Photo Courtesy of @stijnepiccinema @epiccinema

RED Digital Cinema supported Epic Cinema and acclaimed director Stijn Verlinde in capturing superstar DJ David Guetta’s “The Ultimate Monolith Show” at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France. The production deployed a fleet of RED cameras, including RED’s Cine-Broadcast live production system, as the company has claimed in a statement.

Staged across three sold-out nights, June 11-13, the event drew more than 240,000 fans. The finale of Guetta’s tour aimed to be a fully immersive audiovisual experience featuring a striking monolith-inspired stage and live-performance technology.

“This was truly a career milestone for our team”, affirms Verlinde. “David is one of the biggest artists in the world, and the energy he has in his shows is unmatched. His ‘Monolith Show’ demanded a solution that could deliver a cinematic impact, cameras with a high dynamic range to shoot in the crowd and capture the LED show without over- or underexposing. RED provided the flexibility to operate across live broadcast and cinematic capture without compromise”.

Epic Cinema was tasked with delivering comprehensive video capture, supporting live IMAG projection, near-live highlight creation, and cinematic content production for the official aftermovie and an upcoming documentary.

Cinematic quality meets live broadcast

Withthe intention of handling the demands of production and delivering stunning visuals, Epic Cinema deployed a 22-camera setup consisting mostly of Komodo-X and V-Raptor cameras with the V-Raptor XL [X] systems for the live Cine-Broadcast workflows.

This included:

• Handheld and gimbal systems for dynamic crowd and stage coverage.
• Fixed-position cameras throughout the stadium for wide and beauty shots.
• Specialty rigs, including a Spidercam and telescopic jib.
• Dedicated RED Cine-Broadcast configurations equipped with Fujinon Duvo 25–1000mm PL-mount box lenses for live long-range stage coverage

Additionally, several unmanned RED cameras were positioned on and around the DJ booth and the stage’s architecture, operated remotely to try to capture immersive performance angles without disrupting the visual design.

In parallel, multiple camera feeds were transmitted back to the live production control room, where they were color-matched and switched in real time for IMAG screens.

Live-to-cinematic workflow

The integration of RED’s Cine-Broadcast system looked forward to enabling Epic Cinema to bridge the gap between high-end digital cinema and traditional live broadcast workflows. RED’s image quality combined with real-time signal output enabled the team to deliver broadcast-ready feeds for live switching and projection while simultaneously capturing high-resolution RAW footage for post-production.

This workflow also supported on-site highlight editing and rapid content turnaround, allowing the production team to maintain a cinematic aesthetic while meeting the demanding timelines and technical constraints of a live stadium production.

“This event vividly demonstrated how RED’s live cine-broadcast solution can truly capture the power of the emotional experience for the artists and the audience”, notes Andy Newham, head of sales, EMEA at RED Digital Cinema. “The cinematic image quality of the RED camera, combined with the global shutter and low-latency output, is ideally suited to the rigorous technical demands of a show of this impressive scale. It was a privilege to support Stijn and Epic Cinema in delivering results that were cinematic, scalable and fully optimized for a live production, delivering a staggeringly unique experience”.