All Hands on Stage
The 111,000,000 people watching January鈥檚 Super Bowl half-time show witnessed a parade of centurions, heavy-metal seraphim, men walking on men, bleacher-bouncing gymnasts, tightrope dancing by a man in a toga, and Madonna鈥檚 own cheerleaders on a tiered stage pulsing with light like a giant pinball machine. Behind it all 鈥� the show鈥檚 art director, Anthony Bishop, a 1994 Keene State alumnus. Miniature versions of the Indianapolis extravaganza, television shows like The Voice and Family Feud, supply Bishop鈥檚 bread and butter, but in shows of any size, he refers to himself as 鈥渙ne of many cogs in the wheel.鈥� When Bishop describes his education in theatre, he speaks in terms of nurturing, how students were 鈥渘urtured by those who had experience. At Keene, it was our professors.鈥� Even though he鈥檚 been designing sets since he was in eighth grade, he says he learns something from every production designer and art director with whom he works.
Bishop鈥檚 bachelor鈥檚 degree set him up for graduate school in theatre arts, and he had his pick, finally settling on Ohio University. Making the shift from theatre 鈥� helping out on Broadway 鈥� to television taught him to put timetables on turbo-charge. Once a project is approved, he says, 鈥測ou have to be picking those apples as fast as you can and putting them in the right basket.鈥�
A quick list of skills a television art director possesses includes drawing, design, lighting, carpentry, audio, budgeting, project management, and a deep understanding of theatre arts. But those tools are useless without being part of a team of co-creators.
鈥淎s a theatre person at Keene State, what I learned first was: collaboration is everything. The second was: we all sit at the same table; we take a script, break it down, and cast it around the table,鈥� Bishop says. When he鈥檚 working with someone else鈥檚 vision, he鈥檚 figuring out how to make it work, bringing experience and all the skills and talents of the people he knows.
At the core of his collaborations lie key relationships 鈥� the kind that drive the entertainment business. Bishop hesitates at immodesty but knows himself well enough to say, 鈥淚n this business, you have to have presence, whether you have the skills or not; you must have personality. Without a good personality, you won鈥檛 get in the door and you won鈥檛 survive the conversation.鈥�
But a strong sense of self is only a prerequisite; skills and talent create the bond. 鈥淢y relationships begin with drawings,鈥� Bishop says, 鈥渨hether they鈥檙e on coasters or napkins, whether I鈥檝e done them or someone else has. We share them and form opinions without even meeting each other.鈥� Before long, designers, art directors, creative directors 鈥� a whole cadre of artists and technicians are working to realize a single, yet evolving vision.
Knowing television production schedules to be tight, Bishop admits to thinking about logistics from the start. On The Voice, for example, a complex reality set, creative teams come up with concepts that must be built within two days, demanding intense logistics, communication, and cooperation among vendors. When describing the results, though, his own voice rises to reflect the satisfaction he derives from the process. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a feat, every time, an awesome experience.鈥�
The serial awesomeness of Bishop鈥檚 work comes from working with the talent around him. 鈥淭he design, depth, and creativity can be fantastic,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut the first thing everyone talks about afterwards is how great it was to work with each other.鈥�
Projects call for Bishop to assemble teams that range in number from a tight trio to 200. He shoots Family Feud, for instance, in Atlanta, where a three-person team works with local riggers and technicians to take the set out of storage and reconstruct it for three months of filming, then pack it up for another year. But Hollywood award shows and big events call for hundreds of hands.
For Bishop, keeping teammates working together means listening. 鈥淪imple skills are all it takes 鈥� even when someone鈥檚 unhappy 鈥� like including them in the conversation, having everyone come together in a huddle. Yes, I start the conversation as art director, but I don鈥檛 want to be on a pedestal, talking down to anyone, because it鈥檚 not how this works.鈥� He goes out of his way to support the team and show confidence, passing along the faith executives have placed in him to get the job done in situations where mistakes are expensive and failure is not an option.
These days, projects rarely rattle Bishop. 鈥淵ou know what scared me, though?鈥� he asks. 鈥淭he Super Bowl 鈥� because I hadn鈥檛 done it before. And I saw it as the ultimate challenge.鈥� He describes arriving in Indiana two weeks before the event, meeting a convoy of tractor-trailers and an army that would be assembling the set and rehearsing at a covered stadium near the actual location.
鈥淚 knew what we had to do at halftime: roll in an entire set and 500 people from outside, and we鈥檝e got five, six minutes to get it on the field and assembled, a quick line check [electrical, audio, etc.], the performance, and then get the whole thing the hell out of there.鈥� Three months earlier, the team had arranged to have a mock stage constructed in New Jersey, where Madonna rehearsed every day.
When the time came, Bishop relied on his skills and the talents of professionals with whom he had worked on many other projects. Regardless of preparation, thousands of trigger-points could misfire. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when you see how people really work together,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen it goes off-plan, that鈥檚 when ultimate collaboration takes over.鈥� But that night of Super Sunday, 鈥淚t was a massive movement of people and equipment, like parade floats, and we were a well-oiled machine,鈥� says one very critical cog. At Keene State鈥檚 theatre department 鈥淚 was taught how to do everything鈥here was no 鈥榯his is my little corner, come talk to me,鈥� 鈥� Bishop says. 鈥淚t taught me to embrace everything. To go after it. Not be afraid. There鈥檚 nothing outside my comfort zone anymore. And the depth of a liberal arts degree allows me to take crazy situations and know I can handle them. It allows me to be me, to work with others, and make my own decisions.鈥