Touted as one of the biggest electronic music festivals, Sunburn 2018 managed to pack in the crowd of close to thirty thousand enthusiasts from across the world in the hundred-acre Oxford valley Pune. Music festivals are known to gravitate enormous crowds owing to a number of elements. Despite local and governmental pressures, licensing hurdles, nippy weather and several other hindrances, Sunburn manages to bounce back with an ever-widening appeal each year.
As the festival ended this year, Percept limited MD and chairman Harindra Singh said, “There has been a lot of opposition but at the same time there has always a resistance. And it’s the resistance which makes it possible to for us to organise such festivals”
One wonders as to what the recipe for a successful music festival is. What induces such craze in the teeth of opposition? Is it merely just a DJ behind a desk stonking his scores? Or is there more to it?
Apart from stunning performances by DJs on four separate stages and the main one being graced by performers like Don Diablo, Axwell-Ingrosso, DJ Snake and Alan Walker, we observed the breathtaking spectacle of screen-animations synchronised with the rising beats that amplified the whole experience of the festival.
The main stage of Sunburn 2018 named Cubezoid 4.0 with seven thousand sq. ft of LEDs packed a juggernaut of a screen, blasting people with a pizzazz of graphics and imagery. Whilst fireworks lighting up the arena and the blaring of music from massive sound systems play an important role, the screen visuals that majorly capture the attention of the fans.
With the vast improvement in technology over the years, visual content is created with industry standard 3D animation software like Cinema 4D, Derivative Touchdesigner, and Adobe After Effects which are almost as good as high-end programs like Maya for a lesser amount. Fewer Indian DJs have come around to the effectiveness of it but the scenario seems to be changing at a rapid pace.
Proper visual effects artists are now being commissioned to personalise the visuals as per the tastes and preferences of the artists. We only hope Indian performers realise the potent function of this art and infuse more visuals into their performances in the years to come.