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Figure 1.3 illustrates the support structure used to carry the stage design.
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Figure 1.2 shows the stage from front and aerial views.
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Figure 1.1 shows a series of optional patterns.
Every good stage design begins with a plan. This holiday season, I would like to share the two- to three-week process that we have come to use to brainstorm, prepare for, and execute a stage design plan.
I imagine that if you've read any other posts I've written that I may sound like a broken record but praying together as a team is the first thing we do. "It's just a stage design," you might say. Yes, it is but it's a lot more than just a stage design. It is an opportunity to mutually encourage one another as followers of Christ throughout the entire process. It is also an opportunity to make something beautiful that just might be useful in tearing down walls for someone who may walk through your doors. (Or the opposite could take place and it could become a distraction.) Pray for one another, pray for the process, examine your hearts before you start, pray for God to work through the end result.
The Brainstorm
In the words of Stephen Covey, we must "begin with the end in mind." There are only two rules in this stage:
1. Anything Goes - Don't think about your budget or space restraint. Don't consider your limitations just begin throwing out ideas. This is the easiest part. We all have ideas, just let them out.
2. No Shooting - No one can shoot down another's ideas for any reason. This part is harder. We all tend to think of all the reasons why we can't do something. The goal here is to collect ideas, allow them to change shape and also generate other ideas.
One person on the team collects the ideas as descriptively as possible as they are being shared. Stop brainstorming after a half hour or after the ideas stop coming, whichever comes first.
Realizing
After brainstorming, we will come back and revisit each of the ideas running them through a list of our limitations. In the end, we pick the top one or two ideas that are the most realistic. We all have limitations. Here a suggestion to follow for narrowing down your most do-able ideas by navigating your limits in order of priority:
1. Team limits - Ask yourself: What is my team like? What are the skill-sets and availability of the team? You want to make sure your team is able to pull off a design safely. I believe the team is the first thing to consider because they are the biggest asset.
2. Financial limits - We are all familiar with this limit.
3. Time limits - Knowing exactly how much time you will have to implement the design.
4. Space limits - Knowing exactly your dimensions with which you can work.
Designing
Once you have settled down on one or maybe two ideas, if at all possible, draw it in 3D. Google Sketchup, is the best, free software I've found to use for this purpose. Before you begin, measure out your space to the nearest inch and re-create it in Sketchup. It may take you six to eight hours to measure and draw everything, but it will prove to be useful in years to come and save hundreds of man-hours. Include as much detail as you can in your 3D drawing. Here are your goals in laying out your design beforehand:
- To ensure that it is realistic and attainable
- To create your materials list (and therefore know your cost)
- To create a plan to implement the design
- To correct potential problems before they happen
- To establish clear roles for your team members
Implementation
Making it come together is the fun part if you have been able to establish a solid plan. I like to have two different sets of checklists. One list for skilled team members and one list of things that anyone could do. For example, if we need to do a lot of measuring and cutting, I place it on the skilled list. Along with the cutting, we will have a mess to clean, so vacuuming/sweeping falls onto my unskilled list.
Up to this point, lighting hasn't been discussed but it can make or break the design and needs to be considered from the beginning.
A Real Life Example
From our most recent stage design, the winning idea from the brainstorm was to make a big flat surface with a pattern of holes in it and to front or backlight the structure. One of the volunteers knew of a local CNC woodshop that could cut the circles for us. We thought it was do-able and would create a nice background for cameras and would be vibrant in person. The next step was to verify that it was actually do-able.
While one person checked prices on the CNC work, the first step in the designing was to create several patterns that would work. The design needed to hide the framing of the wall, fit neatly into a four-by-eight-foot sheet, and we wanted it to be repeatable. We came up with the patterns seen in Fig. 1.1 and emailed them out to the design team to pick a favorite. To create the patterns we used a program called Omnigraffle that makes laying objects out on a grid fairly easy to do. Graph paper works just as well.
Next we begin with an empty stage as seen in Fig. 1-2. We draw the wall structure first and notate exactly how the construction will look and how the panels will attach. Fig 1-3. From this we can create an exact materials list and begin pricing panels. We selected "Thrifty White" hardboard for $13.38 per board from a local big box store. We would need 34 of these, plus one extra just in case. We needed 40 16-foot 2x4s and got quotes from local supply houses including delivery for a total of $283.05. The CNC quote came in at $400 total for all panels and that they would need a week to complete the work. We knew the design would be up for about four to five months and this fell into our budget. The other consideration was that the panels would be reusable in other designs down the road. We also knew we wanted to backlight the structure and would need some nice fabric to light from behind the circles. We recycled some old satin fabric we purchased from a previous design earlier this year.
When it came to implementation here was the schedule:
Sunday after last service: everyone chipped in to break down the stage removing all cabling, etc. and we torn the previous design down.
Monday: walked in to a clean stage. Monday we budgeted to do all of the framing and attach panels between 9am and 5pm.
Tuesday: wrap up odds and ends with the structure and added the fabric behind the design
Wednesday-Thursday: entirely used for lighting the design and programming the lighting console for the new lighting layout.
Friday: take off!
As you begin thinking about stage design ideas for this Holiday season, my hope is that a process like this can help take some of the pressure off and make stage design doable no matter your budget or limitations. Happy designing!
