16+
Festivals covered yearly
30+
Arena dates yearly
18
UK arenas worked in
What we do
Pointing cameras at a screen is not production.
IMAG is the hardest cut to get right, because the audience can see the real thing at the same time. Miss the moment on the screen and two thousand people notice, because they just watched it happen twenty feet away.
So the director works from your running order, not from instinct. Camera positions are chosen to cover the stage without standing in a sightline, latency is kept low enough that the screen and the stage agree, and the cut anticipates what is about to happen rather than reacting to it.
Most of our production work runs alongside a stream, which is usually the cheaper way round: the same cameras and the same director serve both, with separate outputs so the stream can carry graphics the room does not need. Some jobs are room only, and that is fine too.
And if the room is small enough that everyone can see the front, IMAG is solving a problem you have not got. We will say so.
What we deliver
Five things, one crew.
Most jobs are two or three of these together, which is usually cheaper than booking them separately.
How it works
From your running order backwards.
A call about the show
The venue, the capacity, the running order, and what the room needs to see. Also whether any of it goes online, because that changes the rig.
An itemised quote
Line by line, with insurance and RAMS attached. Screens and staging quoted separately so you can see what belongs to whom.
Positions and feeds in writing
Camera positions, riser and jib decking, cable routes, the desk feed and the screen handover point, all agreed with your staging and AV teams before the day.
Rig, then rehearse
Up and tested before doors, and where there is time we walk the first part of the running order so the cut is not being invented live.
Show, then handover
We run it quietly and derig without getting in the way of your load-out. Recordings follow from a separate path.
On the day
Rigged, run and struck.
Who we do it for
Arena tours and AGMs, same standard.
Questions people ask first.
What is IMAG?
Image magnification. Cameras feeding the screens in the room so the people at the back can see what is happening at the front. It is a different job from streaming: the audience is in the room, the latency has to be imperceptible, and the cut has to serve people who can also see the real thing.
Do you supply the screens?
We supply the cameras, the direction and the feed. LED screens and projection are quoted per job, usually through a staging partner, because screen size and rigging depend on the venue. If you already have a screen supplier we send them a clean feed in whatever format they need.
Can you do IMAG and streaming from the same rig?
Usually yes, and it is normally the cheaper way round. The same cameras and the same director can serve both, with separate outputs so the stream can carry graphics the room does not need. There are cases where the two want different cuts, and we will tell you when that applies.
What does a tour production involve?
One plan carried across the run rather than starting again at each venue. Same camera language, same graphics, same crew where possible, so the fifth night looks like the first and the get-in does not turn into a negotiation every day.
Do you handle audio?
We take a clean feed from the sound desk for the recording and the stream, and mix it for broadcast. To be clear, this is broadcast audio. We do not supply the PA or sound reinforcement in the room.
What do we get afterwards?
A programme record as standard, with separate recording paths available where the archive has to survive anything. Every angle recorded for an edit afterwards, chaptered archives, highlights and social clips are all available and quoted as their own lines.
When do we not need you?
If the room is small enough that everyone can see the front, IMAG is solving a problem you do not have. A hundred people in a function room do not need screens. We will say so on the call rather than quote for them.
Tell us about the show.
Thirty minutes with the venue, the capacity and the running order, and you will know what we would bring, what it costs, and whether we are the right people for it.
Or ring 0191 694 1001