For lighting designers working in houses of worship, the Easter season is often an opportunity to spread their artistic wings. When it comes to the scope of Easter productions, there are as many different approaches to celebration productions as there are churches. Easter productions range from adding some special production values to a regular service to high-budget, full-fledged unique productions. Balancing the considerations of fully supporting the service's message and artistic goals of the production often falls to the designers, be they staff, volunteer, or freelance. Many elements play into how lighting designers address these points, including how much labor and what level of skills they have on hand, as well as how best to spend the budget. The solutions vary from simple to complex designs.
PROFESSIONALS' PERSPECTIVES
Over the course of lighting designer Tom Stanziano's career, he's had the “opportunity to work on many different types of Easter productions, from the small sunrise service to large-scale stadium events. In regards to design goals, it depends of the type of production,” he says. “Over the past few years there has been a lot of emphasis on videos and projections to help tell the emotional story of the last few days of Jesus. This can be a powerful way to really enhance the emotion of the Resurrection. The lighting should be used to assist in underscoring that emotion and atmosphere.”
Stanziano, the former resident lighting designer at Lakewood Church in Houston, works as a freelance designer for a variety of churches. As does designer Greg Persinger, owner of Nashville, Tenn.-based Vivid illumination, who finds that “most of the Easter productions I work, the artistic goal is to do something special and celebratory for the congregation that is out of the ordinary or different from a standard Sunday worship service. We want to make Easter a special highlight of the church year.”
Designer Matt Moreland, owner of Mattlights LLC is the house lighting designer for Free Church in Gainesville, Fla., and has been a part of a wide scope of Easter productions, from concerts to Passion plays. “For most Easter projects, I've been responsible for designing, programming, and running the live event. The venues have ranged from churches to theatres with small to large budgets,” he says. Of his Easter designs, he notes, “The goal is to create a space that allows the story to be told in an amazing setting without distracting from it.”
For Eagle Brook Church, a multi-site church in Minnesota, Easter is one of the bigger services. Nate Nohling, lighting designer for Eagle Brook, describes its approach: “As far as the scope of our Easter services are concerned, we are a multi-site church with five campuses throughout the Twin Cities. Each campus can have up to eight services on Easter weekend. We have three ‘big' services per year: Fall Kickoff, Christmas, and Easter. A lot of energy gets poured into the Easter design and programming of the service. Easter is a centrally designed weekend; all of our locations have the same service, so that every person who attends has the same experience.”
Chris Thomas, former weekend lighting designer for Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., and now production director for Bayside Church in Roseville, Calif., explains that at Willow Creek the scope of the Easter production varied from year to year. The design team would tie the production design to the theme that was decided by the senior pastor and the executive producer. “One year, the theme had to do with change and beauty,” explains Thomas. “For the worship segment, we wanted to visually communicate beauty so we decided to use nature as our main visual vessel. For the message portion, the pastor wanted to be able to highlight three phases of our relationship with God throughout his message: barren land without Jesus; His grave using rain; and then beauty after we accept that grace. Once we heard that, we knew that we had to have the stage be able to transform to support those three phases and the transitions needed to be done in front of the audience. The production and the message worked together.”
PROCESS MEETS BUDGET
Stanziano's design process always begins with an initial meeting between the production staff and the pastor to work on a concept. “Once a concept is developed we discuss how to achieve the artistic goals; what will the song selections be, types of dramas, video content, and then finally—the budget. This process can take a few weeks, sometimes months, based on the size of the production. Once the service flow is created then I can sit down and start to visualize how the service will look; the type of atmosphere I want to create. Typically a week before Easter Sunday, load-in and rehearsals will begin and I like to program the lighting consoles, but I try to get as many church volunteers involved as possible, so I will give up the driver seat when there is an opportunity. Working together, we are ready for Easter Sunday morning.”
Similarly, at Eagle Brook, the lighting design goals are always tied with the planning and the message goals of the creative team. “None of the pieces we utilize can ever create a ‘win' by itself—only when all of the aspects come together with a cohesive design throughout can we really classify it as a win,” Nohling says. “We start by trying to brainstorm how we can create a worship experience that will draw on the emotion of the resurrection. Most of these brainstorming discussions are trying to dig at some of the emotions and feelings that we want to create in the room. Once all of that is nailed down, we then take it from conceptualization to development, talking specifics of how can we utilize lighting to help enhance the experience we're looking to create.”
The one constant challenge when it comes to design is the budget. While many designers would like to have a free hand and design whatever they want, there are budgetary considerations that limit what can be accomplished. “Many of the churches that I work with will alternate a large production between Christmas or Easter,” says Stanziano. “If they do a large Christmas show then Easter will tend to be a much smaller production, then the next year the budget goes toward Easter.”
Persinger pragmatically points out, “While we want to do something special, we can't bankrupt the church doing it. We figure out what we think we want to do; research the costs, and then sometimes we have to modify the design.” To get the most bang for the buck, Nohling suggests, “[Choose] fixtures that will best fit your needs; the right fixture may mean you can use less fixtures and stretch the budget farther.”
Thomas adds, “At Willow Creek, production for the live service is all about what supports the message most. If that meant in order to get a specific lighting look we needed a special rental, then that's where the money went. However, a production element that is a distraction because we wanted to spend the money on this cool, new toy—it doesn't do us any good. Ultimately it is about supporting the message.”
Renting certainly can be a useful tool when it is right for the design. “In the past few years,” explains Stanziano, “I've been renting LEDs to illuminate architectural elements in the building. I will also bring in at least two followspots. Using followspots directs the focus of the audience and it's also a great way to get the church media volunteers involved. Sometimes if the facility doesn't have a hazer or fog machine, I will bring one in to help enhance the visual of Jesus exiting the tomb.”
COMMUNICATION IS KEY—AND FREE
For Thomas, communication is another important factor to successful realization of a production. “When things get busy, tension levels tend to go up. Communicating clearly—and often—helps to make sure that no one is surprised by something and ensures everyone is on the same page. If the scale of the production is a challenge in the time allotted, communicate the challenge to the person that can make the decision—senior pastor, worship director, producer, etc.—and allow them to decide how to proceed. Maybe you have room in the budget to hire in a few contractors to help, or maybe the thing that you think is incredibly important isn't really that big of a deal in the overall picture. But if we don't communicate, we end up being isolated and can harbor negative emotions towards others that have the potential of damaging relationships and/or the production.”
Stanziano's advice to anyone involved in a large-scale production is to start that open communication early. “A lot of the issues can be taken care of in advance with communication. There will always be something that comes up, or breaks down; the best planning can't overcome every problem, so relax and remember to have fun. Keep in mind why you're there.”
Persinger concurs that pre-planning is everything: “Don't wait to the last minute to develop your plan. Start as early as you can and you will be more successful and it will be less stressful. Also, be flexible. You might have to change your plan along the way and that's okay.”
Moreland is like-minded, saying that advance planning is essential. “Like any production, you should always have a spare—a fixture, lamp, etc. Also, triple check the blocking of the actors but be ready to handle changes when things go off script during the live event,” he says. “Keep the lighting tasteful as to not take away from the amazing story that is Easter. Keep the main thing just that, ‘the main thing,' and that is the message itself—not the lighting. ”
Easter, like spring, is about rebirth. And Easter productions are an opportunity as designers to find new things that will work for your church. Try new gear, try new looks, and you will both support your church's message while giving the congregation the chance to rediscover the wonders of the Easter season.
