what about stage design?

[artphoenix]

Hey all--I am new to this forum, and relatively new to my volunteer position at my med. size church as "Staging Director." For a year now, my responsibility has been to work with our graphics guy and the techie lighting/audio guy to create "all things visual" in the worship area. I am a studio potter with an art degree who is doing a job that I don't feel very well-equipped for, except for a good sense of design, and God's grace!

I am learning about lighting. I like your posts on that.

But what about stage design? Art stuff? building sets? Is this the forum to get answers and inspiration about that, or is there another place I should check out? I would love to hear how others take a sermon series topic, and turn it into something visual for the stage and worship auditorium.

[[Admin] skstarkiller]

We can talk about that here. We just haven't had many people who wanted to. We just met about what we were going to do for staging during Christmas

[jksbc]

For the record, I am very interested in this topic also. We are a new church and are very much interested in cutting edge ideas with stage design. I will be tuned in to see what people have to offer in the way of ideas.

[theatre4jc]

Been to a few churches over the years that utilize stage sets, but not many. A church that I attend when I'm in Springfield, MO (James River Assembly, www.jamesriver.org) has started doing this thing where they build words and place them center stage. Kind of gives the stage a nice fill. Attached is a good picture to illustrate.


To light the words they have a few LED strips on the floor in front and from the catwalk a nice breakup pattern hitting them during the sermon for texture on the video. Works well.

My background is in theatre scenic design (my degree is in theatre technical direction) and from what I have seen most churches that try scenic elements in the services tend to either way over do it and the stage looks cluttered and bad, or the try to do it cheaply and it just plain looks bad. Still not many places do scenic design for their normal services, only specials.

[waynehoskins]

Unfortunately, oftentimes "cutting edge" set design is out of the reach of average churches. Goodness, even good set design is out of reach, even though theatre's been able to do it forever.

I'm a sound and lighting guy when I'm in the theatre world - more lighting. Set-wise, I'm a platformy designer. Platforms and levels are what I usually end up designing. Did that at church some for the youth ministry back in college, and while it was nice to change up the look of things (and sometimes even have the set be strategically related to something), being also the lighting guy I'd have to refocus every week because everything moved.

If you're going to do set design:
- plants and flowers are not scenic elements; instead, they are $^*%! in the way.
- do it well, and learn from the theatre.
- every scenic element should have a reason for being.
- your LD and master carp may hate you for building a new set every week, but they'll get used to it.

Just some ideas.

[Gracetech]

I tend to abuse soft goods and lighting for set design. Often building a set out of wood is just unpractical. At my new church unless it has a significant impact they would rather use the money for outreach. I can totally get that and that's why they like what i do because i can use the same soft goods and just hang them different ways and light them a little different and it seems like the stage is always changing. I have been told that they do occasionally like to do up some full sets but i guess i'll cross that bridge when i get there.

crt

[medianate]

YES!!!!!!!!!! I am dealing with this issue too. We have been talking about what to do for christmas and all next year and a buget of little to no money. I am going to the church tomorrow, so I will post some pic's of our church and see if ya'll have any idea's. Artphoneix, Thanks for bringing this issue up.

[tedanderson]

If you have a good lighting system, you can get away with a simple set. I've been to a couple of community theater plays where the set was simply platform steps or a couple of large cubes surrounded by black pipe and drape curtains. Then the different scenes and "rooms" and settings were created by the actors and the lighting where you could believe in your imagination for the things that weren't really there.

[Merv]

We have a very small platform, so our "set design" is usually some relevant art piece hanging on the wall (we have a series of hooks just below the edge of the ceiling) from fishing line. Sometimes we also make use of the top of the baptismal tank and put stuff up there as well. One time we had a door in a frame set up for a message on stepping out to do new things. We just have two volunteers taking care of decorating the platform, so we try to keep things simple except for specified focus weeks where they plan out something that takes a bit more work to pull off. We usually try to do mult-week series, so that helps to minimize on the work for set design. So far, the team has done very well. Just goes to show that simple and inexpensive doesn't have to mean crummy design.

ML
Merv's Assistant

[artphoenix]

My thanks to everyone who is chiming in on staging! I don't really have to do "sets" per se, but we do 2-6 week sermon series, and the pastor wants a new look that adds to the sermon messages for each series. Our "sanctuary" is a gymnasium. We have a stage with black walls and a black curtain on the back, and a large screen taking up the middle third of the back wall--that's it. So the place needs things to look at.

Our focus is to keep it modern, cutting edge, not just religious symbols and permanent artwork. I work on a Creative Planning Team (worship leader, drama volunteer, me and several musicians, and other creative "big Picture" folks) to come up with songs, drama, staging, videos etc for each series. I work with the graphic designer to come up with a coordinated "look" for the stage and program which complement each other.

I have done a lot with hanging fabric, and playing with can lights from behind and above. Our lighting is minimal--our can lights are all on extension cords, and need to be moved by hand while hanging precariously on an 18 foot ladder balanced on the steel beams.

We have no moving spotlight, and just minimally programmed spots and floods in the ceiling in front of the stage. We have to hire a cherry picker to adjust them or to change bulbs.

I have had to build only one "set"--of a house, easy enough. I have also made 4 x 10 foot banners made of tyvek, and hung them on the sides of the screen. I did 2 B&W banners of enlarged photos that represented "fearless" which was the topic (tigers, churches, hanggliders, mountain climbers, kids playing tug of war, etc.) along with synonyms for "fearless" printed in different fonts.

I also made a gigantic outlet of foamboard for the wall, and a fake plug and extension cord snaking down from the rafters for our "Connecting With God" series.

I had an artist come in a paint a painting during a sermon series on creation--that's a fun artifact to have on hand.

I will take photos(Sunday) of our current series and post it, because it's the best one I have done.

Our next series is "Discovering God's Will" and I am having parts of our bulletin graphic enlarged so that I can make a MASH 4007-type road sign with lots of confusing directions.

So, having given you all some ideas on what I have done, what else do you suggest that I try, given a limited budget, terribly difficult lighting to change, and a 2-6 week window between series?

And if you were to suggest new lighting ideas, what would they be? (We are doing a renovation, and now may be the time)

[medianate]

Well, see our church is completely against changing the stage, so it was hard to make the change. But we bought 6 X Par 38's and the pastor loved it so much, he told us to buy 6 more .

Here is a pic of our stage, due to the lights being red, the whole picture looks weird. I will get a better picture next week.

P.S. If anyone has any better idea's for our stage. You're help would be Greatly appreciated.

[james tucker]

...just an idea to the moderators - maybe we can have a stage design forum...