Skepta Big Smoke
Medley
The Challenge
Creating visuals for Skepta's Big Smoke Festival 2024 required managing complex multi-screen layouts with varying aspect ratios. Each track needed its own distinct concept and theme, while maintaining precise timing synchronisation across all screens throughout the set, working closely with Visual Zuu to bring their creative vision to life.
The Solution
A systematic approach combining 2D and 3D visuals with technical templates designed for complex screen configurations. Each visual package was built with organised project files that allowed for multiple aspect ratio exports while keeping everything perfectly in sync. Working closely with the production team and VJ, we developed unique concepts for each track in the setlist.
My Role
My responsibilities on this project included creating animated 3D visuals, rendering and compositing the shots, and developing screen templates for the multi-display setup.
I also built assets and worked alongside the Unreal Engine developer to produce optimised visuals. This involved creating several shopfront assets representing stores from Skepta's home town of Tottenham, including pubs, shops, and cafes. Using a mixture of photographs and photo manipulation, I built out the geometry to conform to the images, giving them depth and dimension.
The Unreal Engine setup ran in realtime during the event, allowing specific visual events to be triggered at key moments throughout the performance.
On The Day
I attended the event for the full day, on hand to make any last minute changes if needed. Everything ran smoothly though, so we got to enjoy the show from the VJ booth. Watching our visuals play out across those massive screens in front of 25,000 people was incredible.