Loyalkaspar, the New York-based creative design studio, provided the video content for the visually compelling Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show that aired on February 7, 2010 for over 100 million viewers worldwide. Live Design caught up with Elliot Chaffer, Loyalkaspar’s creative director, on their role in this extraordinary challenge.
1. Please explain how the image creators worked with Lee Lodge on the concept and design elements?
Lee Lodge was the graphics producer, liaising between the various departments of the collaborative operation: Hamish Hamilton (director), Bruce Rodgers (set designer), Ricky Kirshner (executive in charge of production), and Al Gurdon (lighting designer).
Lee had previously commissioned us to work on the visuals for Jay Z and Russell Brand at the MTV 2009 VMAs, and he liked our graphic sensibility and felt we would be good partners for the job.
He came to us with some inspiring images of the set designed by Bruce Rodgers that seamlessly integrated the lighting design with graphic imagery on a circular shield.
There was a palette of shapes and imagery that Bruce had used in his boards, that we used as a starting point for various treatments, bouncing around ideas to get a feeling of what would and wouldn't work on this giant structure. Lee allowed us the creative freedom to experiment and push new ideas as well.
2. What was the intent of the video?
We wanted to make a bold visual statement for a legendary rock band on the world's biggest stage and be part of a seamless synchronization of music, lighting, graphics, and the architecture of the stadium working in together for a memorable, augmented experience. To break some ground in this field of work.
3. What software did they use for content creation and playback?
Design and animation: Aftereffects, illustrator, Photoshop, HVX video camera
Real time video testing: D3
Playback: 2 Green Hippo Hippotizers
Structure: 26 carts of LED Mi Strips from XL Video
4. How did you work to integrate the video with the lighting?
From Bruce's designs there was a clearly defined color palette and structure to work with, and we followed Hamish's and Al's concepts of the mood and pace for each track, offering up ideas and working to theirs at the same time.
We realized that due to the multiple camera angles that the shield was going to be seen from, the graphic sequences needed continuity and consideration for the bigger picture of how it will be experienced on television as the primary objective.
XL Video Labs made D3 simulation for us of the shield and ribbons allowing us to get a sense of what the work would look like from any angle in real time. This became a useful tool for seeing the video synced to the music in 3d space, although our only real understanding of the lighting design was from meticulously annotated spreadsheets.
At the first rehearsals, the graphics were not mapping correctly on the shield, as there had not been enough time to set it up properly for first looks. The shield needed to be assembled in six minutes by an army of volunteers, but initially it took 45 minutes.
With a week to go before the band rehearsal, we all worked on "light and shade" (Hamish Hamilton) adding and subtracting to areas that needed visual balancing. This meant simplifying and stripping back some of our work, something that always works.
Meanwhile Jason Rudolph worked his miracles on mapping the animations we supplied to the 26 carts of LED's and ribbon screens, syncing them to the music and lighting/pyro cue points.
Lee was like an interpreter at a United Nations conference translating the different languages of the various departments, and kept everyone on track with each other's findings, ideas and expectations.
5. What was your exact role on site?
We went to the stadium twice so that we could finally meet face to face with our collaborators, and check that our part of the bigger picture was working. We were there to learn from each other, adding and subtracting ideas as needed. Our other role was: "The guys that are always everywhere, filming everything."
Creative Credits:
Production Company: White Cherry Entertainment, New York
Executive Producer: Ricky Kirshner
Director: Hamish Hamilton
Executive in Charge of Production: Rob Paine Lighting Designer: Al Gurdon
Production Designer: Bruce Rodgers
Screens and Graphics Producer: Lee Lodge
Video Content Programmer: Jason Rudolph
Loyalkaspar, New York, NY credits:
Executive Producer: David Herbruck
Creative Director: Elliott Chaffer
Design/Technical Directors: Dennis Cheung, Charlie Wan
Producer: Scott Lakso
Animators: April Shah, Yong Chan Kim, Chris Foster
Creative Consultant for The Who: Tom Kenny
Manager, The Who: Bill Curbishley
LED FLOOR Equipment List
3055 Barco MiSTRIPs1- Lot Uninterruptible power supplies1- Lot Processors
LED SupplierXL VIDEO
The BRIDGESTONE SUPER BOWL XLIV HALFTIME SHOW is an NFL NETWORK PRODUCTION and is executive produced by Ricky Kirshner and directed by Hamish Hamilton.