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Church Production Magazine Whitepaper

LIGHTING DESIGN and FIXTURE SELECTION

BY DAVID MARTIN JACQUES

LIGHTING DESIGN IS A

COMPLEX ART FORM.

It encompasses a unique

combination of art and

technology. The lighting

designer creates imaginative

atmospheres that express

the feeling and meaning of

the moment. These atmo-

spheres originate in the

lighting designer’s imagi-

nation and art. In order to

create this art, the lighting

designer must also know the

technology, as well as what

tools are available.

For most people, it takes seven years of

university study to be properly trained for

entrance into the lighting design profession.

But that does not mean that it is impossible

for you to create effective lighting atmo-

spheres by choosing appropriate fixtures.

Understanding the basic approach to light-

ing design and choosing fixtures basically

comes down to indentifying your church’s

needs, and applying the right tools to meet

them.

CREATING THE DESIGN

The first step in creating your lighting

design is to identify what needs your

particular worship space requires. Whether

for worship, theatre, opera, dance, or video

broadcast, I always consider this as the

beginning of the creative process.

The functions of lighting are clear to most

professional worship designers and consul-

tants. The lighting must create visibility

and focus, reveal the space, create model-

ing, support the composition of the worship

service, and finally, support the message.

Par’s are relatively inexpensive lighting fixtures compared to Fresnels or Ellipsoidals. Due to the nature of their optics, they are intensely bright lights normally used as powerful stage washes.

Photo: Lightronics Par 56 courtesy of Lightronics


By revealing the space, the lighting designer generates interest and assists in the emotional engagement of the congregation.

Creating visibility is the most obvious

function of the lighting. Although one may

think of visibility only as adding light to

reveal a subject or object, it is crucial to

understand that lighting designers create

shadows as well. The lighting designer

reveals what the audience sees and what

they don’t see through shaping the space

and directing focus for the audience. By

revealing the space, the lighting designer

generates interest and assists in the emo-

tional engagement of the congregation.

When creating visibility and focus, it is also

important to assess whether or not image

magnification (IMAG) is being used. If so,

lighting the space becomes even more

challenging. Due to the limitations of video,

the lighting designer must be very careful

with intensity and contrast.

I will refer you to the excellent article

written by Jim Kumorek entitled: “How-to

Guide: IMAG (Image Magnification” in

Church Production Magazine at:

(www.churchproduction.com/how_to_

guide_to_imag_image_magnification).

In this article, he explains the best

techniques to consider when considering

lighting for video.

In addition to lighting for the camera, the

lighting designer must be careful to keep

light off the video screens. Choosing the

appropriate angles of light—along with

choosing lighting fixtures that are able

to shutter the light off these screens—is

necessary to achieve this.

Speaking of video, modeling is an-

other crucial function of light. As the

congregation is often sitting at a long

distance from the stage area, the light-

ing designer must use angles of light

to create highlights and shadows on

people and objects that emphasize their

three-dimensional properties. This is

called modeling. The most useful angles

to achieve modeling are sidelight and

backlight. These angles separate the

objects from the background, adding

Although it’s important to add light to reveal a subject or object, it is crucial to

understand that lighting designers create shadows as well.

The most useful angles to achieve modeling are

sidelight and backlight. These angles separate

the objects from the background, adding depth

to the stage area. This is especially important

when IMAG is being used.


depth to the stage area. This is especially

important when IMAG is being used.

Most worship services include sections of

prayer, community worship, sermons, and

worship songs. This is what we call the

composition of the service. Although we

are familiar with the concepts behind these

sections of the service, it is important to

consider the needs of each, as well as how

they interact.

Understanding the composition will help

you create lighting atmospheres and transi-

tions that guide the congregation from one

section of the service to another. This is

partially accomplished by generating focus

for the congregation.

For example, you will probably light the

pastor’s podium completely differently than

a worship song. The podium should be lit

with a clear, warm light. This atmosphere

conveys an intimate bond between the

minister and the congregation.

Worship songs give you the opportunity

to be more creative through color, inten-

sity, and angle. Music naturally evokes a

“suspension of reality.” The power of good

music will transform the congregation into a

strong connection with the message of the

song. Lighting designers support this power

though the qualities of light, and how they

are composed through movement.

A common technique is to use deep blues

and soft qualities for “quiet” music, and

bright colors and higher intensities for up-

tempo, energetic songs. This use of color

and intensity is not absolute, but it is im-

portant to appreciate the psychological and

emotional effects of these qualities of light.

Developing these distinctive lighting

atmospheres creates conventions that com-

municate to the congregation what part of

the service is next. The lighting qualities

of intensity, focus, color, texture, shape,

distribution, and movement can all be used

to accomplish this.

Finally, the lighting design must support

the message of the service. Lighting artists

The Aledin 630 LED profile spot from

Robert Juliat that earned the PLASA 2010

Innovation Award. The high-power

LED-based wash light is designed for

theatre, exhibition and television work.

Due to the limitations of video, the lighting designer must be very careful with intensity and contrast.


