Live Design Online: All Access was honored to provide the set and staging for the Super Bowl Halftime show for the twelfth year in a row. And this year the staging company had home field advantage. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, is just down the street from All Access’ headquarters in Torrance.
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This article goes and again proves, like many other news comment articles, that there are so many jobs necessary for things to exist and function properly that I just overlook and/or don't take into account! I've never stopped to think about the fact that, to have a Superbowl halftime show, that huge set needs to be put onto the field, and incredibly quickly too. It was super interesting to read about the new methods of transportation they for this, such as the carts. It reminds me that there are so many ways you can take the skills you learn from an education. I often get stuck in thinking just because of this degree, I have to pursue theatre, but this article was a great reminder that my skills can translate to a lot of different areas. I think what is most important is finding something to pursue that you care about. If it's football and you have a design background, you could work on projects like this!
Even as a kid, I think I’ve always been dazzled by the behind the scenes more than the actual performance itself. It always seemed like a little secret for me, like being Santa’s elves or something. Especially live entertainment, where the stage is literally put up and struck in a matter of minutes. Even now, I am endlessly entertained by sped-up strikes and setup videos on youtube. I liked that this year in the super bowl, there was not only the lighting and electrics highlighted but also the set. I think the idea of the “neighborhood” is so fun and so childish, but in a good way. It really makes me excited. I am also always amazed by the scale of all these productions. The Super Bowl is one of the few times a year for live entertainment in which the performance is supported more by lighting and sound. I liked that this year, things were supported by the set as well and that it was well-received.
It's amazing to think that even for something seemingly as big and open-air as the Superbowl stadium, building constraints can come down to whether carts can fit through the doors or not. I'm particularly surprised to hear about them building an elevator that works via two separate pieces working seamlessly in sync with one another. Plus, I didn't even think that the turf surface would become a constraint given the Superbowl's larger-than-life reputation. I guess at the end of the day, a field is just a field, and there's only so much wear it can handle before it'll tear.
In watching the Superbowl, I was also extremely impressed by how fast set changes have to happen. There's the halftime show, for one, but then there's also the postgame, in which they bring on an entire awards stage onto the field. I wonder how many people it took to pull that transition off, as well.
Admittedly, I could care less about the Superbowl game. But the halftime performance is a completely different story for me. Normally, I tune in exclusively during halftime. I tend to get pretty excited by the technical elements of the show and have really enjoyed looking at the spec sheets the last couple of years. Last year’s performance with the Weekend happened very close to my hometown, and really I thought it was the most impressive Superbowl performance I have seen from a technical lens. Although this year’s show was less grandiose and theatrical, I was obsessed with the attention to detail in the so called “neighborhood”. Especially in the video work. I was really drawn to the what is referred to in the article as a LED field cloth cover. In my research post halftime, I was delighted to discover a class of 2020 graduate who worked on the media for the show.
Football does not have a space in my life whatsoever. I simply don’t even understand the game (no, please don’t try to explain it to me). However, I love seeing what they do with the halftime show every year: the theatrics and design and music is all so interesting and fun to watch. I loved reading the article to understand what goes into the set building. I didn’t realize the same company had built these for so many years in a row; also, I loved learning about how they have to incorporate precautions in the design and transport so as not to damage the turf. 300 wheels for the carts?! That is a lot of wheels, but the physics there is super interesting. I also found it interesting that this set is the most architectural one they’ve ever really made, which they are now calling “The Neighborhood”. I might need to go back and learn more about past halftime show designs, this was very interesting to me.
This was crazy to read. I watched the game this year and the first thing I said when the halftime show came on was something along the lines of wow I wonder what it took to design that. This comment of course go me a couple weird looks from the football fans watching with me, but hey that's the tech nerd in me. Getting to read even just this small glimpse into what went into getting the show set up and in action during the game is incredible. I wish that I could have been in person to see the set up and tear down, because even reading it it's still hard to wrap my head around. This seems like an amazing opportunity to work on and I would love so much to have been a fly on the wall during some of the meetings for the technicalities of this thing. I can't wait to see what they do next year.
I had a lot of thoughts about the construction and design of this year's halftime show. It was unlike pretty much any others I’ve seen in the past, which I thought was cool. I think much like in conservatory hour I’d put it in the “good idea poor execution” category. The set showed they were taking the halftime show in a new direction, however I was thinking about how if one was in the stands, you wouldn't be able to see the lower levels of the set, especially because of the back enclosure. I recognize there are screens but still. In previous shows although the performers face one direction, the stage had a 360 view, this only had a 180, if that. Additionally the idea of having the cars in front blocked a significant portion of the house. As well, setting it in a house makes me question why? The super bowl is a stadium not an apartment, in a way it made the space feel small, even on screen.
It's super interesting to be able to read even a little about the set for the halftime show broken down into manageable chunks. I usually never watch the Super Bowl, but I like to go back and watch the halftime show afterward to see the technical elements and performers at work. The halftime show has felt for a long time like a huge display of just how far entertainment has come in the past few decades and is a huge technological and artistic marvel to behold. While this year's set wasn't necessarily as "grand" as some others have been in the past (talking in terms of scale, presence on the field, etc.), you can tell that it had just as many - if not more - challenges, love, and attention put into it. Every detail had meaning, both to the performers and to the history behind it. More than anything though, I'm always amazed by how versatile the designs have to be to make it work during a relatively short window, in the middle of a football field, in an unpredictable environment.
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