: We created content for 18 songs. It was a mix of live event/concert and a film. We had to address both so the content looked good on camera. Normally, content creators are brought in very late in the game; here we were in all of the meetings. We were able to help shape the physical properties and the looks. All of the content — everything — was proprietary, built content. There was no stock content at all. Some of our content was also used in the dramatic portions of the film as well. It helps tie the two sections of the film together visually.
Marcus Lyall: There were the technical issues of how we were going to make it work for playing back on multiple surfaces and make it work for film as well, because of the frame rate differences between film and video. Then, creatively, we created these strong, dark images. We tried to make the ideas very simple, yet strong and emotive. We create and shoot everything; what we’re known for is creating bespoke content.
For “Ride the Lightning” there are huge Tesla coils; how did they come about and how did they work live?
Adam Davis: Dan Braun really wanted a Tesla coil as a part of the show. We built an
early version of the electric chair effect with LEDs, but it had no ‘wow’ factor. The Tesla coils were a massive undertaking. They shoot off 20,000 volts up to 20 feet away. There were four coils in the show. They create three zones — the sphere of death zone, the ‘we don’t quite know’ area, and the safe zone.
The electromagnetic fields played havoc with the microprocessors of nearby equipment. It was all experimentation; we blew up some gear in the process and learned what should be turned off or rebooted while the Teslas were being used. All systems — lighting, audio, video, and automation — all took hits. We essentially had an electrical generator that sought ground.
We created winches to fly in ‘garages’ at the right time to keep gear safe. We also had chain mail Faraday cages to protect the followspot operators. We turned to a company called Applied Tesla Technology and Aron Koscho, who’s a genius when it comes to all things Tesla.
Dan Braun: Aron of Applied Tesla made my wildest dream come true. Making real Tesla coils work on the electric chair happened when Pat Seeley said that he had a guy and brought in Aron. From the first moment I saw them working in the test, I knew they were going to be in the movie, and the amount of effort that we put into making that work was… well, it probably took a few years off my life. The 80-foot sphere of death was very real; if you were in it; you’d be dead. Getting the Tesla coils to work live during the show was mind-boggling but Aron at Applied Tesla was absolutely stunning and his contributions to figuring out where all of the grounding problems and shielding issues were, was way above and beyond.
What were you using to serve your video content?
Marcia Kapustin: We used two media servers, a primary and back-up Catalyst that was triggered by Lighting Director Rob Koenig’s grandMA console. We brought on Joe Cabrera as our Catalyst programmer, which turned out to be a really, really great thing. Joe used a small grandMA to follow along. Joe’s so amazing; he’s so levelheaded. He built our cue stacks and worked them into Rob’s cue stacks on his console.
What else was incorporated in the stage for this production?
Adam Davis: The stage had as much integrated pyro and special effects as we could fit. There were flame effects, fog jets, and pyro charges everywhere; it was a true convergence. There were 12 LED custom crosses that rose up from the stage floor. We created a new drive with servos to proportion control the pneumatics. It gave us true positioning and absolute acceleration and deceleration. I believe that it’s the largest arena set that Tait has ever built. It had three times the lighting, rigging, and PA than normal. There was no more room for anything; no extra capacity. We spent a year mapping the under-stage area.
It must have been a true collaboration to make this all work.
Marcia Kapustin: I have to say how impressed I was with how much collaboration went on and that it wasn’t something that came together overnight. There was an amazing amount of collaboration over a long span of time, and no one ever lost passion for the project. Working over the years with Metallica, this has always been true, so I guess it wasn’t surprising, just great to be part of.
Dan Braun: The whole baby is from our dear, departed friend Mark Fisher, who I miss every day. Also KPX and ML Studio brought an incredible amount of creative insight and energy. Also the folks at Tait were fantastic to work with.
Metallica: Through the Never Live Production
Crew (partial list)
Director: Nimród Antal
Cinematographer: Gyula Pados
Concert Show Designer: Mark Fisher
Concert Producer: Dan Braun
Concert LD: John Broderick
Concert Lighting Director: Rob Koenig
Concert Programmer: Troy Eckerman
Catalyst Programmer: Joe Cabrera
Video Producer/Director: Marcia Kapustin/KPX Video
Video Creative Director: Marcus Lyall/ML Studio
PRG Nocturne: Leon Roll, Nick Keiser, Omar Montes, Justin McLean, Chris Davis, Will Stinson, Mike Johnson, Josh Marrano
Tait Partner: Adam Davis
Tait Project Manager: Pat Seeley
Tesla Coils: Applied Tesla/Aron Koscho
Gear (partial list)
From PRG Nocturne:
1 grandMA2 lighting console
2 Catalyst media servers
24 20K Barco projectors
1,640 V-9 LED video tiles (10 coffins)
944,640 LEDs total
11,200’ Fiber optic cable
1 Infrared camera system (for monitor techs, including 12 Night Owl cameras and 1Evertz Multiviewer)
1 PRG Nocturne Krypton system (for I-Mag: 1Pinnacle 9000 switcher, 4 Ikegami HL65W cameras w/ 2 handhelds at each end of the stage; 2 long lenses)
From Tait:
1 Video stage (131’ x 49’ x 5’, LxWxH, covered with Tait MagVideoDeck 30mm LED panels)
1 Collapsible “Lady Justice” statue, 29.5 feet high
4 Collapsible hydraulic towers (32.8’), each fitted with 12 moving lights.
12 Automated crosses with internal white LEDs
1 Electric chair scenic element (16.4’ x 6.5’ x 6.5’, HxWxD)
4 20,000V Tesla coils
1 Scenic toilet
1 Scenic hand-held 15’ sword (rises from scenic toilet)
10 Scenic V-9 LED-clad coffins (20’ x 8’, LxW), flown over the crowd
2 Scenic trusses, dropped onstage during destruction sequence
1 Tait Navigator automation system
15 53’ trucks for shipping; 14 for scenic elements, 1 for staging
