The YouTube Music Awards is an all-digital show, but we wanted to anchor it in a physical space that represented the theme of fans discovering music. We came up with a toolbox of controls for laser projectors, fog, and cameras that let us build an interactive, 3-dimensional environment made of floating light. Effects and glitches like scan-rate artifacts - normally considered undesirable in film - were exploited to create a tangible floating architecture. Pioneering listeners explored and moved through the space, reaching out to touch the hologram-like light around them. The entire scene was captured in-camera and used no compositing.

Laser projectors produce vector-based animations by moving a single beam of light at incredible speeds. The laser scans faster than the camera can process an image, it commonly produces unwanted artifacts when filmed. Our development evolved these glitches into a controllable creative tool, enabling a first of its kind interactive environment of floating light.

We created this 3rd dimension of control by manipulating the laser’s scan rate and the camera’s shutter speed. Now we could make our light volumes move vertically inside the room.

This toolbox meant the stage could be interactive. As people walked through the space, the light would react to their presence; opening doors, creating paths. Touching light could cause it to float upward, change color, or freeze in place. This process was captured in-camera and does not use compositing, creating an otherwise unattainable sense of realism that captures viewers.

Laser light is powerful. For the title sequence, we used a motion control system that let us capture it safely and consistently. Veering off path by a centimeter would have completely destroyed the camera sensor.

The end result is a dynamic world of architectural light created from nothing but lasers, fog, live animation, and clever camera magic.