![]() We start by clearing the stage of all the lighting, electrical and band gear from the previous Sunday. Our preparations begin on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Every year, we change up the staging for the December services. Once the rigging and electric were done, we painted the stage white for the month of December. ‘Then, there’s all the added wiring of power and DMX control for the lights on the star and trees. ‘We also hung a 52-inch, 75-pound glass and metal Moravian star from the rafters,’ adds Palazini. The Christmas trees weren’t the only decorations adorning the set. We also used four Chauvet DJ Colorband T3 LED static lights around the perimeter of the circular stage, which we had built for the Christmas season, as added up and accent lighting to complement vocal and dramatic performances.’ For this December's services, we also used six of our ETC Lustr 11 static washes to wash the upstage wall below our projection screen, Additionally, I used four of our Chauvet Colordash Batten-Hex 8 fixtures to wash the stage left and right walls, as well as adding colour wash to Christmas trees, which were hung along both walls. ‘The theatrical front lighting was provided by 68 ETC Source Fours with lenses varying from 19° – 35°, and 10 ETC Selador Desire D40s that are used to add wash colour to the house. ![]() Static fixtures were also employed to help create the lighting effects needed. Again, these are items that we might have rented, but decided it just wasn’t worth the rental fee as it would be better to just find a good deal and buy it.’ ‘For atmospheric effects, we own an MDG ATMe oil-based hazer and the snow machine we purchased this year was an Antari S-500-XL. ‘We are currently using five universes to their maximum capacity and one additional for a few fixtures with less than five channels of control,’ Palazini reveals. The lighting rig was programmed and controlled from Black Rock’s dot2 XL-F lighting console from MA Lighting, which is connected via ARTnet to a Chauvet NetX adapter with up to nine DMX universes. These were all flown alternately on a trapezoidal grid hung above the stage for the event. ![]() The lighting setup also included 10 Rogue R2 Wash and six Rogue R2 Spot fixtures from Chauvet, as well as two Colorado Zoom WW Tour PAR-style luminaires, and four Chauvet DJ Colorband T3 lights from Chauvet DJ. ‘This was two weeks before Christmas Day, so we wanted to send people off in a festive holiday spirit,’ notes Palazini. For example, Palazini covered the stage with deeply saturated blues and purples for much of the event to evoke a sense of peace, which gave way to seasonal greens and reds as the band played Jingle Bells to end the service. ‘We often go that route as well, particularly at our Sunday evening young adult services – known as Sanctuary – but coming from a long career as a commercial, animation and visual effects editor, I will often choose to use gobos to create texture on the stage that work in concert with the lyric backgrounds on the screen.’Ĭolour was also used to great effect during This Is Christmas. ‘I know that gobos are often used in contemporary church settings as aerial atmospheric effects with haze, not unlike in a concert environment,’ says Palazini. ![]() Later, during an a cappella rendition of Little Drummer Boy, the same fixtures were used to produce a crown of light around the singers. As the song lifted, so did the stars, as the Mavericks tilted up and across the sanctuary, creating the effect of a starry night. We then used the snow machine during services on December 22, which featured a local ballet troupe from the D'Valda & Sirico Dance and Music Centre.’Įach This Is Christmas service included a performance of Silent Night as the stage was filled with slowly rotating white star field gobo patterns produced by eight Chauvet Professional Maverick MK1 Hybrid fixtures from the Black Rock lighting rig. ‘With that said, we did purchase a snow machine this year as it is the second time in recent years that it has been a part of our December services – always keeping the ROI in mind. The only thing we will rent would be effects equipment, like a ground fog system or snow machine. The cost of renting for the short term versus a purchase just doesn't make sense for us – especially as we are not charging a fee for our events like a touring performance where the rental of the equipment is built into the cost of production and covered by the sale of tickets. At times, when we have special services or events, we will look into purchasing what we need as opposed to renting. ‘As a church that relies solely on the tithes and offerings of its attendees and church members for its annual budget, we take our jobs as stewards of these financial gifts seriously in how those funds are spent. ‘Typically, we don't hire any equipment,’ explains Black Rock’s associate technical director, Chris Palazini.
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