Cory FitzGerald is a lighting and production designer who has been involved with some of the biggest shows in the world, from festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury, live for broadcast award shows like the Grammys and VMAs, and international tours for artists including Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake, and Adele. FitzGerald is also no stranger to the Super Bowl Halftime show, he says, "I’ve been a part of a few Halftime Shows over the years which has been incredibly helpful to know the process and the teams involved. It's a huge effort by a literal village of people so its important to have all the departments on the same page and working together to realize the artists creative vision." This year's Halftime Show was viewed by a stunning 133.5 million people and featured Kendrick Lamar, an artist FitzGerald has worked with since 2017 at Coachella and multiple world tours.
RELATED STORIES: Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Project In Focus
For the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, FitzGerald was on Kendrick’s team as the lighting designer working with the SBHT team. Describing his input on the show he says, "Our creative team led by Mike (Carson, the lead creative director for Kendrick Lamar's pgLang team), drove the overall creative vision, and Bruce (Rodgers of Tribe, Inc), Al (Gurdon, lighting designer), and Hamish (Hamilton, Done+Dusted) and their teams took that and made it happen. They have been amazing collaborators, and their teams have really set a high bar for what’s possible on these shows. I think our overall aesthetic is the most important thing we’ve been translating into this unique show. We have created a one-of-kind experience that is built only for this environment, but we wanted to make it look and feel part of the world that we’ve established over the last few years."
Despite the reduced timeframe for planning, building, and executing the show, the designer's focus is on Lamar's fans. "This is the biggest show out there in many ways and has some of the most demanding constraints that exist in our industry. We are constantly threading the needle of trying to execute a very comprehensive and detailed creative within what can be done in the framework we have to work with, so it’s a very challenging push and pull," he says. "To me, it’s always about the final capture and making sure the audience sees and feels what everyone has been working on. Getting all of those moments just right on camera really makes it work."
RELATED: Cory FitzGerald And Ola Melzig Discuss American Song Contest
The size of a football pitch is not the ideal venue for the kind of intimate and dramatic shows Lamar has become known for, but that transformation is the most challenging part for the production designer. He says, "Overall, I’m the most impressed with how Mike Carson and the creative team have completely changed the space and used the entire field in unique ways throughout the show, using the dancers, scenic, and lighting to build individual worlds for each song and make it feel like we’ve departed from the stadium, while still using the entirety of the room to show the scale."