Childish Gambino – This Is America
Purpose of the Moment
On May 5, 2018, Donald Glover hosted Saturday Night Live and took the stage as Childish Gambino to debut his new single “This Is America.” The night was timed as a cultural blitz: Glover revealed his provocative new music video during the broadcast, announced a major tour, and fueled anticipation for his final Childish Gambino album. SNL gave him the platform, and his team’s goal was clear—create a performance that would ignite conversation, dominate headlines, and etch itself into cultural memory.
Introducing Laser Banding to Television
To accomplish that, Glover’s creative team brought in PRECISION to deliver something audiences had never seen before: Laser Banding on live television. This technique synchronizes high-speed laser pulses with the camera shutter, creating floating “bands” of light that only appear to the broadcast audience.
In Studio 8H, the lasers looked like solid laser beams. But on television screens across the country, viewers saw Childish Gambino surrounded by surreal, rotating walls of blue light—glowing bars that appeared both in front of and behind him. It was a visual impossibility, created entirely in real time, and it became the striking centerpiece of the performance.
Impact of the Lasers
The Laser Banding wasn’t just spectacle—it amplified the song’s message. “This Is America” is about contrasts: joy and violence, distraction and danger. As the beat dropped and the performance turned darker, the lasers framed Gambino in a shifting cage of light. The effect underscored the tension of the music and gave television audiences an experience no one in the studio audience could see.
In that sense, the lasers transformed the SNL broadcast itself into part of the art. The TV screen wasn’t just a medium—it was the stage.
Public and Industry Reaction
The response was immediate and electric. Fans flooded social media with clips, asking how the effect was possible. Many assumed it was digital or post-production trickery. When it became known that it was achieved with real lasers and camera sync, admiration grew even louder.
Industry professionals—lighting designers, cinematographers, live show directors—were equally captivated. Threads on professional forums debated how it had been done, with seasoned designers admitting they were stumped. Once the method was revealed, praise followed: turning a normally unwanted shutter artifact into a breathtaking visual was hailed as “brilliant” and “inspired.”
Media Coverage
Press outlets made special note of the staging. The FADER described the “holographic laser set-up” as mesmerizing. Hypebae highlighted the lasers as a major centerpiece of the performance. Even longtime SNL reviewers singled out the lighting design, calling the laser sequences a high point of the entire season. The effect wasn’t treated as background—it was recognized as a defining feature of the performance’s impact.
Legacy
For Donald Glover, the night achieved everything it set out to: the performance became one of SNL’s most talked-about musical moments, “This Is America” shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the accompanying video became a cultural phenomenon.
For PRECISION, it marked the first time Laser Banding was unveiled on a mainstream platform. The effect stunned the public, perplexed professionals, and proved how lasers can be more than light shows—they can be cultural accelerants. This performance showed the world that lasers could carry meaning, elevate a message, and help transform a song into a moment of history.
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