Even with all these sophisticated lighting fixtures, it is important not to

allow technology to overwhelm the art. Lighting designers must balance their

analytical and artistic instincts.

ETC’s Selador line of LED fixtures includes the Fire and Ice collection which can produce as much light output as a standard 575-watt fixture, yet con-sume less than 70 watts each.

interpret the message of the moment, and

express their own personal points of view

through light. There is no step-by-step way

of doing this—as in all art, creating art

with light is a personal expression of cre-

ativity. Successful expression of creativity

usually comes from talent, experience, and

a knowledge of the available tools.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT FIXTURES

Lighting may be the most powerful and

spectacular element in a stage design.

This is more apparent today with all the

amazing new lighting technology available

to us.

With new fixtures being developed every

day, lighting designers must continually

find ways to keep up to date with the

technology. Every year I attend Light-

ing Dimensions International (LDI) to

attend seminars, stay in contact with my

colleagues in the industry, and to see the

latest lighting fixtures and controllers. This

event allows me to see, up close, what

new tools are available for my art. The up-

coming WFX event in Dallas also features

a great many lighting manufacturers and

dealers.

I am also fortunate to work in some of the

most state-of-the-art theaters in the world.

I am presently designing a show at the

Oslo Opera House. Built only a few years

ago, the technology in this theatre complex

is truly amazing. The hundreds of high-

tech lighting fixtures lying backstage would

make my graduate students salivate. Many

of these lights were foreign to me when I

started working here three years ago, but I

learned their capabilities by doing research

and actually using them on my shows.

For the local church designer who is not

in a large city, keeping up to date can be

especially challenging. The best way to

learn about lighting fixtures is to see them

in action. Go to a local stage lighting dealer

and see what they have in stock, or visit a

nearby church with a larger or more diverse


inventory. If your church is considering

investing tens of thousands of dollars in

new lighting equipment, most dealers and

manufacturers are more than willing to

set up demonstrations in your church. You

can also do research on the Internet to see

what the fixtures’ capabilities are, or attend

LDI or WFX and see for yourself.

The first consideration in choosing a fixture

is what type of effects you wish to achieve.

For a basic stage wash you could use a

great number of different models of conven-

tional stage lighting fixtures. In fact, just

about any fixture that emits light will work.

The ultimate difference is in control.

Although Fresnels can be used to create

a soft stage wash, it is somewhat difficult

to control the light. You can make the

light from a Fresnel small or large, but

due to its optical design, you really can’t

shape the light effectively. Barn doors can

be used to cut the light, but achieving a

sharp cut is difficult.

Choosing the appropriate moving light can be as challenging as choosing a color. If you only need soft washes of light with color changes, then a “wash” fixture would be appropriate. If you need to project images from the light, or shutter it, then you need a “spot” fixture.

Lekos (ellipsoidal reflector spotlights) are

the most common lighting fixtures incorpo-

rated for stage washes. The reason for this

is that Lekos have shutters, which enable

you to control the light by shaping the

beam. Lekos can also be used as projection

devices. Unlike Fresnels, you can make a

Leko’s beam sharp or soft. By using frost

color media, you can make a Leko look

almost like a Fresnel with a beautifully

blended soft edge.

The lighting designer calculates how

many lighting fixtures are needed for a

stage wash through the use of the fixture’s

photometric data. To accomplish this, the

designer chooses the desired lighting angle

and distance, the hanging position of the

light, and then calculates the beam spread.

Photometric data is available on the manu-

facturer’s website.

Lekos come in a variety of fixed beam

spreads including 90-, 50-, 36-, 26-, 19-,

10-, and 5-degree models. They also come

in variable beam spreads, also known as

The Platinum Beam 54 from Elation Professional uses a new MSD Platinum 5R from Philips which runs on only 189 watts of power and offers an average of 2,000 hours of lamp life.


One of the latest developments in lighting design is the use of video projectors on movable yokes. With these projectors you

can paint the stage with light from a video source, and remotely focus the video onto

different objects.

“Zooms.” These zoom Lekos are quite versa-

tile, allowing you to change the size of the

beam through simple optical adjustments.

Lekos can also do a great deal more than

simply suppling a wash of light. By shap-

ing its beam you can use a Leko for a

tightly controlled lighting area. If you just

want to light the pastor’s podium, you can

use the shutters to cut a shape of light that

isolates this area.

You can also insert a gobo inside a Leko

and project a static image onto a surface.

There are hundreds of different gobo pat-

terns made by several companies that en-

able you to project anything from a colorful

stained glass window to a leaf pattern. You

can even generate your own artwork, and

the gobo manufacturer will make a custom

gobo for you.

Another useful stage lighting fixture is

the PAR. These fixtures are relatively

inexpensive (compared to Lekos) and are

quite common. Due to the nature of its

optics, PARs are very intense lights and are

normally used for powerful stage washes.

Like Fresnels, PARs cannot be shaped via

internal shutters.

A recent development is the LED PAR.

