“Depence² has been the starting point of our collaboration. We realized that this tool allowed us to individually express ourselves within one space. Not only is it possible to design our shows and its rhythm, but also we can make it immersive, thanks to the useful importing of 3D elements built in other programs.“ – Romain, ALIEN le studio 2021
Founded by lighting designer/operator Julien, motion designer Romain and lighting designer/operator Michaël, ALIEN focuses on the creation of powerful multimedia shows. As their discovery of Depence created a common ground for the three creatives, their different trades of lighting design and video motion art can now be mixed efficiently for the first time as the use of Depence unites them in their vision.
For ALIEN the starting point of a project is usually built around the art form of Brutalism, e.g., the way light shapes and interacts in an unexpected way with a nonconformist structure or type of building. The crew is driven by the desire of giving free rein to their imagination, without space or budgetary constraints, all in order to offer uncompromising experiences. After adapting the project to real life conditions, it is going to be made feasible. Depence is a huge help here, too.
“We are also thinking a lot about artists and production companies, because thanks to Depence what they’ll see in our videos, they could appreciate it in real life afterwards. We make it a point of honor to do a 3D render as close and detailed as possible to the result in reality.”
As soon as the trio has found an idea, Julien and Michaël take the lead by bringing in rhythm, placement and pacing to the lighting design, whereas Romain adds input to the overall design concept. Once the stage design is set, the team is focusing on the direction and dramatization as well as the different camera angles/positions. After rendering, the projects usually go into post-production and graphical arrangement.
For their first Depence project, ALIEN decided to focus on live entertainment and to be inspired by dancing venues and film sets. The idea was to showcase different 3D creations with several lighting themes, e.g., small venues with an indie gig flair, vast stadium rock shows or a warehouse for the electronic music sector. Therefore, several lighting ambiences for each location were designed, before mixing them all together to create something uniquely new.
“Depence² is the missing link between us as for the different actors of the event industry, to express ideas that live in our heads and render the most realistic and immersive way possible.”
For ALIEN, the main advantages of Depence are the internal programmer tool as well as the timeline-based features, which let Julien and Michaël work most precisely and efficiently. Furthermore, it is super simple to create detailed stages with technical and decorative elements alike. The PBR textures also help the team to greatly increase the sensation of virtual reality. To that, the simplified importing of video media, the frontal texture mapper as well as the NDI compatibility in Depence has taken the studio’s workflow to a whole new level.
Make sure to check out their latest stage visualization, a fan project for an imaginary last Daft Punk gig: https://youtu.be/CUoA8TLHpwY
Their latest Demo Reel can be found here: https://youtu.be/zyQ6vSNCloQ
Alien, le studio Home: https://www.alienlestudio.com/
