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May 2012

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for worship techs, there’s more than meets the eye

by David Martin Jacques

When the First Baptist Church of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., first engaged me to be the lighting designer for its Christmas Pageant, the creative team asked if I was going to light the show for live or for broadcast. I answered “Why not both?”

Ever since the first video camera was developed, there has been a debate on how best to light a theatrical production for broadcast. In the early days of video the cameras demanded a great deal more light and a lower contrast ratio of light to dark than what was normally provided for in live presentations. This made it a necessity to completely re-think the lighting plan and the types of lighting fixtures used. In addition to this, the lighting designer must try to recreate a three-dimensional world in a two-dimensional medium. The end result usually was an unfortunate compromise.

Over the years technological advances in cameras and media recording have produced cameras that are sensitive enough to record clear images in relatively low-light, high-contrast environments (like theatrical presentations). This has freed the lighting designer to design a much more exciting and dynamic lighting plan and not compromise due to the limitations of video. Video technology has now reached a point where it is possible to use theatrical lighting intensities in a broadcast environment.

That being said, there are still some basic and very important considerations that you must keep in mind when lighting for broadcast and theatrical presentations.

Understand the Importance of Color Temperature. Although cameras have become more light-sensitive, differences in color temperature can still be quite distracting on video. It is imperative that the lighting designer fully understands the effects of the color difference between daylight and tungsten.

Daylight, along with many arc-powered followspots and moving lights, measure around 5,600 degrees Kelvin. The typical incandescent stage-lighting fixture is measured at 3,200 degrees Kelvin. This requires careful color correction; otherwise, the video image between the two can be quite disconcerting.

That is why I always decide on a consistent color temperature to white-balance the cameras with. The lighting fixtures should be color corrected to match the predominant lighting source. For instance, for a church that has large windows to allow daylight to pour into the congregation (like Willow Creek and many others) it may be wise to color-correct the incandescent fixtures closer to daylight.

Sometimes you do the reverse. Tom Stanziano has a great deal of experience in lighting for theatrical and broadcast presentations. Now working with SeaChanger, Tom was Joel Osteen’s lighting director for seven years. He described how he dealt with varied color temperature issues: “We were using Vari-Lite 3500 moving lights as the key light (at 6,000 degrees Kelvin), so we had to knock it down to 3,200 degrees Kelvin. We had Rosco create a special dichroic filter for this purpose.”

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David Martin Jacques is a professional lighting designer and consultant. He has designed hundreds of productions in the United States and throughout the world. David also consults on new worship facilities and renovations. He serves as Head of Stage Design for California State University Long Beach.   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)