Once again, the fastest live show in television has come and gone. With headliners Coldplay along with special guest performers, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, the 12-minute Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show is in the record books as the third most watched Halftime Show; 115.5 million viewers in the U.S. alone. The Super Bowl was broadcast worldwide from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The Pepsi Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show was an NFL Network Production. Executive producer Ricky Kirshner and director Hamish Hamilton again worked with production designer Bruce Rodgers; his team from Tribe, Inc. and lighting designer Robert Barnhart with his lighting design/director team from Full Flood, Inc. The Super Bowl creative team also collaborated with Coldplay’s creative director Phil Harvey, set designer Misty Buckley, video director Ben Miles and LD Paul Normandale.
The production vendors were all Halftime show veterans, back to support the creative team. These included PRG providing the lighting package; VER supplying the video package; All Access Staging & Production handling the staging and scenic automation and Strictly FX with the special effects duties. PLSN talked to members of the team about presenting a dynamic visual production, with the setting sun as a co-collaborator.
Rays of Lights
Early on in planning this year’s Halftime show, the creative team knew what they would be up against — no roof. Which means no overhead rigging capabilities; the possibility of rain or bad weather; and, since it was in the Pacific Time Zone, the sun would be crashing the lighting design party. “Obviously, with Levi’s Stadium, you are in complete exposure to the environment,” says lighting designer Robert Barnhart, principal with Full Flood, Inc. “Also, because of when kick-off was scheduled, Halftime would begin in an hour window that was the worst hour it could be, from a lighting standpoint. There was going to be some form of a setting sun. It had been 14 years since we’ve had a daytime Halftime show, and a lot has changed during that time in terms of the size of the production.”
One thing was certain, the ambient light levels were going to change over the course of the show, but how significantly depended on the actual time the show started on game day. “We were never going to be in direct sunlight on the field,” says Barnhart. “Handling the ambient light levels was huge; we were going to have to deal with anywhere from 700 footcandles (fc) down to zero. Then the actual Halftime show hit pretty much at the worst time in the window. We pulled it off visually, but it was the worst-case scenario on the day because the ambient light levels alone went from 130fc to 40fc during the 12-minute show. Even if we had started the show 15 minutes earlier, the time ratio change, when it comes to ambient light level, would have been much slower. We hit the sunset right at the hard curve. [With the] lighting, video and the cameras, we were all working together non-stop, making adjustments during the show — pulling levels down while the cameras were manually irising to keep exposure.”
The Halftime show’s design wants to reflect the headlining artist’s aesthetic, and so it did for Coldplay this year. When the Super Bowl creative team met up with Coldplay and their creative team, Barnhart discovered that the group wanted color and movement. “‘Kaleidoscope’ was a word that was mentioned often, so that gave lighting and video a real direction,” recalls Barnhart. “The content and video were really able to bring the kaleidoscope vibe to the show. Lighting then helped to bring the color and extend that out to the rest of the stadium. We put [Chroma-Q] Color Blocks on the handrails of three of the stadium levels. Then, directly behind the close up shots of the main stage, we hung 16 Solaris Flares for their bigger presence. Between the stadium and the stage, there were four large carts with 36 [Clay Paky] B-Eyes, these were directly in Coldplay’s background and they could mimic the floor, adding to the kaleidoscope color scheme when you’re in head-to-toe-or-tighter shots. We controlled the lights and Jason [Rudolph, screens producer] controlled the floor; he also controlled the LED puck lights in the stage deck. We consider Jason as one of our lighting directors because he has so much to do with our color palette and light levels.”
For the stairs on Bruno Mars’ stage, Barnhart used GLP impression x4 Bar 10s and 20s along with Ayrton MagicBlade R’s around the backside of the set. They also had Clay Paky Sharpys colored 50th Anniversary gold on Mars’ stage. For Beyoncé’s dramatic entrance, a light wall was created. Barnhart explains. “I thought of the new Martin Atomic 3000 LED strobe — it was powerful and had the surface area we wanted. It ended up working very well. It’s very bright, I don’t think we ever got above 70 percent. Also, I liked the RGB Aura backlight for color on the reflector. We were able to color the reflector of the Atomic to match the color palette of the show.”
For his key lights, Barnhart used PRG Best Boy HP Spots. “We nestled 48 Best Boy HPs up into the stadium light rack for front light so we could pop the stage out. I was able to use the shutter cuts and produce a potential of about 150fc of additional key light to bump on top of whatever light level I was living with but had no control over. Then the followspots could bump up the performers. I used Brite Box Flame followspots, which, from an intensity standpoint [are] unbelievable. The small size and the intensity it puts out make it a perfect choice for this kind of work.” For lighting control, lighting director/programmer Pete Radice used a PRG V676 console. Along with Radice, Barnhart worked closely with longtime collaborating lighting director David Grill and gaffer Tony Ward.
