Silverstack for the big stage: DIT Allan Legarth Nielsen on „The Minds of 99“ concert film

When Danish post-punk band The Minds of 99 filled the national stadium with 50,000 fans not once but three nights in a row (!), it became the biggest concert event in Danish history. Director Martin Werner’s concert documentary set out to capture that scale and energy by blending live performances, behind-the-scenes moments, and fan perspectives.

We sat down with Allan Legarth Nielsen, the show’s headliner at the DIT cart, if you will. Tasked with managing over 3,000 hours of footage across 130 terabytes of data, Allan handled material from an extraordinary mix of sources: everything from iPhones and GoPros to drones, Alexa Minis, Sony Venice 2 Rialtos,and several Black Magic URSAs, Pockets, and Cine cameras. In this interview, he walks us through his setup, workflow, and the unique demands of a project where live chaos meets cinematic precision.

By chance, Allan found himself pulled into the concert film while working on a commercial also directed by Martin Werner. Suddenly, he found himself part of a project he didn’t even know existed:

“It was during a car commercial that I suddenly started receiving media from ‘another’ of Martin’s projects,” he recalls. “Before I knew it, Niels, the lead singer of The Minds of 99, joined us in my van, and we were grading and playing with looks for this secret project.” It wasn’t a typical situation, but Allan just went with it: „I didn’t ask, I just followed orders“, he says, laughing.

Before I knew it, Niels, the lead singer of The Minds of 99, joined us in my van, and we were grading and playing with looks for this secret project.

It turned out that those clips were the first footage for the upcoming concert film. Allan only fully realized what the project was about when he was officially brought on shortly after: „A week after the car commercial, they called and said they needed me to manage all the footage they had already shot and were still shooting, following the band on rehearsals and their preparations before the concerts. They also wanted me to cover the actual concerts themselves, which at that time were just around the corner“, he recalls, reflecting on the moment.

So, Allan joined the project just a day before the concerts kicked off: „We had four days in total at the football stadium (Parken in Copenhagen), one rehearsal and three concerts,“ he shares. But while the band rehearsed, Allan was already in full sprint: „On the first day at the venue, I received tons of material that was already shot in the weeks prior; I’d estimate 10-12 days’ worth of footage. It came from various iPhones, Black Magics, GoPros, Alexa 35, and even 35mm footage that was shot during the car commercial. I actually loaded that camera during the car commercial, without knowing what it was for – everything was mixed, coming from several different crews.“

Sorting and organizing this pre-shot material was a massive task, especially since Allan hadn’t been involved during filming, as he explains:

„There were a lot of phone calls with the in-house editor’s assistant, who had done some ad-hoc offloading before it was handed over to me. So I was dealing with things like double-backed-up clips in different folders, and everything was also just drag-and-drop copied. But with Silverstack Lab I could easily just add the clips to the library, and do proper backups to the new RAIDs, which I provided. That way, I had a clear overview of everything in my Silverstack Lab library.“

Then the concerts began, adding even more footage to the growing pile – and with it, a wider mix of formats captured by multiple camera units. Three separate camera units with Alexa Minis followed the band on stage and backstage, while three Black Magic operators were filming among the audience and also captured the atmosphere outside the venue before the shows. Nine drones flew overhead, including a high-speed race drone piloted by a former world champion. Meanwhile, the director and AD captured additional material on iPhones and GoPros. And then there was also the live crew, who, although not part of the documentary crew, contributed nine URSA Mini Pros’ worth of footage.

Allan’s main responsibility was to keep it all organized, ensuring every clip was safely backed up and properly managed. For a seasoned DIT, the workflow was familiar – just on a far larger scale:

„For me, it was like any other day, besides the amount of data. I was set up in a room backstage. I ran out to the Alexa crews and collected media every 20 minutes. The other operators came to me on their own. So I could come back from a run, and there would be three new cards on my cart ready for me“, he explains. 

I ran out to the Alexa crews and collected media every 20 minutes.

To manage this flood of material, Allan relied on two stations. His main setup consisted of a vertical cart equipped with his Mac Studio and Silverstack Lab. From there, he’d offload all incoming footage to two T12 RAIDs. He also used Silverstack Lab to align on the look and provide the director with instant references: „I did all the backup and selected as many frame grabs as possible from each camera, and gave them 2-3 different grades for Martin. Every time he could spare 3-5 minutes, he came to the cart, and I made a quick presentation. He’d come with notes, and then be off again“, Allan shares. With frame grabs handling immediate review, transcodes could wait: „All transcodes were done the week after the concerts.“

Being fully dedicated to lower priority offloads, the second setup was a bit smaller and featured an Intel iMac Pro and the Offload Manager: „I did most of the live-camera backup on that one, as they were 2nd priority. Those mainly offloaded during our breaks and at night, being finished the next morning.“ This data went to a single T12 RAID since the live crew also recorded the shows. „We later made a second backup ourselves of these as well“, Allan adds.

Fiction is planned, organised and to some extend reliable. This was pure chaos!

Despite his experience on complex productions, Allan notes a key difference from his usual work in fiction: „Fiction is planned, organised and to some extend reliable. This was pure chaos! But it was my job to bring management and to organise this chaos,“ he says with a smile.   

To succeed in that endeavor, adaptability was key, as he highlights: „There was no plan, as we just had to follow the band. So call and wrap times, were just not a reliable thing. We just had to go with the flow, and drop everything, when a new idea or thing occurred.“ Having experience working with director Martin Werner, he knew that he was in for a ride: „Martin is a manic guy, if you don’t know him. I’ve worked with him for 15 years (started as 2nd AC on 35mm), and he’s a tornado, and you just have to follow. But he is the nicest and most grateful guy, extremely talented, and has great energy. You realize that it’s actually not mania, there is a plan in Martin’s head, and it all makes sense when you accept that.But you’re exhausted by the end of the day.“

In the end, all the exhaustion paid off, though, as Allan was part of a project truly unique in Denmark. A big thanks to him for sharing these insights with us!