In January 2007, the
Pointless HQ received a call from Bassline Circus: “we might be
getting some funding, fancy making visuals for our summer tour?”
– Drop everything…we’re in!
Formed in 2003 by
members issued from legendary techno sound systems such as Desert Storm,
Sound Conspiracy, Hekate and Total Resistance, the Bassline collective
set up a non profit organisation, bought a vintage big top and set up
to recruit circus performers with a taste for rave music. Back in the
UK after 10 years roaming Europe and beyond, they pulled together to
produce 2 summer tours with a unique blend of traditional circus with
new school elements such as breakdancing, Mcing and live visuals- along
with a pumping live electronic soundtrack and an uncompromisingly inclusive
£5 ticket policy.
Pointless are long time followers of these daring artists, inspired
by Glasgow's Desert
Storm’s mid-90’s free party exploits, following the
travellers on our first “Pointless Cinema” mission at Czech-Tech
in 2000, and regularly attending their events ever after. Pointless
was also part of the line-up at their doomed D-Form
Festival (Barcelona in 2004)… it had been a long time coming…
The 2007 project marked a new phase in the company’s development:
with a substantial Arts Council endorsement, Bassline planned for a
full summer tour and invited Pierrot Bidon and Olivier Crova from the
infamous Cirque
Archaos to direct their new show. After a development period at
their London base, Pointless took over the AV design of the show. I
(Dav) coordinated the visual production and setup whilst Will contributed
to some mean 3D animation. After 2 months of preparations in Glasgow,
I joined the troupe for 4 weeks of rehearsing in rural Kent. Becky joined
the AV team ( and looked after the circus children) from June…
the scene was set for Pointless’ biggest visual project to date.
This year’s show ‘Advertigo’ demolishes the culture
of commercial advertising- Look out for break-dancing dodgy geezers,
pods fighting to control the world of the ad, characters from computer
games, puffa rude boys and even a Viagra cannon. This is the story of
mister everyman, the luckiest consumer in the west, who was in the right
place at the right time… but his winning sends him into a cycle
of mass control and hard sell.
Set in a Blade runner-esque urban atmosphere and a sinister yet cheesy
game show, the visuals were designed to emphasise the dark side of advertising.
Spoof video ads were created and repeatedly incorporated throughout
the show’s environment.
Advertigo City subvertising environment
We also used the
ugly language of commercial interruptions to disrupt beautiful aerial
routines with adverts for our own merchandise:
Bassline lingerie
advert
Producing visuals
for circus was a definite step up from my own club and theatre experience,
working closely as part of a 25 strong team, starting with producing
the sketches for the storyboard under the director’s instructions,
designing the technical setup and being in charge of the budget to acquire
and build the necessary equipment . I teamed up with Julie (Bassline’s
original VJ and flying lady) and put her in control of our trusted Video
Switchboard (yes- it’s still alive) whilst I took charge of looking
after the live video feed, multi screen setup and general ninja-style
AV troubleshooting.
Being a respectable techno circus artist involves ignoring the traditional
showbiz hierarchy- the technicians operate in full (pilot) costumes
in the middle of the audience from 4 purpose made control stations (the
pods, for live music, lighting and visuals), there is no direct communication
between each of these and no show caller- resulting in a cue dynamic
akin to a giant electronic live set. This includes shouting over the
audience’s head to settle (mostly scripted) disagreements.
Advertigo was conceived as a promenade show with the audience being
moved around the space (seats? what seats?) and the action happening
all around the tent. The visual setup’s challenge was to provide
this 360 degree backdrop which was done by placing our famous cube screens
around the tent and designing a “video canon” in the form
of a tripod-mounted projector with a long throw lens to hit various
improvised screens during specific scenes.
The video sequences were manipulated in real time, which provided the
best dynamics to follow the performers antics and for improvising in
response to each show’s variation in pace. The projections were
used equally as an illustrative support to the narrative, to amplify
the action with live video feed or as lighting effect with splendid
experimentations of shadow play (with a purpose made stage behind the
main screen). VJ techniques worked at their best in such an environment:
we had to manually control the pace of the animations and effects to
follow the acrobats' movements (the trapeze’s swing or piling
up of the chairs), which brought a new and exciting meaning to the “digital
juggling” concept- and the response to the AV design and performance
was just great. I just can’t think of a better environment to
perform visuals.
Now, if you want to be part of a circus, you’ve got to bear in
mind that your skills mean nothing if you can’t handle the pace
of touring. For a start, the tent weights 18 tonnes and has to be put
up by hand (takes 1 day- have you ever tried to hammer in a 25 kg tent
peg?), oh yeah, did I mention that there is no tech crew (everyone does
everything) and that we’re all on the same weekly wage? Then there
is the set to build (another day), the show would be on for 2 or 3 days
and then it’s time to take everything down and move to the next
stand. We visited 9 different locations in 3 months and played over
40 shows… doing visuals was just the easy part.
Although Bassline has managed to acquire the essential bits and bobs
you’d expect to see in a Circus operation, the convoy can be a
bit hazardous at times, with odd arrangements of vintage trucks and
barely legal trailers, not to mention the drivers. Whereas this can
be a problem if you’re aiming to organise an outdoor party with
some friends, having an official circus title is like a magic ticket
into the official world of grown ups: the police (sometimes) lead you
to safety, local authorities provide you with (almost) drinkable water
and families wave at you instead of shielding their offsprings from
your bad influence… jackpot or what?
What can I say about the Bassline village? Obviously all that crazy
appearance is a well planned commercial strategy to boost our audience
figures, in real life, the Bassliners are level headed professionals
with mortgages and pensions, off to bed at a decent time in a 4 star
hotel in the posh part of town. We are secretly sponsored by all kind
of corporations and operate on the most profitable business model, thus
ensuring that we are always happy and never argue with each other.
But bound by a strict contract, we had to abide to strange secret society
rituals that were devised by our ancient circus forefathers.
"Canon
pushing" secret circus ritual
Becky and I shared a 14 foot long caravan for the summer, travelling
in style to glamorous locations such as Lewisham, Hackney, Winchester
and Cheltenam… who needs to travel far when you’re taking
with you the best venue you can think of… Let the locals come
to you and be entertained in your own bar! We also had our fair share
of festival action, after our show, the tent became a venue for bands
and club nights, and it was transformed into the “Flaming Love
Palace”- the main venue at this year’s Glastonbury newest
field: “Trash City”
So, here’s to another Pointless mission, The tour was a great
success at a wide range of events, opening many avenues for future Bassline
projects. Advertigo will be playing in an industrial estate near you
in the next decade, make sure you stay behind for the afterparty- and
have your bags ready to run away with the circus… if you think
you’re hard enough.
