ZAC BROWN BAND (LOVE & WAR) - SPHERE

ZAC BROWN BAND: LOVE AND WAR - A HERO'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE SPHERE

The visual concepts presented herein were developed at Prodigal Pictures under the creative direction of Ben Hurand, who maintained the show's cohesive vision throughout production. The designs and conceptual frameworks featured in this portfolio case study were created by Josh Childers, with additional concepts contributed by Creative Director Ben Hurand and Art Director Marria Menshikova. While not all songs designed for this show were ultimately produced, the setlist changed dramatically over the year-long project, and several concepts were executed by other production companies. Great care was taken to preserve narrative continuity across the final two-hour experience. A magnificent team of artists collaborated to realize this ambitious vision. Detailed credits outlining individual contributions for each song are provided.

THE STORY ARCH

Zac Brown Band's "Love and War" transforms the Las Vegas Sphere into a cinematic visual autobiography, mapping the artist's journey from childhood trauma to spiritual transcendence through Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey framework. The existing 33-song setlist is naturally divided into three acts: Act I establishes Zac's "Ordinary World" of Southern poverty and abuse, opening with "Heavy is the Head" where a massive skull wearing a corrupted crown reveals an industrial hellscape of depression and addiction, golden skeletons climbing endlessly toward unattainable power while a colossal black dog drinks from pools of boiling oil. This darkness continues through songs examining burden, escape, and primal rage, with each visual concept designed to externalize internal demons. Act II follows Zac's Alaskan adolescence, exploring father-son relationships, first love, and the trials that forge character, while Act III depicts his return home as a transformed sage, embracing simple pleasures like "Chicken Fried" and "Homegrown" before culminating in "Remedy," where a crystalline city of sapphires and rubies refracts divine light across the audience, symbolizing love as universal medicine.

HOW WE WROTE IT

The visual development process began with deep lyrical analysis, identifying metaphors and emotional arcs within each song that could support the overarching transformation narrative. Each song was treated as an independent scene within a larger film, possessing its own distinct visual identity and aesthetic language while contributing to the cumulative storytelling arc. Using a nested three-act structure borrowed from screenplay format, each song's visual sequence was broken into Setup-Climax-Resolution beats, with each beat further subdivided into its own mini-arc. This approach allowed individual songs to stand as complete visual experiences, while their carefully designed transitions maintained narrative momentum throughout the show. For instance, "Follow What You Love" ends with a boy releasing his grip on a fence post during a dust storm, rising through the clearing clouds to reveal the blue lake that becomes the setting for "Same Boat." Recurring visual motifs, golden skeletons, oil-covered figures, crystalline structures, and natural transformations thread through multiple songs, creating a cohesive visual language that unifies diverse aesthetics, ranging from Beksinski-inspired industrial nightmares to ethereal cloud journeys. The Sphere's unique 18K resolution wraparound canvas demanded that every visual work be both intimate in detail and epic in scale, requiring careful consideration of how imagery would surround the audience rather than simply play in front of them.

DESIGNING AROUND LIMITATIONS

Technical and logistical constraints shaped creative decisions throughout development. The Sphere's processing capabilities enabled balancing CG-rendered landscapes with pre-shot practical footage and live IMAG (live streaming) elements, creating a hybrid approach that integrated band performances into fantastical environments. Real-time rendering limitations necessitated strategic choices about when to use complex animations (skeletal figures, embers, flowing fabric) versus simpler geometric animations (rotating waterlines, morphing landscapes). The immersive nature of the venue also influenced pacing, allowing contemplative moments, like time-lapse flower blooms in "What You Gonna Do," to provide visual rest between intense sequences, like the burning propaganda walls of "Fuck That Noise." Ultimately, every visual choice served the central narrative: an unhealed man thrust into the spotlight of celebrity discovers that fame's crown weighs heaviest on unprepared shoulders, igniting a transformative journey from isolated burden to spiritual connection, from childhood wounds to protective love, from heavy head to a remedy found in universal compassion.

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