There’s a story in today’s Washington Post about the gorgeous sets and technology at the Democratic convention. I wish I had one tenth their budget for the convention I design… or even one twentieth…
What you don’t see: The rich-looking, chocolate-dark wood fronting the stage and the podium is actually cheap beige plywood, ingeniously painted. The marble panels and accents above and around the stage? Actually painted backlit plastic.
… A year in the planning and production, the Democrats’ big bash is unfolding with the rhythms and flourishes of a huge Broadway musical. There’s a vast high-tech set built by a Hollywood designer, a production and stage crew of 450, a 15-piece orchestra, and a script that will, in two days, reach a predestined climax.
… The Democrats had used the same stage designer — and the same basic stage setup — for the past four conventions. O’Connor felt the party needed a pick-me-up. To that end, he hired Steve Bass, a noted designer of sets for television, including the stage for the Grammy Awards.
Bass’s design includes not one but two podiums, which enables organizers to set up musical acts and other elements without down time. It includes seats behind the podium, so that speakers are in front of a human backdrop. Plasma TVs add further visual appeal. The whole thing is topped by a stadium-style display screen, that at 90 feet wide is the largest ever used at a convention.
The screens have been such a telegenic attraction that the Democratic National Committee decided to leave them on overnight so that broadcasters located in the hall could use them as a backdrop for their late-night and early-morning programs.
I do music, video projection, and some fairly tacky GEM unit graphics on the stage. Still, it’s not bad for a budget of approximately zero. Then again, I don’t have Bill Clinton on that stage. This year, I’ve got two Pulitzer Prize winners, which is nice. Eleanor Clift will be there, and the dubious celebrity award goes to our Sunday speaker, John Stossel. They’ll all have to make do with a piece of plastic with our logo. Sorry, gang.
