Ryan Travis on Shooting the Calm before the Super Bowl Storm

A native of Northern California, Havoc Content’s multi-Emmy Award-winning director, Ryan Travis began his career in the mountains, directing action sports films across the globe. A big motorsports enthusiast and even bigger cinephile Ryan loves cameras, fast machines, sports, travelling and unique food. Needless to say, Ryan loves to explore the world through a unique visual eye. With this outlook, he has consistently delivered provocative visual work for brands like Audi, Fiat, Toyota, Gatorade, Under Armour, Gillette, NFL, Deus Ex Machina, MV Agusta and Urban Decay, to name a few.

Ryan has directed content that runs the gamut of timely documentaries - including two Super Bowl opening films. In 2020, he directed the Miami Super Bowl opening sequence, featuring Dwayne Wade and stunning visuals shot all across the Magic City, and in 2022, he filmed ‘Ode to South Central’ with fellow director/producer Julian Gooden. This opening to Super Bowl LVI won an Emmy and gave an insider’s glimpse into South Central LA - using a variety of visual styles and mediums to immerse the viewer into the area’s culture and feel - and was voiced by actor Anthony Anderson.

As well as working with top athletes to create topical content building up to the Big Game, such as one Tom Brady, Ryan has also developed supporting content for the halftime shows - including projects with The Weeknd and J.Lo. This year he has been shooting content to accompany the returning performance of legendary singer Rihanna at halftime. 

Speaking to LBB’s Ben Conway, he discusses how he captures the authentic feel and tone of a location or event like the Super Bowl, what it’s like working with athletes and artists just days before the event, and why it was worth swimming out into the ocean to capture a sunrise last year.

LBB> You’ve had the opportunity to work on two Super Bowl opens - what does that mean to you? 

Ryan> It’s an incredible privilege to have had the opportunity to create these two opens for one of the biggest sporting events in the world. When you see the piece playing in the stadium, and of course on TV, you really feel the scope of the event and how important it is to so many people for so many reasons. It’s amazing and humbling to see my work on this stage. So many great commercials and content surround the game and the broadcast, so it’s a huge responsibility and an honour to be just a small part of it.

LBB> How do you go about capturing the culture and feel of a location - as you did with South Central LA and Miami? What does your research and pre-production process look like?

Ryan> Authenticity is so important. I really base all the visuals and concepts around that. If I’m questioning an idea or thought, I go back and try to ground the idea. This then guides me to create something that can capture the essence and feel of a place. We also had an amazing writing team for both projects. Marcia Mckenna wrote a beautiful voiceover script along with Julian Gooden for South Central LA which really gave us an amazing starting place. Marcia was born and raised in the area and that was clear in the script. Capturing people and places in their natural environments, in a cinematic way, is also a huge part of it as well. Finding these locations and people is a huge task and, as always, we had an amazing team to help us achieve this. Real people in real places.

LBB> What are some of your favourite sequences from the two Super Bowl opens that you’ve done so far? And what shots or moments provided an interesting creative challenge? 

Ryan> The opening of the Miami film starts with a couple of dawn shots out in the ocean off Miami beach - we float in the waves with the camera and a wave wipes the lens. It’s a very small shot but it sets a cinematic tone and is a metaphor for the Super Bowl itself. The calm before the storm, if you will… Miami is about to be taken over and changed for a week as it hosts the event. It’s really these small details and the thought that goes into every shot that makes it special. Logistically, we had to get out in the ocean with the camera before dawn -  which is never easy. To get the shot, we used a small camera team, prepped the camera and swam out in the ocean while it was still dark and waited until the light was perfect to capture it.

LBB> ‘Ode to South Central’ was shot largely on film - why was that? How do you choose which medium or camera you select for each project? 

Ryan> Choosing a medium or camera comes down to the story for me. What visual style does this story require to tell it in the most emotional way? I wanted to convey the humanity and depth of the neighbourhood from a visual perspective, which required special touches from a cinematography standpoint. From the beginning, shooting film for this project was always ingrained into the initial concept because it provides a timeless feel. This included shooting on Super 16mm film and numerous other film stocks which gave the short film an authentic, emotional feel. 

LBB> The film also uses a variety of archive footage, black-and-white sequences, photography and more - were you involved in the edit process at all? How do you plan and put together such a vibrant collage of different styles? 

Ryan> Stephanie Yang edited the piece, and she really is a genius when it comes to blending all of the film, archival and digital elements together with an amazing sense of pacing and timing. Stephanie and [director] Julian [Gooden] really worked together on that project in an amazing way. I really focused on getting the colour and film right, working with [senior colourist] Bryan Smaller and Company 3 to get the edit to flow and feel seamless with the tone and colour palette.

LBB> You’ve got to work with Tom Brady and other top athletes in your films building up to the Big Game - what has that been like? How do you get the best out of an athlete, compared to directing or working with actors and creatives? 

Ryan> Working with athletes is always a challenge, especially during Super Bowl week. You are always under a time constraint and, of course, they have a huge number of obligations. You just have to try and get them out of their normal PR modes and try to create something unique. We always prep and rehearse ahead of time and try to make it as quick and as enjoyable a process for the athlete(s) as we possibly can.

LBB> This year, you’re developing some videos for the halftime show - tell us about that! 

Ryan> Over the last couple of years, I’ve also been involved in creating some content around the halftime show - working with artists like The Weeknd, J.Lo and now, some of the talents from this year as well. It’s exciting to be involved with such iconic names and to support the halftime show as it’s become an iconic event within itself. I’m also shooting some more iconic Arizona visuals to set the tone and capture the beauty of the desert.

LBB> How is it directing a halftime show-calibre artist? 

Ryan> You want to create something that embodies the artist and elevates the work to fit in with their world of creativity. When I worked with The Weeknd, for example, my production designer, Gus Cuevas, painted a beautiful modern piece of art inspired by some of Mark Rothko’s famous work - but gave it a darker tone. So we’re always trying to find ways to create iconic images and content that live up to the artist.