The majority of the back light consisted of six Elation 15r Pros. The fixture allowed me to create dynamic gobo effects throughout the audience then target specific singers with great colors.
For punch, we had twenty Sharpys. I was able to use the frost on the fixture to blend with the other wash fixtures in the rig. Throughout different parts of the show I could snap out the frost to create a very punchy beam effect.
My main workhorse in a wash light for the show was the Elation Rayzor Q12. You can’t really get a good idea of how punchy the fixture is until it is hanging 50’ in the air of an arena. I was able to create some really punchy effects with the fixtures speed and ability to pixel map. With over fifty moving lights in the rig, I had an extremely wide variety of effects I was able to achieve to meet the church’s needs.
The biggest challenge for the show was creating good looks in the short amount of time we had. Not having previz to see what the rig would look like once it was up really added more time for programming. I always say you have to take time to learn the rig before you can really start programming. You should spend time figuring out what combinations look good so you have a general idea where to start.
I programmed the show on a Vista T2. The church owned a Vista S1 so I just used their console as extra faders for blinders, haze, etc.
As for video gear, the church rented a Barco HD30 projector to project content on the screen. There were also two side screens with Barco HD8s. The camera setup consisted of five Sony EX3 cameras, one Sony HDC-1500 with a Cannon DigiSuper 86x Lens.
The main source of front light was twenty ETC Pearl WW. We also had four Strong Gladiator III spotlights with operators to cover the singers and guitar solos during the show. The spots added a lot to the look for video but were overkill for what I needed them to do, so for the majority of the show they had to fade in at fifty percent.
Being that the production was pulled off in the short amount of time that we had, the final outcome came to impress. I was able to achieve the majority of the looks I wanted on the spot. This is a situation in which we can learn from the things we did this year and make changes to the plot next year to achieve an even better result.
You always have to learn from your last show; figure out what worked well and what didn’t. From there you can strive to do better and better every show.
More about Will Flavin: Share Your Knowledge, Help 17-Year-Old AV Guy
Related: A Guide to House of Worship Lighting Design
