You're the lighting designer for your church. You have the basics of theatrical-style lighting down. You're comfortable lighting the altar or stage for your congregation but now the church has decided that they want to start using video for services. Whether it be lighting for live video image magnification (IMAG) for projecting on screens, or videotaping to distribute to remote locations, document sermons, or record performances produced at the church, lighting for both video and the congregation simultaneously is a balancing act. Church Production Magazine recently spoke with some lighting manufacturers, systems integrators, and theatrical dealers who offer considerations about lighting for video that may help you find that balance between the camera and the congregation.
CPM: What should churches understand and consider when lighting for services or productions that will be captured on camera?
Neis: You are now walking the tightrope of lighting for people attending the service live and a camera, which does not see things the same way we do. We suggest lots of testing and looking at the source monitor while looking at the live image with your eyes to make sure both are getting what they need. Luckily the new generation of cameras [isn’t] quite as needy in terms of lighting, but keep in mind you will get better images with good light. Make sure there is enough base white light for the cameras to see and pick up the speaker.
Heid: Understanding of color temperature and camera white balance are fundamental to consistent, natural-looking lighting on camera. Be careful of any glare or reflections from glasses, jewelry, or sad to say—bald heads. What’s merely noticeable to the eye can cause an ugly overexposure or flare on video.
Kline: To some degree good lighting is good lighting, whether designed for a live audience or video. Remember that colors are perceived differently on camera. Even if your lighting is well balanced for skin tones, the color of your backdrop may be drastically different on camera than live. As you are focusing and cueing, check the results on the monitor as you work.
Hooper: Matching the color temps of all the lights will help keep the video camera happy and prevent surprises like a red banner flaring on the monitor. Using color-balancing filters on the lights—CTOs, CTBs, and CTSs to match the various sources will help matters here. Be careful not to use too many different lamp sources. Having a lighting system made up of incandescent, fluorescent, metal halide, and even LEDs can be a nightmare to balance depending on the camera.
Bruns: Even lighting is very important for the prevention of shadowing on both faces and backgrounds that could show up on the broadcast or video. The beam angle you use also plays a large part in what is seen on the video and is something to consider. Wide floods and diffusers will help to give you a smooth look with less shadow.
CPM: What are some core lighting techniques that would perhaps suit both theatrical and video lighting that you would suggest?
Heid: Three-point lighting—key, fill, and backlighting. A good practical knowledge of this technique will help get the most out of the lighting equipment available. Avoid harsh lighting by using diffusion. The appearance of people in particular can be dramatically enhanced by softening the light source.
Loader: Even light from the front that does not have hot spots or dark holes. Side fill, so that when the person on stage turns their head to look right or left he does not appear dark to the audience on the sides. Backlights to separate the subject from the background.
Kline: Things that may need to be altered when incorporating video include lighting angles (for example, too steep of a front light angle produces the raccoon eyes effect on camera), levels (most cameras produce better images with higher light levels), and attention to detail when it comes to creating an even wash, and controlling spill off curtains, scenic elements, and video screens.
Hooper: Look at the SED curves in the gel book to find colors that have less of the ‘over-reacting’ colors in them. Also with the growing prominence of HD video, don’t forget the background. In the past, the background could be dimmed but now it is usually lit to create depth on the monitor screen. Whether it is a choir or altar, a well-lit background can enhance the overall picture.
CPM: What do you think should be a primary consideration when adding lighting equipment for video?
Neis: Make sure it can be integrated with the current system. Also be very careful to keep the aesthetics of the sanctuary when suggesting lighting fixtures. The reality is that large bright lights that disrupt the look and feel of the space just won’t be embraced by the community.
Masek: Remember it is church; keeping everything inviting, warm and natural looking is important in my opinion. When adding automated equipment, be conscious of sound output, and also of placement that will make the luminaire most useful in a number of applications. Versatility, quiet operation, reliability are key.
Heid: If thinking of going with LEDs, care must be taken. Flicker on camera, poor color rendering, and color mismatch between fixtures are all known problems. Although the technology is rapidly improving, there are still a considerable percentage of lower-cost LED fixtures that should be deemed unworthy. Side-by-side comparison of demo fixtures is the best way to confirm if they are suitable both on camera and off. This is also the best ‘in-the-field’ method of evaluating any type of stage and studio lighting.
