All eyes were on Finland’s biggest rap stars as they descended on the Nokia Arena in Tampere recently to treat more than 10,000 music lovers to a night of pumped-up performance. Visual content focused on live action footage and pre-made content on an LED cube and wraparound ticker screens, powered by Green Hippo Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers. Varpu Sipilä at Visual45 discusses how Hippotizer helped the team realise the striking, varied visuals.
“Hippotizer allows us to still be creative during programming phase, which is important as this is when we can see the complete picture and make modifications. Hippotizer supports our work with easy testing throughout programming. In this case, Hippotizer was also a robust tool for executing the project, as the content mainly consisted of assets and elements that were combined and manipulated during the programming phase to create various looks in accordance with what the brand allowed.”“The Boreal+ MK2 offers high processing power and is the reliable option for arena-level concerts,” says Sipilä.
Organised by the international Rockstar Energy Drink brand in association with Def Agency and Warner Music Live, hot mic-slamming rappers including Ahti, Cledos and Elastinen played the in-the-round stage. This was dominated by a star-shaped overhead lighting truss and a 360-degree, a four-fascia LED cube, and a DJ booth and stage riser formed of ROE Black Pearl 3 screens. LED stars – the branding of Rockstar – were built from Sceptron linear fixtures and rigged throughout the arena and from the ceiling truss. All the lighting and Hippotizers were controlled using a grandMA2.
The screen materials emphasized Rockstar brand-specific elements, which were repeated and varied across different surfaces. During the concert, the media cube mainly displayed live footage from cameras, while other surfaces played more with brand book assets and elements created in advance by Visual45’s Motion Graphic Designer, Jani Saranpää. The looks were finalised by Visual45’s Saku Väänänen, who was responsible for video programming and operation.
“Hippotizer was, above all, an easy and sensible tool for delivering the show,” Sipilä continues. “When working with Hippotizer, there’s hardly any time spent on learning the equipment itself, allowing us to focus on the actual work, which makes things easier especially on event days when setup and the gig are on the same day, as was the case here.”
The Visual45 team used Hippotizer VideoMapper to better integrate the various shaped LED panels into the output, and the design canvas was adjusted to be compatible with the LED processor. Alongside the Boreal+ MK2 Media Servers, Saku Väänänen used a powerful laptop loaded with ZooKeeper.
“Controlling the Hippotizers via a grandMA2 is easy and efficient, and this is a reliable combination for us when it comes to operating shows,” adds Sipilä.
The event was the result of collaboration between many parties. Visual45 was responsible for the visual design and content production of the show, but materials created during the advertising campaign, such as the opening video of the concert, were also utilized. Warner Music Live was in charge of the concert production and artists, and Creative Technology Finland was responsible for the technical implementation.
Visual design was realised by Mikko Linnavuori and Tero Kärpijoki, who also operated the lighting, with screen content design by Jani Saranpää and Mikko Linnavuori. The video operator was Saku Väänänen.
The Rockstar Energy Drink Live 24 concert was the culmination of a promotion by the brand, with performing artists teased out over the spring, and the audience winning tickets through Rockstar initiatives.
