Drowned Madonna: Hi Jason. Welcome to Drowned Madonna. We recently talked with Fred Tallaksen, Madonna’s roller skate choreographer, who worked for the first time on a Madonna’s tour. Even if he previously worked with her for her “Sorry” video, he told us “It was not what I expected it to be.... It was a lot harder and crazier... and even though I thought was had a lot of time (3 months), we were still, always, behind schedule and fighting and rushing to catch up. It was incredibly hard on everyone.” Is it the same for you?

Jason Harvey: YES!

DM: How and when did you get the job?

JH: 5 months ago I was offered job via Nocturne video.

DM: What was your first thought when they asked to work on the Confessions Tour?

JH: Here comes a big challenge!

DM: Have you ever dreamt to work with Madonna?

JH: YES, 20 yrs ago I was told I’ve never do this, so here I am now 20 yrs later doing it.

DM: You recently told Mercury News that your 60-performance tour with Madonna is “a walk in the park” compared with Cher's marathon 325-show “Farewell Tour.” But, besides the number of the shows, which one is more challenging?

JH: Madonna is a more challenging show for sure, they asked about being tour for only 60 shows which is a low number compared to the 325 of Cher.

DM: What are the differences between Madonna and Cher?

JH: They are completely different in the way they work, lets leave that one there.

DM: Who is more involved with the whole process?

JH: I think both have the same level of showmanship.. it's just different types of fans.

DM: Was you a fan of Madonna?

JH: I’ve been to 3 x shows in London as a kid.

DM: Jason, when did you start rehearsing with the rest of the cast?

JH: March 26th I started to prepare video kit for the tour.

DM: Can you tell us about the rehearsals routine?

JH: Get on site, build the show as much as you can, then see what's possible with what you have got, then finally get the masters and program the show, opening nite turns up really fast!!

DM: Any anecdote?

JH: The show must go on!

DM: How did you interact with all the guys who shoot and edited the videos? Did you meet them?

JH: I meet most of them YES. They had lots of questions about the screens and how they interface with the video streams we have to use to get the videos to the 7 screens on the show. I designed the master 3 x video templates which all studios had to follow, so in was fun to work together here.

DM: What softwares do you use? And why?

JH: Adobe Production Studio (Ver2.0), Premiere Pro 2, Afterfx 7 pro, Photoshop CS2 etc.. I love the studio as I can work in all the formats and cross load from editing to after FX and back with out any issues.

DM: How do you manage the real time editing?

JH: By having a Full HD edit system on site.

DM: How many people work with you on each show?

JH: Video has a 9 person crew.

DM: Which is your favourite video from the show?

JH: The opener, horse video.

DM: Is it still possible that you have to change something?

JH: Hopefully not now we are on the road.

DM: Did it happen that you mess up something during one of the shows?

JH: Not yet, we have backups for that!

DM: What happened during the Opening Night?

JH: 100% zero errors.

DM: What do you think of the rest of the cast?

JH: Nice people just doing their Gig.

DM: Which city are you most excited to visit with the show?

JH: Japan and Moscow.

DM: What are your next projects?

JH: Having a few months off at home, then who knows..

DM: Thank you so much Jason for chatting with us. Have a nice tour!