Liquid Color
The LED floor gave the creative team a dynamic way of getting color and movement into the show and fully realize the kaleidoscope visual effect. Coldplay’s video director, Ben Miles, brought together the visual elements that brought the floor to life. “Once we decided on video on the floor,” comments Miles, “we knew that would work well with the band and the aerial shots over the field with all the dancers and the performers. The screen is very much the central piece of that. A lot of the visuals were conceived around the main track we played, “Adventure of a Lifetime,” off the new album; the flower shapes, the symmetry, the kaleidoscopes and repetition. [Content Creators] Shop had already done a graphic for us, so I asked them to take that flat kaleidoscope and make it 3D so that the stage deck looked like it fell out from underneath the band — kind of open up that 3D element. Shop did a lot of the content and kept sending stuff over to us.”
Along with Shop, Miles also worked with the content creation team at Northhouse Films. Northhouse was onsite during rehearsals and the show so changes could be made quickly, which Miles appreciated. “They did a fantastic job keeping pace of all the changes. They also came up with some really cool, very simple beat responsive stuff that we used when Beyoncé and Bruno came together on the stage. It became such an important, integral part of how the stage was flowing and how everything was pulled together. You wouldn’t want to do that on a screen behind the band, because it may be a bit basic, but on the floor it was really effective.”
Miles was very pleased with the show and enjoyed the unique work flow. “I think it worked out well. In the end, you’re actually scripting the floor in terms of how the camera shots would work. The band and Hamish would agree which were the best top shots, then I made the edits based on the aerial shots to make sure that, timing-wise and for the TV broadcast it looked as good as possible.” He worked particularly closely with screens producer Jason Rudolph. “I have worked with Jason and knew him, so it worked well. Jason drew up the test grids in relation to how we actually delivered the screen. Then I drew up the design and the test grid side with relation to the content houses. He really handled going between everyone in terms of screen and LED production. He knows the Super Bowl team very well, so that was a great help.”
For Rudolph, a Halftime show veteran of six-years, this year in the setting sun made for a busy change. “The challenge really was that I had to deal with constantly balancing screen levels throughout the show as we were going,” he says. “Just continually adjusting based on the different camera shots and how the lighting conditions were changing moment by moment. I was basically shading the screens live as we were doing the show. It will certainly be one that will stand out in terms of being a busy 12 minutes.”
Setting the Stage
All Access Staging & Production provided the staging, carts and automation for this year’s show, and Erik Eastland, co-owner and president of All Access, is proud that for the sixth year in a row they had the needed solutions. “It’s always a little different, but the basic challenges remain the same,” he says. “For example the challenge of lifts for the Halftime show is always to be able to produce the type of lifts that they want and stay within the boundaries of what’s okay on the field with the NFL—no hydraulic fluid or oils are allowed in case of a spill. We used electric lifts for both Bruno and Mark Ronson, the DJ. Electric lifts can be a challenge because they have to be able to lift the weight, get the proper speed and all that. In addition to the lift for Ronson’s DJ area, All Access fabricated the actual DJ booth, with the DJ table doubling as the support for the video panels, provided by VER, which we mounted to the frame.”
Of course getting an entire stage, lights, audio, video and pyro in place as soon as the team exits is no easy chore. Designer Bruce Rodgers adds, “It’s always crazy trying to fit so much onto the field in the middle of the SB mayhem. It was just strange actually watching it come together. For some reason it was always easier in the dark.”
Another video element that All Access installed was the 300-plus WinVision 9mm LED video tiles that were mounted in the deck of the main stage, which when assembled measured 33’-5” x 35’-5”. The tiles created the visual- effective video floor below Coldplay’s feet. All Access worked closely with the video provider VER, who supplied all of the LED video tiles, video processing and video crew for the show. “Getting all the circuitry, power, control data and the tiles mountable was not necessarily difficult, but there was a lot to it,” says Eastland. “Because of the whole truss system that we use for the stage carts, it doesn’t matter if it’s a video floor or a regular deck each year. This year, we really had to take care with the Plexiglas deck covering on the floor, since [Coldplay’s] Chris Martin was going to be running and jumping all over the stage. Also, everything was designed with the worst case scenario in mind, a monsoon of rain. We cut a grid pattern in the Plexiglas with a four-inch on center cut that kept the clarity of the video, especially important because it was daytime. The grid meant that, in the event Martin did start to slip, it was going give traction. Of course, then we end up with one of the nicest days ever in San Francisco!”
The two side stages for Beyoncé and Bruno Mars and the connecting walkways to the main stage had more than 500 Elation Professional Elar Q1 fixtures mounted in the deck tops. These were what many referred to as the puck lights embedded into the deck. They were RGB plus white LEDs that fell under the control of the video team.
