Dark Matter tour visuals by Rob Sheridan

demetrios

https://instagram.com/p/C_EHQdSyPhE/embed/

rob_sheridan

A couple clips of a special show open for @officialament’s big homecoming #PearlJam concert in Montana, flying over the mountains of #Missoula and the stadium itself, ending on a live shot of the crowd. The footage was filmed by Jeff’s friend @timeriding a few days before the concert, and I worked quickly with @nimblist @kkpearl66 @blueleach @b.menaaa to get it into the show in the hours before. A beautiful opening for a hell of a show!

100 Pacer

We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record. 

😜😉

demetrios

100 Pacer said:

We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record. 

😜😉

Nice!

D-Day

Zen23 said:

Without coming across as the grumpy type - but am I the only one who thinks that Pearl Jam doesn't need this kind of "show" at all?

We're more or less glued to screens all day. Of course I thought it was cool in Manchester for a few scenes to see Mr. Mike McCready's solos so gigantic. But you lose focus of what's happening on stage. With this gigantic thing behind the band, you are inevitably distracted. Even if you're sitting close to it and can see everything perfectly even without screens.

In really big venues it may be different, as a large part of the audience is dependent on it.

The mentioned guitar play close ups + the DTE animated art video were top highlights.

And I can see how the DM tracks plus the ART VISUALS can easily lead into a cinematic music video show - already 7 must be noticeably different than 4 in Manchester.

But the arena in Manchester (for example) is already too big to show up without screens - unless the stage, boxing ring etc. is placed central.

The rear third or even 50% of the venue is reason enough for any band to enlarge the musicians via screens - or to cut ticket prices for back there including the floor tickets.

Manchester 8:42 pm at least no heads blocking the view

I like the DM video art but would prefer a light show which is really a “show” plus screens to enlarge the musicians and show details - plus the DTE video footage background action if I could choose only one cinematic add on.

… besides a low tec UK club tour 202X 😋

demetrios

https://instagram.com/p/C_Tg3YsJxwP/embed/

rob_sheridan - "40,000 people lighting up the Chicago sky for @tompettyofficial and singing along with @eddievedder. Quite a moving scene from where I was perched in the upper deck. What a huge night at Wrigley, can’t wait for night two!"

demetrios

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_b6gfsJCft/

rob_sheridan

Liquid topography visuals in @pearljam’s world tour, created from macro 1000fps footage of tiny details of turbulence on the surface of Puget Sound in Seattle. Live camera footage (directed by @blueleach ) is overlaid into the footage, disappearing and reappearing as the topography changes the negative space. It was great to see this piece at Wrigley the other night; we have created unique looks for ~100 individual songs at this point, but by the nature of Pearl Jam’s ever-changing setlists it’s anyone’s guess when (or even IF) we’ll get to see them in a show.

Production design: @nimblist
Lighting designer: @kkpearl66

PSUS2H

Rob has a fantastic aesthetic and I am quite impressed with how it fits in w/ Pearl Jam. His whole visuals scream Sphere run to me. 

demetrios

https://instagram.com/p/C_eD8_LJJVb/embed/

Jed

100 Pacer said:

We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record. 

😜😉

This is not on the record... feel free to share.

PSUS2H

Jed said:

100 Pacer said:

We bumped into Rob at the foot bridge prior to the Missoula show (the crew were all walking over from their hotel) and he was very kind to stop and speak with us for 5 minutes. He told us about the special footage he had in store for the show (Missoula drone footage) and mentioned something else off the record. 

😜😉

This is not on the record... feel free to share.

His visuals scream Vegas Sphere shows. Just sayin'

demetrios

Ep. 227 - Rob Sheridan Is In All of This Dark 

Matter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21uQk5Lxjs4

demetrios

demetrios

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAWDghxvdb4/?igsh=MWd2ZXp5dGE3eDB2Nw==

demetrios

https://instagram.com/p/DAjIbYiPyb_/embed/

rob_sheridan

“Terraform (Blue).” 1000fps macro footage of the surface of Puget Sound, WA. One of the new ocean-themed visual pieces I prepared for @pearljam’s @theohanafest shows. This one accompanied “Amongst the Waves” Friday night.

What an incredible weekend to finish off an incredible tour. I highly recommend Ohana fest for those who haven’t been, it’s a unique mix of music, art, and ocean activism with a fantastic vibe.

demetrios

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA1SkzQyULJ/

rob_sheridan

One of my favorite visual sequences from @pearljam “React, Respond,” created with filmed elements of controlled fluid dynamics and light refractions captured with a macro lens at 1000fps, as incandescent bulbs moved across the surface of rippling water in a black wave box. In editing, I layered two clips on top of each other (or in some cases the same clip mirrored) to construct a dance of warm and cool light, converging and separating, to match the tension of the song sonically and thematically.

