On the road with Cher
Assistant video director Jason Harvey delivers stunning graphics and music videos on the go with Adobe Video Collection
Well-known star Cher is now in her fifth decade of extraordinary worldwide success. Her farewell tour, “The Farewell Tour (Never Can Say Goodbye),” which began in June 2002 — initially scheduled for just 49 shows — is now surpassing its 297th show.
Cher in concert is everything fans would expect: stunningly spectacular and lavishly over the top. A major part of what has made the tour a success are dazzling music videos, visual effects, and graphics, all updated for different venues and audiences.
"Fans want more than just great songs: They expect to be entertained with visual elements that capture the mood and bring Cher close to her fans, even if they're sitting in the last row," says Jason Harvey, assistant video director and engineer and owner of video and sound company Short & Spikey.
Because this is such a long tour, part of Harvey's job is keeping the show fresh and timely. This entails changing the visuals for nearly every stop.
Editing on the go
In the music industry for more than 10 years as a video engineer and video director, Harvey relies on his laptop and Adobe® Video Collection software to edit video, produce visual effects, and create mood-enhancing graphics on the road. He has toured with and met the exacting demands of many of the industry's most prestigious and successful artists, including Pink, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Gorillaz, Simply Red, Sting, Roger Waters, and Paul McCartney.
Harvey's laptop PC running Adobe Video Collection software is a major advantage in working with top musicians. Often, he must edit video or complete graphics in a single afternoon to accompany that evening's performance.
"Nobody has the time or money to travel to Los Angeles or another big city to use high-end, proprietary editing suites," he explains. "Adobe Video Collection gives me everything I need on my laptop to provide creative, fresh content, whether I'm in a city or on my way to the next performance."
Harvey's work varies depending upon the artist's preferences. Some want straightforward, MTV-style video. Others, like Cher, give video directors like Harvey extensive creative leeway. "Cher is wonderful to work with," says Harvey. "She welcomes new ideas and innovative effects, graphics, and reworked video."
Behind the scenes, Jason Harvey of Short & Spikey works to make each show more compelling by capturing live footage and adding close-ups, transitions, graphical backgrounds, and other effects. He's done so for many big artists, including Pink, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Gorillaz, Simply Red, Sting, Roger Waters, and Paul McCartney.
“Adobe Premium Pro is screamingly fast and offers a rich feature set that surpases previous versions of Adobe Premiere.”
assistant video director, engineer and owner, Short & Spikey.
Enhancing the mood
Traveling with Cher since her farewell tour began in 2002, Harvey delivers content for her show for two side video screens and one LED screen behind center stage. He often creates graphical backgrounds such as mosaics and kaleidoscopes using Adobe Photoshop® software to bring a unique visual element to specific songs.
During each Cher show there are five live cameras running at all times capturing footage of Cher as well as her band and dancers. Harvey digitizes the footage and brings it into Adobe Premiere® Pro software, where he selects compelling clips. He also obtains footage from a variety of outside sources. He then uses Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the video clips, cutting them to add compelling close-ups, transitions, and other effects. He can also cut in graphical backgrounds created in Photoshop to enhance the mood.
When the tour travels to different parts of the world such as Europe or Asia, Harvey updates the visuals to resonate with that audience and that part of the world. After editing videos, Harvey often uses Adobe After Effects® software to adjust lighting and create picture-in-picture effects. The integration among applications in the Adobe Video Collection enables Harvey to work quickly, leveraging content created in one application within the others with ease.
Cher in concert is stunningly spectacular and lavishly over the top. A major part of what has made the tour a success are dazzling music videos, visual effects, and graphics, updated for different venues and audiences.
“Real-time editing in Adobe Premiere Pro makes it easier to time video to the music with extreme precision, a crucial capability in working with top musicians.”
assistant video director, engineer and owner, Short & Spikey.
During one portion of the show, Cher plays a medley of songs, illustrated using video clips from her films, all edited using Adobe Premiere Pro. After Ray Charles' death in June 2004, Harvey incorporated footage of Charles into the show to meet Cher's desire to commemorate the famous musician's rich contribution to the music world.
To add humor and a modern twist, Harvey created a Monty Python style animation of Cher performing a wheely on a tiny scooter, flying across the screen and wearing an outrageous circus costume. According to Harvey, this animation created in Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro always gets a hearty laugh from audiences.
A quantum leap in performance and features
Because Harvey is almost always on deadline and must complete edits before each show begins, he is thrilled with the increased performance and usability of Adobe Premiere Pro. "Adobe Premiere Pro is screamingly fast and offers a rich feature set that surpasses previous versions of Adobe Premiere," he says.
Among the most crucial timesaving features is the ability to edit in real time and see the outcome of his work on the screen. This has become essential to his ability to edit footage in an afternoon for the coming evening's performance while improving the quality of footage and effects. "Real-time editing in Adobe Premiere Pro makes it easier to time video to the music with extreme precision, a crucial capability in working with top musicians," says Harvey.
For Harvey, Adobe Video Collection software is essential to his ability to please the world's most discriminating artists and audiences. Adobe software lets him achieve world-class results, without having to travel to a city just to rent a costly editing suite. While he's not sure what his next assignment will be after Cher's farewell tour winds down in April 2005, one thing is certain: Adobe Video Collection will be with him wherever he goes.
"Adobe Video Collection software lets me achieve professional results on the road, quickly and creatively," says Harvey. "In the music business, that's what it's all about."
Adobe software helps Harvey add humor and a modern twist to each show. He created a Monty Python style animation of Cher performing a wheely on a tiny scooter, flying across the screen and wearing an outrageous circus costume.
