Image courtesy of Cross Pointe Church, Duluth, Georgia.
In my tenure on church staff one of the more satisfying aspects of my job was set design and build. I think the budget and time constraints placed on what we were trying to accomplish made us become really creative with set pieces and materials. I think this is true of most churches which is why a website like Church Stage Design Ideas, , was created. I won’t tell you how many ideas we stole borrowed for inspiration from that site. It doesn’t take much web surfing to discover church stages have become serious and impressive undertakings. I think next to lighting, the set design is one of the more significant things that effects IMAG (image magnification or video reinforcement for the live audience). This really comes into play in the message portion of your service. If the backdrop behind your speaking pastor is interesting but not distracting it really enhances the overall look. In this article, I want to explain some of the considerations we make when designing sets, with the hope that you can apply them to your own set design.
Materials
With a little dose of creativity, pretty much any material can be used to build a great looking set. The main thing we always considered with regard to materials is texture. When it comes to texture, the more the better. Materials that have depth create lots of contrast by having spots of light saturation ranging from intense peaks of high color to deep valleys of shadows. Having this contrast really helps make the camera shots look less boring and flat. It's easy to really make the texture pop by washing the material with a cyc or bar style light with the light raking parallel to the surface. This is especially true with LED lights. Because of the way they mix colors, some LEDs can hit the raised areas while different color LEDs might hit the recesses or crevices creating beautiful gradients of color. One of my favorite materials for work like this is mosquito screening, because it can be crumpled and hold its shape, creating lots of texture. Also, it is comparatively cheap so you can buy tons of it. In fact anything that is relatively light, readily available, and really cheap tends to make great set materials. I have seen amazing sets made out of fast food straws and ball pit balls. I even saw a set made out of bubble wrap once, so use your imagination.
Reflectivity and color play a part in determining how a material will look when lit, or projected on. If you are going to be putting light on a material you typically want it white; however, you don't want it high gloss. The amount of reflection and glare will diminish how the material takes to color. Materials that receive color well always improve the overall look of the stage. Let's face it, if the stage looks great to the eye, it will probably translate to the camera lens. Flat white and grey work best for these surfaces, and when it comes to material I don't think a church can own enough white coroplast.
However, light doesn't just have to hit a surface, it can also pass through it. Materials like spandex, muslin, and other fabrics look great on camera when light passes through them. Also, translucent coroplast is always a great option; when lit from behind it looks amazing. Anything to make the space surrounding your talent less boring will certainly make the people on stage look better in your camera shots.
Size
Another important factor in set design for IMAG is size. Having larger set pieces helps keep the camera shots interesting, but they also can give camera operators a place to hide on the stage. I know one of the complaints I hear more than anything else is “The camera operators on the stage are distracting.” I think we can all agree this really defeats the purpose of having them. However, having places on the stage for the camera ops stay behind so they can do their jobs without causing a distraction is a great solution. Creating natural barriers on the stage with things like pallets, raised platforms, or cloth hung between trusses gives your camera ops good cover. I don't know that we ever built a set piece just to hide our camera ops, but we certainly positioned set pieces with a clear camera path in mind.
Layers
The last thing we do, design-wise, is work in layers. One of the unique things about cameras is the depth of field. Having a set designed with parts at different distances from the camera can help accentuate the depth of field. This allows you to use the out of focus materials as a backdrop behind your talent. This will also keep the shots interesting, and keep them from being flat. A great example of this was our set for the holiday season this past year. We had a tree slightly offset behind the speaking pastor and a black cyc behind that. Because the tree was out of focus and the black shows up as nothing it really focused the attention right on the pastor. It looked great without being distracting.
It's important that your stage set function similar to your team; it needs to be a presence without being a distraction. Your set should add something to your camera shots, so look at it carefully through the lens of the camera. Make sure it looks good from all the angles your cameras will be positioned, and adjust it to get maximum coverage camera operators. Utilize texture and light to make your set look more attractive, and use layers to help add interest and focus your viewers on the speaker.
