Photo courtesy of Gateway Church, North Richland Hills, Texas
Proper stage lighting is more than throwing up a few spotlights and picking out some lighting colors. It's about human psychology, it's about planning, it's about possibility, and it's definitely about timing. Take your lighting to the next level by learning how these four areas can be applied the next time you walk into the sanctuary.
1. Use the Right Colors for Setting the Mood
You can't pick random colors and think they will work for a particular song. Financial institutions have used reds, blues, and greens as key colors in their web sites because those colors conveyed trust and peace and confidence. In stage lighting, red conveys passion and love and even anger depending on the scene. Blue can have a subdued or calming effect. And what color better represents royalty than purple? Every color has an associated emotion.
Keep those color-emotion relationships in mind when programming song scenes. A song which professes great love for God could have some red backlighting. Do you use a lot of red or only as highlights? That's for you to decide. There are even times during a song when a stage bathed in bright white light can have a great effect. Pick your colors for a reason; don't think "I haven't used green yet, so I'll use that for the next song."
In case you need color ideas, there is an easy way to get those creative juices flowing. Brian Gowing, technical director at Fallen Timbers Community Church in Waterville, Ohio, suggests a great way for learning colors and mood setting, "Watch live concerts or live videos from other churches. Observe how they light things and what emotion you get from that lighting cue." Gowing makes one other great point, "Get to know the emotional control you have with the color palette and discern how it can help bring the congregation a more intimate connection to the worship experience."
Pick your colors for a reason; don't think "I haven't used green yet, so I'll use that for the next song."
2. Work Wisely Within Your Limitations
My home church, Greenwood Christian Church in Greenwood, Indiana, does not have a catwalk. Therefore, if lights need to be re-pointed, the lift needs to be brought into the sanctuary. Therefore, our stage work is strategically planned. Erik Tittle, our production director, explains working with lighting limitations, "What I recommend, and what we practice at Greenwood Christian in less than ideal situations with a lift, is to light the talent areas. We block our stage for both visual effect and camera angles and then strike the spot where people need to stand and then we light that area. It might be dark around them but we are lighting them and only them."
There is more to the stage than just the people; you have risers, trusses, and whatever else there is that isn't human. Place these elements in key locations. Combined with fixtures on the floor, you can get great contrast. Also, LED light bars are great for up-close lighting of walls and stage scenery.
3. Expand Your Lighting Possibilities
Gobos not only give you the ability to change light colors on the fly but they also enable you to paint your surfaces with light patterns. Instead of splashing your empty wall surfaces with a solid color, use a gobo for a patterned effect. Plus, the patterns can move so you have some added life in your lighting.
Instead of splashing your empty wall surfaces with a solid color, use a gobo for a patterned effect.
Don't take this as a reason to use gobo patterns on everything. You have to know what the congregation likes and what they would consider "too much." On a related note, plan the timing of your lighting changes so they benefit the experience. Don't change lights every five seconds just because you can. The line between rock concert and worship can get crossed not only by the worship team, but also by the production team.
4. Hit Your Lighting Cues
You don't want missed microphone cues. You don't want to see a video played after an awkward ten second delay. Just as important, you don't want to miss your lighting cues. A missed lighting cue causes several problems. First, the lighting change was a planned part of the song. By missing that lighting change, you've altered the feel of the song. Second, if you don't realize you've missed a lighting change, then the rest of your scenes will not sync up with the song. I've seen the stage lights rapidly flash through several scenes as the operator was trying to find the scene with the pastor's spotlight. Don't be that person.
Wrap Up
Part of church technical production is creating an environment which enhances the worship experience. By understanding the relationship of color to emotion, you can better enhance that worship experience. The same goes for working wisely within your limitations and seeing areas for possibility. And whatever you do, please don't miss a lighting cue.