Along with its inherent energy savings,

most LED PARs are designed with various

colors of LEDs. This allows you to change

the color of the light without changing the

gel. When all the colored LEDs are on, the

fixture emits a white light.

Striplights come in many models and sizes.

The concept behind a striplight is to create

an even wash of light over an extended

area. This is the type of fixture you use to

light a drop or cyclorama. You can also use

smaller striplights as footlights. Striplights

have multiple circuits (usually three or four)

enabling you to mix colors. This is very

useful when you wish to change the color

of a wide surface.

But don’t limit yourself to conventional

stage lighting fixtures. Many architectural

lighting fixtures can also be used in a

stage lighting plan. On several occasions

I’ve used household fixtures purchased at

hardware stores for stage lighting appli-

cations. You may be surprised with the

effects you can achieve with the simplest

of lighting fixtures.

Another consideration is the type of lamp

these fixtures use. Most of these models

come in incandescent, LED, or HID (arc)

sources, though there are other lamp

types available.

The most common lamp type is incandes-

cent. These lamps are easily dimmed by

conventional stage dimmers and emit a

warm, white light (usually around 3,200

Kelvin). They are relatively inexpensive, but

have a limited lamp life compared to LEDs.

As mentioned above, LEDs offer advan-

tages in energy savings, lamp life, and

color flexibility. The initial purchase cost of

LED fixtures is usually much higher than

comparable incandescent models. In my


opinion, the advantages of LEDs certainly

outweigh the disadvantages. Lately I have

been specifying LEDs for most of the wash

fixtures in church lighting systems.

HID sources are also more expensive

than incandescent, but offer a greater

intensity of light. For instance, a 700-watt

HID lamp is several times brighter than a

750-watt incandescent lamp. One of the

main disadvantages of HID lamps is that

you cannot electronically dim them. These

fixtures require a mechanical device (called

a “douser” or “shutter”) to block the light

and dim the intensity. Due to the great

lighting intensity of these fixtures, I specify

HID fixtures on most of the major opera

productions I design.

But HID fixtures may not be the best

choice for houses of worship. They usually

require much more maintenance, and most

require fans to keep the fixture cool. In ad-

dition, they use a lot of energy and emit a

great deal of heat.

MOVING LIGHTS

Automated lighting has radically changed

the art of lighting design. Moving lights

enable the designer much more flex-

ibility in changing focus, color, texture,

and movement. They have been readily

accepted in the church market for obvious

reasons, and the prices keep coming down.

Choosing the appropriate moving light

can be as challenging as choosing a

color. Each model has different capabili-

ties (and different costs). If you only need

soft washes of light with color changes,

then a “wash” fixture would be appropri-

ate. If you need to project images from the

light, or shutter it, then you need a “spot”

fixture. Similar to the difference between

a Leko and a Fresnel, you can make most

spot fixtures look like wash fixtures (with

the internal frost filter or by softening the

focus), but you cannot make a wash fixture

look like a spot fixture.

You can also use external automated accessories for your conventional fixtures. These include automated yokes and mirrors that can pan and tilt the light, color scrollers and dichroic filters that can remotely change the color, and gobo rotators for special effects.

The Right Arm from Apollo Design Technology adds pan and tilt capabilities to a wide range of static theatrical and studio lighting fixtures.


Visit the CPM Media Center at www.churchproduction.com for another

lighting specific whitepaper by David Martin Jacques entitled: “Lighting

Your Easter Production on a Budget.”

Mega Systems Axis Tri-LED is a moving

light that features 90 three-watt tri-colored

LEDs which produce RGB (red, green, blue)

configurations without shadows.

www.churchproduction.com

Let’s say that you wish to create a moving

fire or water effect. You can do this with a

spot fixture that has two rotating gobos, or

a rotating gobo and an animation wheel.

But you can also create this effect with

one Leko and a dual gobo rotator (savings

thousands of dollars). So sometimes a mov-

ing light is not the most practical answer

for an effect.

You can also use external automated ac-

cessories for your conventional fixtures.

These include automated yokes and

mirrors that can pan and tilt the light,

color scrollers and dichroic filters that can

remotely change the color, and gobo rota-

tors for special effects. These accessories

basically transform a static conventional

lighting fixture into a moving light.

One of the latest developments in lighting

design is the use of video projectors on

movable yokes. With these projectors you

can paint the stage with light from a video

source, and remotely focus the video onto

different objects. These amazing fixtures

are used in some of the more complicated

productions in the industry.

Even with all these sophisticated light-

ing fixtures, it is important not to allow

technology to overwhelm the art. Lighting

designers must balance their analytical and

artistic instincts. Achieving this delicate

balance is the key to creating the most

effective lighting atmospheres for your wor-

ship service.

DAVID MARTIN JACQUES is a professional lighting

designer and consultant. He has designed over 300

productions throughout the world, consulted on numer-

ous houses of worship, and heads the graduate lighting

design program at California State University Long

Beach. He can be contacted at [email protected].

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