The “Lifetimes“ tour with Livegrade: DIT Saig Ollivier on grading Katy Perry’s live show

Last year, Katy Perry didn’t just take a flight to space; she also landed somewhere equally exciting: Paris! As part of her Lifetimes tour, she lit up Accor Arena like a firework – an experience designed first and foremost for the fans in the room. At the same time, the performance was captured by an impressive  27-camera setup, all of which had to remain perfectly matched to maintain visual consistency and preserve the show’s atmosphere. 

Behind the scenes, that responsibility fell to a tightly coordinated technical team, including DIT and Shader Saig Ollivier. With a background across live concerts, fashion shows, theatre, and broadcast, Saig is no stranger to complex, multi-camera environments. Still, this project stood out. “This Katy Perry project was… quite a different scale,” he recalls. So, let’s find out how it all came together with the help of Livegrade! 

From stage to screen 

Unlike scripted productions designed for the screen, live shows are built for the audience in the room. “A recording (and being behind a screen) never quite matches the sensation of standing in the crowd; live has its own quiet magic,“ Saig explains. 

A recording (and being behind a screen) never quite matches the sensation of standing in the crowd; live has its own quiet magic.

However, not everyone can be front row at Paris Fashion Week or secure a ticket to a sold-out arena show. For remote audiences, that sense of presence has to be carefully translated from stage to screen, which is where Saig comes in: 

„All we can do is try to capture a little taste of that moment. It’s a feeling I never get tired of, and a big part of why I do this work“, he says. Central to capturing a show’s live atmosphere is its look. Visual consistency and color are not just technical requirements; they’re storytelling tools that help convey emotion and mood. Saig sees this especially clearly in the fashion world, where much of his work takes place and where Livegrade is a regular part of his workflow.

„In fashion, it’s even more apparent: When a house like Saint Laurent streams a show live in the middle of an intense fashion week, the audience has to immediately understand the mood. That’s where the roles of Shader, DIT, and colorist naturally overlap – matching cameras and shaping the look in real-time“, he explains. So let’s dive deeper into how Saig and his team shaped the look for the Katy Perry concert in Paris, using Livegrade.

Responsibilities & workflow design

When Saig approaches a live production, his mindset is always the same: get it right in the moment.

“Live productions often need people like us because we deliver a graded image that’s ready to stream. Even when a show isn’t going out live, like the Katy Perry concert, we still work as if it were. This keeps things consistent and saves a lot of time later on,” he explains. 

Live productions often need people like us because we deliver a graded image that’s ready to stream.

At its core, the job involved familiar responsibilities, but needed extended man-power to be put into practice, as Saig outlines: „The main responsibilities were the usual ones: setting the right format, the right exposure, the right colours, the right TC, and triggering the records. But on a show this size, I certainly wasn’t alone.“ 

To get a better sense of the show’s scale, it helps to look at some of the key logistical and technical parameters. The team operated in Paris’s Accor Arena, a venue that can hold up to 20,000 spectators, with an extensive stage design, dynamic light show, and 27 cameras capturing the moment: 10 ARRI Alexa 35, 14 ARRI Alexa Mini LF, and 3 Sony ILME-FR7. These were paired with a wide range of optics, from Fujinon Duvo zooms (25-1000 mm) to ARRI Signature Primes, Angénieux Optimo Primes, and more.

Despite the technical complexity, the overall workflow was familiar territory for Saig: 

„It was a very classical multi-camera workflow. All the camera feeds arrive at the video village through SMPTE fibers via CamRacers (Ereca), or through the wireless systems. Each camera sends two signals: one clean log feed, and another one with all the overlays, so we can check the setup.“

From there, the team could access each camera over IP: „For us, the first thing is to ping every camera on the network. Once the IP responds, we can open the camera menu, make the necessary adjustments, and connect the RCPs.Then each clean log feed goes through its own AJA ColorBox.“

On paper, it sounds straightforward, but reality is rarely so kind. „The technicians reading this will know the feeling: from the outside, it can all look rather straightforward. A few monitors on, a few cameras plugged in, and off you go. Plug and play… if only…“, Saig reflects. 

From the outside, it can all look rather straightforward. A few monitors on, a few cameras plugged in, and off you go. Plug and play… if only…

With ‚plug and play‘ off the table, it took the team’s whole expertise to design the most appropriate workflow for the show. Early on, they explored different options, including using in-camera grading for the ARRI cameras. However, they decided against it after assessing the whole situation: „This approach requires an absolutely reliable network infrastructure, with stable IP communication to every camera. On a setup of this scale, with long distances and a dense technical environment, that level of network certainty can be tricky“, Saig explains. 

Instead, they opted for a well-proven option: „Since we’re used to having our LUT boxes physically racked right next to our shading stations, we decided to keep things simple and stick to the workflow we know is robust“. To access and adjust the camera signals via LUT boxes, Livegrade was added to the mix. 

Using Livegrade

Livegrade played a central role throughout the show, as Saig outlines: „We would use Livegrade to apply LUTs in order to check the lighting design, color shifts, aberrations, and transitions between the different stage ‚tableaux‘. The goal was to keep all 27 cameras, three different models, as aligned as possible throughout the show, both technically and aesthetically. To deliver something straight and solid to post.“ 

The goal was to keep all 27 cameras, three different models, as aligned as possible throughout the show, both technically and aesthetically.