The stage itself is All Access’ proprietary Versa Stage System along with proprietary tires and a leveling system All Access conceived of especially for the Halftime shows. This year, as in years past, All Access’ tried-and-true system has meant that they only needed to build a few custom carts for the 12 and 6-o’clock ramps on the upstage and downstage sides of the main stage. The ramps are each about 32 feet long. The overall measurement from Beyoncé’s stage to Bruno’s stage was 145 feet long.
“We created this system six years ago when we did our first Halftime show, and we’ve used it on every show since,” comments Eastland. “To protect the field, we had about 350 of the exclusive Turf Master tires on this year’s stage carts as well as on all of the lighting, pyro and audio carts. Then we’ve got our leveling system so that, once we get to the field, in whichever stadium, we get the stage all leveled up and never have to touch it again; it goes back to the same spot every time, every run-through and performance. We’ve also developed a tongue-and-groove docking system for each part, carving out super nice seams, keeping everything flush. Everyone’s been really happy with that, and we are always happy to be part of Halftime team.”
Brilliant Flashes
A Halftime show that takes place in the waning afternoon sunlight with no control over the atmosphere is certainly a daunting task for all the production departments, but for the special effects team, the challenges are sometimes about second-guessing nature. Once again, Strictly FX, the Wood Dale, IL and Hollywood, CA-based special effects company, took on the Halftime show challenge. Leading the Strictly FX team at this year’s show was Mark Grega, a partner at the company. “For everything that we do, we’re concerned about smoke levels and the wind,” he explains. “It’s one of those shows that we have to plan for the worst and go from there. The most important thing for our client—we can’t affect the football game. During the show, we are a big part, but there’s still a football game that has to start seven minutes after the halftime performance.”
A lot of Strictly FX’s work had to be done on site. “We are always trying to find the perfect moments that make sense to use effects,” says Grega. “Like with Bruno Mars, I couldn’t shoot on every single hit; it would have been too much. A lot of it is about finding the perfect moment for an effect, and working with Hamish [Hamilton], the show director. When he’s taking a close-up shot, there’s no reason to add smoke if it’s not on camera. Those are the things that we plan for; we watch videos of the rehearsals with the creative team. We find what’s working and what’s not. I don’t want to waste a resource if it’s not going to have an impact on the show. Also, we had to consider that it was daytime show. The effects that were there, were there for the impact; that little exclamation point. We are all looking forward to next year and getting back indoors so we get some darkness. Still, even outdoors in daylight, you want to make it exciting; you still want to get the audience standing up on their feet.”
Grega also commented on the change in control of their special effects this year. “We have now retrofitted all of our urns to be DMX controlled, and that way, we could run our effects with an [MA Lighting] grandMA console. For the Halftime show, we used a grandMA light for our primary console and an ultra-light as a backup. We also upgraded all of our signals for more reliability with Pathport Connectivity’s Octo nodes with gigabit Ethernet, because some of our data runs are 700-feet.”
Of absolute importance to be addressed by the special effects team was the incredibly low SkyCam trim in Levi Stadium. “In most stadiums, the SkyCam normally has a fully retracted position of 200-300-feet,” explains Grega. “Here, it trims at 80 feet. Most of the stuff that we shoot has an impact of 150-300-feet. If we hit one of the four support cables of the SkyCam, that thing comes down like a dead drone. So every single rehearsal, the most asked question was, ‘Where’s the SkyCam?’ It was like a geometry project, figuring out all of the angles and safe zones for where and when we could fire. It was extremely important to Not Kill the SkyCam!”
Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show
CREW
Vendors
Lighting: PRG
Video: VER
Sets and Staging: All Access Staging & Productions
Pyro: Strictly FX
Rigging: Stage Rigging
Design Team/Management
Executive Producer: Ricky Kirshner
Director: Hamish Hamilton
Supervising Producer: Rob Paine
Production Designer: Bruce Rodgers, Tribe, Inc.
