When the pandemic hit, the live streaming landscape among houses of worship was varied. While some churches had been at it for a while (and used lockdown periods to fine-tune their equipment set-up and workflow), others had just begun experimenting with live streaming. Even more had never streamed their services at all, and were forced to scramble to bring services online, sometimes in a matter of days.
As Covid remained active for weeks, then months, and then years, churches accepted the need to continue delivering hybrid services, even when things got back to some semblance of normal. Not only was this to accommodate worshippers who didn’t feel ready to return to church in person, it also provided the opportunity for more expansive outreach. With streaming, houses of worship can extend beyond their geographical locations to address people in other cities, states, and even countries. The need for establishing a solid online presence was clear, and churches got creative by broadcasting from their lobbies, the pastor’s office, or outdoors to provide a different, more intimate experience for those watching from home. In the process, tech teams learned what works and what doesn’t.
… if the online viewing experience is bad, what would motivate [people] to attend that church in person?
As live streaming continues to evolve, churches are tweaking their broadcast streaming productions. One area that still presents challenges to many, however, is lighting. When lighting for live streams, here are some things to consider …
Lighting live streams affects outreach
In an in-person worship environment, it’s much easier to forgive poor (or at least mediocre) production lighting. The human eye will compensate for flaws (low lighting, for example), and people are unlikely to be too distracted by them. Cameras, however, are significantly less forgiving: when the lighting is bad, they will pick it up and even magnify the problem. Church members and regular attendees worshipping from their personal devices at home may excuse this because of their established relationship with and devotion to their house of worship. New remote visitors, however, may not. Why should they peer their way through a service when there are other churches that are getting production lighting for their live streams right? And, if the online viewing experience is bad, what would motivate them to attend that church in person?
Shadows under peoples’ eyes and noses can be unflattering at best (and can produce a B-movie horror effect at worst).
It may sound harsh, but it’s also the reality: as people have become accustomed to broadcast-grade church streaming over the last two years (not to mention how secular streaming services such as Netflix have trained us to expect the best), even small- to mid-size houses of worship with limited resources must pay attention to how they light their streams.
Hybrid worship requires dual monitoring
Traditionally, church lighting designers are positioned in the sanctuary at the lighting controller, where they adjust the scenes so that they look good on stage. In a hybrid environment, these individuals have the added responsibility of ensuring that these same scenes look good on a screen. This mandates the need for a broadcast monitor (or at least a computer display) so that the lighting designer can see what remote viewers are seeing, and make adjustments accordingly. This, in turn, requires the ability to view a variety of different camera angles. The rule of thumb here: what looks good on camera looks good in person. But once again, what may be acceptable in person may not present well on screen.
Test your design
No pastor, worship leader, or musician wants to fall victim to bad lighting. Shadows under peoples’ eyes and noses can be unflattering at best (and can produce a B-movie horror effect at worst). Savvy lighting designers use mannequins (or mannequin heads mounted on mic stands) to test out their designs prior to the service or event. Again, in a hybrid worship environment, this requires monitoring to see how the lighting looks on screen.
Consider the importance of backgrounds
Properly lighting backgrounds is especially important for live streams. This is because online viewers don’t have the ability to look around the room to gather context and perspective; they’re limited to seeing only what the camera is showing them.
Let’s take the ubiquitous black curtain as an example: in person, there is nothing shocking about a backdrop hung 15 to 20 feet behind the pastor, even if it’s not lit. On screen, however, this same unlit black curtain will appear as if it is pushing up against the pastor’s head. The best work-around in this scenario is to throw some lighting (preferably color) on that background to create some separation. Even better is to get rid of the black curtain entirely and focus on set design that helps to bring more perspective to online viewers.
Many churches rely on LED video walls as backdrops, some of which cover the entire rear portion of the stage. This solution offers several benefits, including the ability to play back video, display sermon notes, or create digital scenery. When large LED video wall deployments aren’t possible, some churches are integrating smaller LED displays behind the pastor’s preferred preaching position. This provides a controllable background that lends well to the tight camera angles that work better on screen.
But what about the pastor’s message? Why is the most important part of the service—which often lasts 30 minutes or more—often relegated to three white lights?
Don’t forget about the message
Generally, the worship segment of most church services receives the most attention from the lighting designer. This is logical: not only is it fun to construct scenes that complement––and even augment—the emotions the music is conveying, but people expect to see color, moving light sweeps, and visual contrasts during musical performances.
But what about the pastor’s message? Why is the most important part of the service—which often lasts 30 minutes or more—often relegated to three white lights? Here is an opportunity for lighting designers to get creative in accentuating what the pastor is saying, without detracting from the content.
Train and communicate with volunteers
Rare is the church that doesn’t rely on tech volunteers for a considerable portion of its services. Because these individuals have differing levels of skill and knowledge, it’s necessary to ensure that they all know some basics. Tech directors can streamline their volunteer teams by asking themselves a few questions:
- Do our volunteers know how to run the lighting control board well enough to run a service?
- Do our volunteers understand that cameras “see” differently than the naked eye?
- Is the production director open to calling certain shots because the lighting works better “here” but not “there”?
- Do the lighting and video teams (including volunteer team members) communicate regularly to address issues related to lighting for video? Are they achieving a true give-and-take when it comes to adjusting the lighting for video, changing camera angles to accommodate lighting, or adjusting camera control and shading according to what’s necessary?
Granted, one of the toughest challenges tech directors face is simply making sure all volunteer positions are filled on a consistent basis, which often means that discrepancies in skill and knowledge are, out of necessity, often overlooked. But when volunteers receive proper training, and lighting and video teams are encouraged to form solid working relationships, it produces better results.
No one is denying that pulling off a high quality production is a complicated business, especially as audience expectations continue to increase. The good news is that many churches are succeeding at live streaming, and many more have greatly improved their processes in a relatively short amount of time. As we settle into the new normal and houses of worship grow more comfortable with offering a hybrid experience, the possibility for even greater creativity is limitless. And, when church techs know their lighting basics (cameras are unforgiving!), they are well-positioned to deliver the online viewing experience that church members, attendees, and new visitors are seeking.
