Visual artistry

Bluman Associates discuss using Notch software to create visuals for Emeli Sandé’s Real Life World Tour

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé recently embarked on her Real Life World Tour, managed by Fruit Pie Music, and with visuals from creative technologists Bluman Associates. Sandé and her band dreamt up some ambitious ideas for the look of their stage show. Tour and production manager Kumar Kamalagharan of Fruit Pie turned to Pod Bluman, owner of Bluman Associates, to help execute Sandé’s vision.

“Pod Bluman never laughs me out of the park when I come to him with a grandiose brief and a non-grandiose budget,” says Kamalagharan. “We’re on the same wavelength and bounce ideas around until we nail a practical, affordable and highly creative solution.”

To successfully deliver the all-singing, all-dancing visuals for the tour, the team at Bluman Associates opted for real-time graphics workhorse Notch. “We needed something dynamic, portable and simple for the touring team to set up,” explains Notch designer Kyle Reseigh. “Notch was also chosen because it very quickly allows us to support the team remotely, while still offering the wide range of looks we were aiming to achieve.”

Discussing the initial brief, Reseigh adds that the team wanted a system that worked alongside Sandé’s performance but could also be controlled via the lighting designer and operator. He continues: “There was a running theme of orange and the content was broken down into sections with specific visual influences for each song.”