What really stood out for Saig was Livegrade’s scalability in a large multi-camera environment: „With Livegrade, one thing I really liked is that there’s basically no limit after slot Z. On this show, I had 26 AJA ColorBoxes just for our own production“, he recalls. 

But the demand didn’t stop there: „The live tour production also needed six camera signals from us for their live screen director cut — and those feeds had to match their camera setup as well. So we added two extra AJA FS-HDR units, four channels each, running in dynamic LUT mode, to generate the six additional LUTs required to match their workflow.“ 

That’s when Saig realized just how far he was stretching the system: „Suddenly, I was using slots AA, AB, AC, AD… and so on. Honestly, it made me wonder: is there even a limit to how many slots Livegrade can manage?“ 

To adjust certain settings directly at sensor level, Saig and his team also needed to operate multiple remote control panels (RCPs) during the show: 

„We had 14 CyanView RCPs controlling the ARRI Alexa Mini LFs, 10 Skaarhoj RCPs for the ARRI Alexa 35s, and 3 Sony RCP-3500 units for the Sony FR7 cameras. These allowed us to adjust Kelvin and Tint directly at the sensor, so we could match every camera properly at the start. Once the colour temperature was locked, we left it untouched out of respect for the colorist, who always appreciates when the °K isn’t drifting throughout the show.

The main task with the RCPs was managing exposure: controlling iris, ND filters, and ISO depending on the lens setup. Brett, the DP, wanted a specific stop on the wide lenses and another on the long lenses, so we had to ‘juggle’ ND and ISO to stay on target“, Saig recalls the workflow. 

While discussing essential hardware, Saig highlights a tool that’s become a staple on set; one that takes on even greater importance when the crew must coordinate dozens of cameras in real time. It also directly integrates with Livegrade, to conveniently switch between slots:

„Each shader also had an individual Streamdeck XL, mapped for fast camera switching during the show — and to keep the reference cameras always in sight“, he outlines. 

With several DITs and shaders working side by side, it becomes clear that the success of this production relied heavily on a tightly coordinated team effort. So let’s take a closer look at how that collaboration came together.

Team of a lifetime 

The project was overseen by PhotoCineLive and equipped by PhotoCineRent, which are sister companies well known for supplying cameras and gear for major concerts and large-scale multi-cam events. Saig was already familiar with their workflow, having previously collaborated with them on a Miley Cyrus concert. “I already knew Lucien Péron, PhotoCineLive’s equipment lead, which made things much easier. He, Val, and Pilou quietly took care of this big video village, the switcher, and all the connections, IP plans, so everything stayed pleasantly steady behind the scenes.” 

With that chunk taken care of, Saig’s core team could really focus on their responsibilities and divide the workload between them: 

„We were five behind the screens: three DITs and two shaders. Hugo Louvel handled all the IP browsing and camera setups. Lucas Puyobro looked after all the CyanView connections for the RCPs (remote control panels). On the floor, Théo Goursaud was dealing with all the small-but-essential issues during rigging, like lens boxes, iris steps, back focus, whatever appeared. And Sébastien Bourbon was working with the wireless camera team, keeping their side steady,“ he recalls. 

“Once the show began, the five of us simply settled into the shading; each on our screens, keeping the whole system balanced”, Saig adds. But getting to that point required further prep well before showtime:

„During the day, I spent most of my time on comms with Élodie, lead CA, sorting out the constant flow of little (and occasionally not-so-little) problems you get with a setup this large. Élodie Benguettat and her AC team were looking after the cameras with their usual calm efficiency“, he says before jokingly adding: „I don’t know how many steps have been counted on their Apple Watch.“

Saig also recalls the valuable collaboration with the director of photography:  

„I had the chance to work with Brett Turnbull, DP. With the number of large shows he’s handled, he has a way of noticing small details that make a big difference. His guidance was always measured, helpful, and very much appreciated.“ In his collaboration with the DP, Saig stresses once again that Livegrade played a key role: “Livegrade helped us align the image density between the three different camera models, and gently match saturation levels, which could shift slightly depending on the lenses. By monitoring the director’s cut, we could make sure the camera differences disappeared and that everything stayed within the same visual mood.”

With only about 24 hours to set up in Accor Arena, the real challenge was getting all the cameras and systems up and running with absolutely no room for delay.

Still, even with an experienced and well-organized crew, one challenge loomed above all others: 

„Time! We started rigging on Monday evening, and the show was the next day at 8:30 PM. With only about 24 hours to set up in Accor Arena, the real challenge was getting all the cameras and systems up and running with absolutely no room for delay.“ 

Naturally, a few last-minute challenges remained before showtime. „A word of thanks to Brett for his patience. Just a few hours before the show, we were still missing a couple of cameras. And not the small ones…“  

In the end, though, everything came together as planned. The cameras were ready, the signals flowed smoothly, and the arena buzzed with anticipation. That’s when Saig’s favorite moment finally arrived: „For me, the favorite moment is the moment the show actually begins. Once everything is running, the technical noise fades, and you start to feel the show itself.“ 

Thanks so much to Saig Ollivier for sharing all these insights with us!