Recently, it has created 400 million album sales, 17 crown singles, and the pop music industry evergreen ABBA group held an unprecedented concert in London.
When "Fernando," "Dancing Queen," "Gimme!" Gimme! When familiar songs such as Gimme!" were sung again, thousands of ABBA fans not only sang "Can you hear the drums, Fernando?" (Can you hear the drums, Fernando?) ）
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)音乐：ABBA - Live At Wembley Arena
In the performance of abba members singing and dancing, the fans seem to have returned to 40 years ago, but the extremely avant-garde stage effects on the scene have made them feel both real and illusory.
Founded in 1972, ABBA is a Swedish pop band group. The four members of the group were once two couples, but they are also the most famous divorce groups in the history of European and American pop music.
ABBA disbanded in 1982, and this concert was their first time together after a gap of 40 years.
As a former popular group, abba comeback concert has naturally attracted the attention of many old fans.
But looking at the band members bouncing and singing on stage, the audience could hardly believe their eyes. Because the four members are already 75 years old per capita, the performers on the stage seem to have never aged, and they still maintain a youthful appearance in their 30s.
It turned out that this was a virtual concert. It wasn't the ABBA members themselves who sang on stage, but their virtual avatars. But looking at their shiny shapes, their flying hair, and their vibrant dance moves, almost no one will believe that this is just a virtual person created by holographic projection technology.
In fact, virtual concerts have long been commonplace. There are holographic projections by Hatsune Mirai and Michael Jackson, followed by online concerts by Justin Bieber and A-Sister.
However, the virtual concert of this "antique" veteran band still made everyone feel bright. So what are the innovations in this concert?
01
ABBA-tars powers ABBA
Back to its peak
The focus of this virtual concert is undoubtedly ABBA-tars. They are four virtual people named after Avatar, a perfect replica of the young ABBA members. Not only the appearance, but even every expression and action is incredibly restored, no wonder it makes it difficult for fans to distinguish between true and false.
Such a realistic effect was achieved by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), a special effects company that has created Star Wars, Jurassic World and Marvel series movies.
Baillie Walsh, director of ABBA Voyage, said: "I don't think any hologram performance has been successful. After five minutes, the audience was tired of watching. ”
Such a realistic effect can not be achieved with only holographic projection, and the "naked-eye 3D" effect that these viewers think is actually just a two-dimensional body on a virtual plane.
The huge 65-megapixel screen and alternating flashing live light and shadow effects put a mysterious veil on virtual people, allowing the audience to believe that they exist in three-dimensional space.
It is the ABBA-TARS members themselves who give the soul to abba-tars. They put on their capture suits and sang a hit song for five weeks without dead ends from 200 cameras.
Based on these images and three-dimensional scanning data, the technical team built an accurate static model based on the faces and bodies of the members.
Finally, the model was animated using ILM's proprietary capture tool. In this way, a young version of ABBA is "reborn" in the digital world.
Through light and shadow rendering and professional dance choreography, these avatars completely got rid of the uncanny valley effect and presented fans with realistic and natural performances.
In addition, they are a key factor in driving ABBA members to choose a comeback. In 2000, ABBA had turned down a $1 billion comeback.
Band member Bjorn Ovals once said they "will never be on stage again" because he wanted the abba in the hearts of fans to remain young.
"If fans see four veteran singers on stage, they will be disappointed." Although they inevitably grow old in the real world, abba in the metaverse fulfills the wishes of its members.
ABBA-TARS will replace the real ones, showing seven concerts a week in London. Tickets are now on sale until Next May, and the venue is even reserved until 2026. Even ABBA in its heyday couldn't do it with such a high-intensity concert, but ABBA-tars could.
They are always young, always passionate, able to respond to the enthusiasm of fans with the fullest spirit.
02
Holographic projection is created
Retro Futuristic concert
As a popular group of the year, ABBA in the 1970s was a weather vane for young people. The styling design of the comeback concert after 40 years has become an important part of creating this retro futuristic concert.
How to wear something new while retaining abba features?
Swedish designer B. Åkerlund gave his answer. His designs continue the ABBA aesthetic, but do not directly reproduce the shape of that year.
On one side are flared pants and exaggerated high heels, bright clothing and intricate animal prints, while on the other side are neoprene and mesh metal technology tights.
The combination of retro classic styling and cyberpunk futurism allowed all fans on the scene to see a new era of ABBA, and also left a strong mark on ABBA's fashion history.
In order to ensure the visual effect of these fashions, the technical team made each performance costume into a physical body, and then scanned them one by one to digitize each finished product. Finally, after the special effects team polished, the color temperature of each costume and the state of motion they present in different environments, and the different planes under different reflected light have been carefully adjusted.
To implement these complex creative technologies, ordinary theaters and venues are obviously impossible to achieve. So the team behind ABBA Voyage simply rebuilt an ABBA exclusive venue.
The venue has a capacity of 3,000 people, a large screen of 10 meters high and 291 speakers. Whether the audience is on the dance floor or sitting on the top of the mountain, they get the best immersive view.
Stepping into this performance venue, which looks like a Scandinavian spaceship, the audience feels as if they have stepped into a scene from a science fiction movie. Immerse yourself in the retro futuristic aesthetic created by holographic projection.
03
More than nostalgia
ABBA is always at the forefront of the times
In this era of nostalgia, the popularity of ABBA virtual concerts may lead to more imitations. But that doesn't mean ABBA's success can be replicated in the short term.
The first is the huge investment of 140 million pounds, the long incubation time of 5 years and the participation of many outstanding talents in the industry, which are the key to the success of ABBA's virtual concert.
Just as viewers will complain that michael Jackson's virtual man's spacewalk is not authentic enough, technical flaws can directly affect the enthusiasm of fans. If you just put a regular concert into the meta-universe, fans may pay for it once, but this practice is difficult to last.
Secondly, the ABBA band itself is the core of the popularity of virtual concerts. There are always traces of technical reproduction, but the people behind the technology are difficult to replace. Without the dedication and effort of the band members behind the scenes, the visual effects of the concert will be greatly reduced.
AbBA's love and pursuit of music has kept them at the forefront of the times: "We named the new album and concert Voyage because we are like navigating the unknown waters, getting strength from our young selves and continuing to sail into the future with this momentum." ”
Just as ABBA launched the world's first pop album to be recorded on CD, ABBA is synonymous with avant-garde music in every era. They are still sparing no effort to create an authentic, shared, borderless musical experience for their fans.
These gray-haired old musicians use their digital avatars to tell fans: This time, ABBA is waiting for you in the metaverse.
Author: Wu Yingru Typesetting: Luo Weiling
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