To make a sequence like this play out in sync with a 100% live band, it was crucial to make visuals that felt like they matched the energy of the music perfectly without ever trying to hit on the beat. They are doing an interpretive dance where they will always flow with the tempo even as timing changes a bit from night to night. I created nine clips corresponding to different parts of the song (intro, verses, bridges, choruses, builds, etc), which were attached to lighting cues that lighting director @kkpearl66 triggers live along with the performance. Each clip is designed with extra length that will crossfade elegantly into the next clip, allowing me to still build a visual narrative across the song even if the band extends or shortens parts of the song.

“React, Respond” / Dance of Incandescence:
Director/Editor: Rob Sheridan
Producer: @stephanie_sheridan_
Camera Operator: @donovonmedia
Production Assistant: @ilanarahaman
Camera: Freefly Ember by @freeflysystems

Filmed at Rob Sheridan Productions, Tacoma, WA.

#pearljam #robsheridanproductions #concertvisuals #tourproduction #videoart

demetrios

rob_sheridan

Catching up on some @pearljam pics from Chicago that I didn’t get a chance to post. Still in awe of being able to present my work to such a huge audience at Wrigley field. If you were there, swipe through for a couple big panoramas from night 1 and night 2, you might see yourself!

I put together the custom backdrop for “Porch” of lightning over the Sears Tower (seen in pic 1) using clips Ed captured on his phone the night we arrived in Chicago to a huge storm.

Sending love to the PJ family and fans over in Australia right now; I hate to miss out, but the stadium show we built and refined in Chicago, Boston, and Dana Point is in great hands with our lighting/video team. I’ve been super busy with another very exciting secret project this past month (not related to PJ). If you’re looking for photos from the current PJ shows, follow their tour photographer @geoffwhitman for killer shots every day!

#pearljam #wrigleyfield #darkmattertour #robsheridanproductions

https://instagram.com/p/DCX--afPmVI/embed/

demetrios

https://x.com/PearlJam/status/1860082796448088539?t=GY7Uik73aJBDY1I7EI1stw&s=19

demetrios

Pearl Jam "Dark Matter" Tour Strikes a Perfect Balance with Elation Lighting

https://www.streetinsider.com/PRNewswire/Pearl+Jam+and+quot;Dark+Matter+and+quot;+Tour+Strikes+a+Perfect+Balance+with+Elation+Lighting/23960817.html

demetrios

https://instagram.com/p/DEP2TZoJ7lj/embed/

rob_sheridan - A year so dizzying we still haven’t caught our breath. Thanks so much to the friends, family, collaborators, and fans who helped us have our biggest year yet, and survive it with a toddler in tow. Happy New Year! 🥂 #2024recap

demetrios

https://www.instagram.com/rob_sheridan/reel/DFOH2rZzTtF/

rob_sheridan


How I used practical FX to create a galaxy of “Dark Matter” for Pearl Jam’s new tour. In discussing the cosmic themes of the new album and my vision of grounding the tour visuals in practical, tactile techniques, I envisioned a starscape that glistened and undulated, as if space itself was fluid and malleable. I knew I wanted to incorporate ferrofluid, a “dark matter” unlike anything else. Developed by NASA in the 1960s to use for rocket fuel, ferrofluid becomes highly magnetized in the presence of magnetic fields, causing it to change its shape. I tried a few different methods of manipulating ferrofluid, but ultimately I was most intrigued by a device that uses internal audio-reactive magnets to alter the shape of a small pool of ferrofluid according to sound, in real-time. Using a macro lens to film extremely close up, we lit the miniature blob to catch the details of the shifting topography within the black liquid, and to catch glistening reflections of tiny specks of glitter that shifted in and out of the fluid. We played the new Pearl Jam album for the little blob, and filmed it with the Freefly Ember ultra slow motion camera, transforming the rapid frenetic vibrations of the ferrofluid’s “dance” into a smooth, undulated cosmic surface.

A theme we carry through the Dark Matter show is the interconnectedness of the universe, from the microscopic to the cosmic, and this is one of the many ways I brought that theme into the creative process of the tour visuals, by pointing the camera beyond a scale and speed the naked eye can perceive.

For more behind the scenes of my Pearl Jam tour visuals, check my reels grid. The Dark Matter tour continues in North America this spring!

“Liquid Cosmos”
Director/Editor: Rob Sheridan
Producer: @stephanie_sheridan_
Camera Operator: @donovonmedia
Production Assistant: @ilanarahaman
Camera Support: @freeflysystems
Post Production: @joybirdstudios

Filmed at Rob Sheridan Productions, Tacoma, WA.

#pearljam #darkmattertour #practicaleffects #concertvisuals #robsheridan #ferrofluid