Said the night wind to the little lamb, Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb, Do you see what I see? A light, a light, dancing in the night ...
No, that's not how the song goes, but it is that time of year--the time we are thinking about lighting for our Christmas productions. Soon music directors, pastors, technical people, actors and animals, will be descending onto the stage to announce the birth of Christ to the world.
It's also the time of year that I receive a lot of questions from people asking how to improve the lighting for their church productions, so here are a few important things to keep in mind.
1-Plan ahead
What I tend to find is that many churches put little or no thought into the lighting for their productions. Either they start planning the production too late to be able to carefully plan their lighting or they don't put any thought into it at all and just "wing it." Either way, they are not as effective as they could be if they planned ahead.
While adding additional audio equipment takes a bit of time and planning, it takes a fraction of the time to add microphones to the stage than it does to add lighting fixtures and refocus the lights for the stage. Because of the extra time expense, advanced planning becomes even more important for successful lighting of a production.
While adding additional audio equipment takes a bit of time and planning, it takes a fraction of the time to add microphones to the stage than it does to add lighting fixtures and refocus the lights for the stage.
Also, if you need rental gear for your production, the earlier you reserve your equipment the better the chance that the rental company will have the fixtures you want available, since rental equipment tends to be in high demand around Christmas.
2-Craft a lighting design
To begin a plan, start by reading the script and/or listening to the music and talking to the director and other creative people involved in the production. This should give you a good idea of the creative direction to take for the production, and it will provide a framework to develop your lighting design around.
To begin a plan, start by reading the script and/or listening to the music and talking to the director and other creative people involved in the production.
Lighting designs don't have to be overly complicated. Start by making lists. List out the colors that you want to use for a musical number or the areas of the stage that need to be lit for a particular scene in a theatrical presentation, and then continue to develop the plan as needed. For example, you may have a solo that needs to be lighted in a particular song. If so, you will need a lighting fixture to handle lighting that soloist. Or maybe the director wants stars on the backdrop during a dramatic scene. This effect may require several fixtures with star gobo patterns.
Start by making lists. List out the colors that you want to use for a musical number or the areas of the stage that need to be lit for a particular scene in a theatrical presentation....
As you work through the program and make notes about each scene, note the equipment required to light the production. You will then be able to determine if you have the equipment required or if you will need to purchase or rent additional equipment. You will also have a good idea of where the fixtures will need to hang and focus.
In addition, your plan will help you figure out how much time must be allotted to hanging, focusing and programming the lighting. If you are adding a great number of additional fixtures it will take longer and require more manpower then if you don't need to add additional fixtures. Also, if there are only a few simple scenes, programming time will be short, while 30 complex scenes will take a while to program.
3-Consider rental equipment needs
When renting equipment, be sure you have all of the facts about what you are renting.
With conventional fixtures there are several different plug types that are used to power the fixtures. The most common are stage pin, Edison and twist-lock. Be sure you are getting fixtures that are compatible with your power outlets. If not, make sure that the rental company can send adapters to adapt their equipment to yours. Also, don't forget the spare lamps.
When renting moving lights, make sure that you know the voltage required and the plug type.
When renting moving lights, make sure that you know the voltage required and the plug type. Some moving lights run on 208-volt power instead of the standard 120-volt wall voltage. In addition, you should verify the data connector type, 3-pin XLR or 5-pin XLR, and make sure you have enough of the appropriate type of data cable.
If you are running 20 or more additional DMX devices, such as moving lights, color changers, dimmers racks, etc., you may need a DMX Optosplitter to split your DMX runs. A single DMX run can only provide data for 32 units before it needs to be split.
If you are running 20 or more additional DMX devices, such as moving lights, color changers, dimmers racks, etc., you may need a DMX Optosplitter to split your DMX runs.
If you are unsure if the rental gear will work in your system, it might be worth your while to get a tech from the rental company to come and look at your system. If a tech can't come to you, send your system--in the form of pictures--to the rental company. You want to make sure that you get all the pieces and parts you need to make the system work.
4-Experiment with the lighting hang, focus and color
One misconception many church lighting techs have is the idea that fixtures always have to be hung at a 45% angle off vertical and a 45% angle off the horizontal on either side of the area you are trying to light. Additionally, there is an idea that these fixtures should be gelled a pink and blue.
While in some cases this can work, many churches do not have the hang positions or the required number of lighting fixtures to do this type of lighting design. If you can't hang your fixtures in this manner, don't fret. Your lighting can still look great.
Lighting a stage from straight-on in open white and then adding color from the sides or the back can be a very effective lighting combination.
Lighting a stage from straight-on in open white and then adding color from the sides or the back can be a very effective lighting combination. This works especially well if your production is being videotaped.
Another tip? Color from the sides, especially if the colors are contrasting, adds a great deal of dimension to the actors, while color from the back goes a long way in setting the mood of the scene.
Experiment with hang positions and color until you get the look you want.
Remember, many times it's the little things that can make or break a production. Plan ahead, get the correct equipment, and experiment with position and color until you have your lighting looking its Christmas best.
