GLENDALE, AZ — The viewing audience tuning in for Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, where the Seattle Seahawks faced off against the New England Patriots at University of Phoenix Stadium, averaged 114.4 million, topping the record number of 112.2 million who watched Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014. Along with the closely contested game itself, the event featured an elaborate halftime show production with well-received performances by Katy Perry, Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz packed within a 12-minute span. (Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz are pictured here.)
The stadium itself (pictured right) also proved eye-catching, with Dall Brown and Troy Eckerman working to bathe the aluminum skin of the stadium in color using 19 XL 8K xenon lights from Syncrolite and lighting control via RC4 Wireless. (For more details on the exterior lighting, CLICK HERE and HERE.)
Between Katy Perry’s entrance atop a manually-guided 14-foot-tall, 24-foot-long lion for her song, “Roar” and her high-flying, pyro-emblazoned last song, “Firework,” the Pepsi-sponsored Halftime Show packed in memorable staging and visuals accompanying Perry’s “Dark Horse,” the Perry/Kravitz duet “I Kissed a Girl,” Perry’s playful beach-and-shark-themed “Teenage Dream” and “California Gurls,” and Missy Elliott’s medley mashing up “Get Ur Freak On” with “Work It” and “Lose Control.”
Although the Arizona weather made setup easier than 2014’s Halftime Show featuring Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at MetLife Stadium in northern New Jersey, the 2015 event was more mobile and expansive, covered much of the field, with Katy Perry traversing end zone to end zone, on the ground and in the air, and scenic elements that ranged from the lion to 600 glowing orbs to a moving chessboard, all in the first few minutes.
Along with the lion puppet from Michael Curry Design and the elaborate staging and visuals by production companies PRG (lighting), VER (video) and All Access (staging), included a 150-by-120-foot ground cloth surrounding the 24-by-24-foot LED video-emblazoned stage, which was linked via a 40-foot long runway to a B stage for Missy Elliott. The projection surfaces were animated with custom video content from Lightborne and Ben Nicholson.
The design team working on behalf of executive producer Ricky Kirshner included Bruce Rodgers (Production Designer), Bob Barnhart (LD), Hamish Hamilton (Director), and Katy Perry’s tour designers, including Baz Halpin (creative director) and Jay Schmit (production manager). For the closing number, “Firework,” Strictly FX handled pyro and Flying by Foy flew the star of the show above the halftime field.
A total of 16 mobile lighting carts and four band carts moved on the field. The gear supplied by PRG also included 140 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures on the upstage side of the 400-level rail and the south end zone rail along with several on a cart behind the big cat puppet to add some light and texture as it moved through the dark. Video elements included VER LED video blades and 80 Barco HDQ-2K40 projectors. Lighting director Jason Rudolph also used eight VER-supplied d3 Technologies 4x4pro media servers and grandMA2 consoles for control.
A key challenge for LD Bob Barnhart was to light dancers performing on projected surfaces. “I had to light them, but not the surface,” he noted. “And when there were no dancers, I wanted to provide dynamic air graphics. I positioned the [Clay Paky] Mythos fixtures around the perimeter of the projection surface on giant rolling carts so I could light the dancers and fill the air with beams of light. I had custom gobos to use like shutters and cut off the field.”
Although some of Clay Paky’s just-introduced B-EYE K20s made their Super Bowl debut in 2014, Barnhart deployed more of the fixtures this year. Dimmed to seven percent, they joined the Mythos fixtures on carts. “They provided more eye candy for the background and made the perimeter set glow. Their color and pattern movement added tempo and activity to the camera shot,” he added.
The lighting setup also included 12 Ayrton MagicRing-R1 beam projection fixtures into the band carts, and 10 Ayrton NandoBeam-S6 beam/wash fixtures were rigged on a truss directly upstage of the “Lenny and Missy” stage. “I used the MagicRings on the band carts to give some energy and movement to the background,” Barnhart said, “while the NandoBeams were perfect in providing an additional layer of effects and eye candy.”
The Super Bowl Halftime Show also served as the first show incorporating GLP’s new X4 Bar 20 LED batten. The setup included a dozen of the new batten fixtures, chosen in part for their zooming and tilting functionality. The setup also included 16 of another recently introduced fixture, GLP’s large format impression X4 XL fixtures.
David Grill, one of the show’s lighting directors, noted how the lower power draw of newer fixtures smooth the logistics of managing intensely bright light sources on the move. “We had 14 fixtures on a cart with only one power connection,” Grill noted. “We don’t need to plug in three cables when we’re moving fast and every second saved helps you.” Lighting Director Pete Radice controlled the 1,340-plus channel moving light system.
A complete profile of the 2015 Super Bowl Halftime Show production is planned for the March 2015 issue of PLSN Magazine.
Design Team/Production Companies
Executive Producer: Ricky Kirshner
Production Designer: Bruce Rodgers
Lighting Designer: Bob Barnhart
Director: Hamish Hamilton
Creative Director for Katy Perry: Baz Halpin
Production Manager for Katy Perry: Jay Schmit
Lighting Directors: Pete Radice, David Grill, Jason Rudolph (video elements)
Lighting Co: PRG Los Angeles
PRG Account Manager: Tony Ward
Sets/Staging: All Access Staging & Productions/Erik Eastland, Timothy Fallon, Jr., Roger Cabot
Puppet Design: Michael Curry Design
Video Co: VER
Custom PCs for Projection: Main Gear
Video Content: Lightborne/Chris Gliebe, J.T. Rooney, Neil Smith, Dan Bryant; Ben Nicholson
Pyro: Strictly FX/Mark Grega
Choreographer: R.J. Durell
Performer Flying (Katy Perry): Flying by Foy
Confetti: Artistry in Motion
Wireless LED Effects: Glow Motion
Stadium Exterior Lighting: Dall Brown
Stadium Exterior Lighting Wireless Support: RC4 Wireless
NFL Production Co: Touchdown Entertainment
Gear
Lighting:
140 Clay Paky Sharpys
120 Clay Paky Mythos
94 Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20 fixtures
16 GLP impression X4 XL fixtures
12 GLP X4 Bar 20 LED fixtures
12 Ayrton MagicRing-R1 fixtures
10 Ayrton NandoBeam-S6 beam/wash fixtures
Exterior Stadium Lighting:
19 XL 8K Xenon moving lights (Syncrolite)
1 RC4Magic Series 3 system adapted for 900Hhz
Video:
8 d3 Technologies 4x4pro media servers
grandMA2 console (for 600 glowing pixel orbs, other video elements)
VER LED video blades
80 Barco HDQ-2K40 projectors
Pyro:
2 High End Road Hog 4 (DMX control)
