Lighting for Easter Drama

[ajohns4]

We are a small church (60-90) and we do an Easter Drama every year. I am a real novice when it comes to lights - you plug them in and turn them on/off is about all I know. Right now we use a combination of some cheap Par cans, outdoor spotlights and extension cords plugged into a homemade light switch box. I REALLY want to change that but I know next to nothing about where to start. Last year we used 13 different lights during the play. I would like to be able to get a design that would allow me to use some new with some old until the entire thing can be replaced over time. Any links you guys have that really start at the true novice level would be great. Also any ideas on where I should start would work.

Thanks
Alanna

[waynehoskins]

Lighting design is its own world. I'll leave that part to other guys to explain for now.

As to equipment, I bet there's a lighting rental shop within driving distance of you if you're anywhere near a metro area. Rental rates are usually reasonable, $15-$20 a week per light, at least that's what it was here in Dallas five years ago. Anything you think you might want to buy, you probably want to rent once first to make sure it does what you want it to, works in your application, and you like it.

Once you have a feel for what you want to do, you can usually get good deals on used lighting. The other week I ran across a killer deal: three full 96-dimmer racks, CD80 Supervisors, all for something like 10K in LAX. There was a similar deal for two Sensor 96 racks and an Expression. That's still a lot of money, but new they're more than that each.

Used fixtures you can usually find sub-$100. I've bought a bunch sub-$50 that have just been great, old industry workhorses with plenty of life left in them.

As to what fixtures make sense for your application, that depends on things like available height, rigging, electricity, things like that. Could you tell us more about your space and setup? Do you have a permanent facility, or is it a portable setup?

[ajohns4]

Thanks, for the idea about rental - I would probably have to drive about 2hrs to get to city big enough - but it might be worth it. That way I could start buying a few pieces at a time and supplement with rental until I got the setup I needed.

When I say I'm a novice - I don't know what some of those pieces are - dimmer pack, sensor racks, expression etc

It's a permanent space. The sanctuary is about 45ft wide by 54ft long. The stage sits to one side - it's 34ft wide, 12ft deep and 2ft high. The ceiling is a drop ceiling - it's 14ft at center and 10.5ft on sides. We also use 2 portable stage additions - they are 4ft wide by 8ft long and 4ft high. I hope that helps - I have a rough sketch but couldn't get it to upload