Mikeska: Invest in a good light meter to help you set levels and achieve a nice even wash on the platform. Also, look for equipment that is designed for use in video applications—dimmers with sufficient cooling capability, moving lights with flicker-free ballasts, and LED fixtures with proper cooling and frequency settings to ensure flicker-free operation on camera. If you need to add additional fixtures for video lighting, take the time to calculate the additional power required for the fixture package. It can be very expensive to bring additional power into your facility.
CPM: If a church was about to purchase some core lighting equipment that would be able to be purposed for both theatrical and video lighting, what would you suggest as some staple products to consider?
Neis: It depends on budget. I’ve seen great lighting done with PARs and frost. But it all depends on the distance between what’s being lit and where the lights need to be so they are not obtrusive. I love a good Fresnel or PC fixture with a wide zoom range so it can be used in any number of places.
Heid: An inventory of basic wash and profile fixtures is the most versatile in a multipurpose venue. Additionally, moving lights can add flexibility and reduce labor for focus and repositioning. They can easily accommodate changes in set design and performances, all while greatly enhancing design capabilities.
Loader: Hard-edged profile spots, LED moving washes as backlights, automated lights add flexibility and, in the long run, save the customer money on power installation and consumption. Using LED fixtures as sidelights also works well. The illumination range of LEDs has improved so much, instead of hanging multiple lights to wash the stage in color, one LED fixture can replace three or more conventional fixtures.
Kline: Ellipsoidals continue to be the staple for longer-throw lighting positions such as front light. But a church may opt to use higher-wattage lamps, say 750W instead of 575W, and forego the savings on a long-life lamp with a lower color temperature for the standard-life lamp with the higher color temperature. As the quality and output of LED fixtures rapidly improves, these are increasingly making sense for churches either implementing an entirely new lighting system or simply adding fixtures. All of the LED selling points we’ve been hearing for a few years now apply to the video lighting discussion. However, LEDs do, to some degree, fall under the ‘you get what you pay for’ umbrella. This may be [more true] when picking LED fixtures suitable for video lighting. The better LED fixtures offer true flicker-free operation on camera and a very nice full spectrum white light, some including the ability to balance to different color temperatures to match other sources. This is not the case with the less-expensive, DJ-oriented LED fixtures that have flooded the market.
Bruns: LED lighting solutions offer advantages over conventional broadcast lights. They have no moving parts, so they create no mechanical noise on color transitions, as with some traditional moving lights. They consume significantly less energy than non-LED sources, offer usable light for tens of thousands of hours with negligible color-shifting over time, and produce cool beams of light that minimize the need for air conditioning.
CPM: Do you have any other thoughts or advice on either design considerations or equipment when lighting must serve for both theatrical and video lighting?
Neis: I like to light people with angles of between 45 degrees and 60 degrees. Sometimes steeper gives them shadows in their eyes, any lower and people tend to complain it’s in their eyes too much and [they] cannot see who they are talking to. The same goes for backlight, too steep and it can get shadowy and too low you get what I like to call ‘audience abuse.’
Loader: Cameras and lights have come so far in the last few years. As far as lighting for the camera is concerned, it is easier to over light than to under light. Don’t be tricked into buying a 1,200W source when you are only 30 feet away. Buy the lights that can be operated by volunteers and a simple control solution. Also, remember, lighting fixtures—like cars—need to be maintained.
Seay: Work with a company (designer/dealer) who understands video lighting for live events and can provide local support for your system. Make sure that the fixtures are designed to be used with cameras, provide flicker-free operation, have consistent color rendition across multiple fixtures, and that the equipment will provide the coverage, flexibility and ease-of-use that you are looking for.
Hooper: As mentioned before, keep it simple. Don’t use a lot of different color temperature light sources or have too many colors in your lights. Consider using dichroic colors on the hard-to-reach instruments. Remember the dichroics are limited to the narrow beam fixtures because of color fringing inherent to the product. Before ordering the dichroics test the colors using gels before settling on the final colors. Test, Test, Test. Do what the professional DPs do when shooting a film, do camera and lighting tests using the actual camera if possible. Don’t assume. Changing cameras can be a big deal. Don’t assume that they all work the same.
Kline: I think it’s important to remember that lighting for simultaneous live audience and video is always a balance and compromises need to be made. If not tempered with time-tested techniques for lighting for a live audience, the results can more closely resemble a TV studio than a sanctuary. Ultimately though, the decision needs to be made: is this service or live event intended primarily for the live audience, and we’re also recording it to share with others; or, are we inviting a studio audience to sit in on a taping intended primarily for video? Keeping the answer to that question in mind can help guide many of the smaller decisions along the way.