Lighting Designer: Robert Barnhart, Full Flood
Pyro Designer: Mark Grega
Coldplay Creative Team: Philip Harvey, Paul Normandale, Misty Buckley, Ben Miles, Chris Martin
Bruno Mars/Beyoncé Creative Team: Cory FitzGerald, Tim Routledge, Joel Forman, Ed Burke
Head Stage Manager: Gary Natoli
Stage Managers: Jeffry Gitter, Harve Levine, Arthur Lewis, Vince Poxon
CAD & Sketch Artist: Evan Alexander
Tribe, Inc.: Shelley Rodgers, Lindsey Breslauer, Evan Alexander, Amber Stinebrink
Production Supervisors: Brad Duns, Jenny Stanley
Production Managers: Amanda McDonough, Shelby Sundling Lathrop
Screens Creative Director: Ben Miles
Screens Content: Northhouse Films, Shop, My Accomplice
Video & Projection
Video Company: VER
VER Crew Chief: Michael Spencer
VER Assistant Crew Chief: Luke Pilato
VER LED Technicians: Trace Deroy, David Imlau, Chad McClymonds, Brandon Oosterhof, Rod Silhanek
Media Server Operator: Jason Rudolph
Media Server Technician/VER System Engineer: Matt Waters
Lighting
Lighting Company: PRG
Account Executive: Tony Ward
Lighting Director/Programmer: Peter Radice
Lighting Director: Dave Grill
Lead Video Operator (Camera Control): Guy Jones
Gaffers: Tony Ward (lead), Paul Bell, Jr, Keith Berkes, Dean Brown, Joe Faretta
Best Boy: Jose David Serralles
PRG Project Manager/Head Tech: Robert Minnotte
PRG Lead Techs: Jeff Anderson, Matt Geneczko
Systems Tech: Chris Conti
Followspots: Timothy Altman, Joe Faretta, George Sennefelder, Quinn Smith, John Warburton
Arc Light EFX Tech: Quinn Smith
Prelite Rep: Tom Thompson
Staging, Rigging, Set
Staging Company: All Access Staging & Productions
Staging Supervisors: Tony Hauser, Cap Spence
Consultant: Stephen Thomas
Head Rigger: Joel Magarian
Staging Coordinators: Shalah Cave, Aaron Chawla, Doug Cook, Robert Cray, Matt Gorenc, Glenn Ingram, Graeme Lagden, George McPherson, Tony Menditto, Hans Wert
Staging
Staging Company: All Access Staging & Production
Manufacturing Design: Erik Eastland
Project Coordinator: Timothy Fallon, Jr.
Chief Engineer: James Casalino
All Access Crew: Jesus Arroyo, Roger Cabot, Kyle Duarte, Micky Dymond, Matt Garrett, Fidel Garza, Logan Gibson, Dale Jewett, Bobby Marshal, Julio Rocha, Tristan Rossi, Jacob Valdez
Staging Assistants: Daniel Carlton, Michael Mutti
Props: Jan Parent, Carl Robertshaw
Pyro & Special Effects
Special Effects Company: Strictly FX
Pyro Designer: Mark Grega
DMX Operator/Programmer: Grant Sellers
Pyro Operator/Programmer: Adam Biscow
SFX Crew Chief: Ron Bleggi
Pyro Lead: Dave Yarbrough
Pyro Techs: Ciro Scotto D’Antuono, Justin Seedle
Pyro Product Wrangler: Eric “Mooch” Muccio
CA Local: Sherry Souza
Flame Lead: Tony Alaimo
Flame Techs: Mike Hartle, Jeffrey Kasdroff
Pyro Field Assists: Anthony Amato, Joey Atkinson, Max Kennedy, Chad Whitlock, Eric Whitlock
System Engineer: Clifford Sharpling
GEAR
Lighting
From PRG:
3 PRG V676 Console (1 Main, 1 Backup, 1 On Site Previz)
2 Miles of Fiber Optic Control Cable
16 Pathway Connectivity/PRG Via-12+2 Fiber Port Ethernet Switch
17 PRG Virtuoso Super Node
48 PRG Best Boy HP Spot
36 Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20
14 Clay Paky Sharpy (Gold)
476 Chroma-Q Color Block 2
10 GLP impression x4 Bar 10
16 GLP impression x4 Bar 20
24 TMB Solaris Flares
36 Ayrton MagicBlade R
72 Harman Martin Professional AtomicLED 3000 Strobe
16 ARC Light EFX Brite Box Flame Followspot
1 Sun
Video
From VER:
1 MA Lighting grandMA2 light Console
2 Green Hippo Hippotizer Boreal V4 Media Server
6 Barco ImagePro II
1 BlackMagic Design Smart Videohub 16×16 HD/SDI router
4 AJA Video Systems FiDO-TR SDI/LC Fiber Transceiver
1 Evertz 7700 Multiframe configured for Multiviewing, Genlock Distribution and HD/SDI Signal Distribution
309 Winvision 9mm LED Video Tiles
8 Winvision 9mm ¼ LED Video Tiles
500 Elation Professional Elar Q1 Fixtures
Pyro
From Strictly FX
1 MA Lighting grandMA2 Light Console (primary)
1 MA Lighting grandMA2 Ultralight Console (backup)
2 Pathport Connectivity Octo Node
8 Pathport Connectivity Opto Splitter
2 Pathport Connectivity Via10 Gigabit Switch
2 FireOne XL 4 controllers
54 FireOne 32CH Wireless Modules
8 SFX Urn’s w/DMX Interface
2 SFX 4 Channel Controller
