The Residents - Demons Dance Alone/Live - Indigo

Just like all things Residential, this live DVD takes a much different perspective than most performance video. The footage was shot onstage during the US tour by a black figure who roamed the stage wearing a mysterious contraption. This odd apparatus, a rig for camera stabilization, facilitated the lengthy shooting times needed to record each night's performance. As a result, the cameraman was able to interact with the performers in real time and, consequently, the footage is not estricted to an audience perspective but freely explores the stage.

The lighting design for the Demons Dance Alone tour was also extreme, with the stage deliberately kept quite dark. But, while this atmospheric lighting created a strong mood during the performance, it also resulted in additional difficulties for the video taping. The solution was to flood the stage with IR light and shoot using the camera's Night Mode. But, while one problem was solved, others were created: the IR light made everything green, was grainy and also lacked contrast. And, perhaps worst of all, it revealed the set in an unflattering way, while failing to support the lighting design of the show. The IR lights unflinchingly looked into and recorded darkness and shadow, places no audience should ever see.

As a resuld, these problems became the creative basis for the design of this DVD. Since it was impossible to show the stage as it appeared in normal stage light, the footage, approximately 15 hours worth, was reprocessed digitally to create color and contrast. Also, effects were used to bring greater definition to the images and to stylize the individual songs. This process lifted the production out of the concept of a documentary and into the interpretive world of graphic stylization.