For the volunteer who inherited the booth
Church stage lighting, for whoever ended up running it
Almost every church rig has the same three problems: too much front light and not enough behind, saturated colour landing on faces that the camera cannot hold, and a show that only works when one particular person is in the booth. None of those need new fixtures. They need an order to work in and three states written down.
The order to do it in
Step 1
Get faces readable first, from the front, bright enough to beat the house lights that will not be turned off.
Step 2
Put something behind the people until they separate from the wall. Most fixed rigs are front-heavy, and this is the missing half of the picture.
Step 3
Keep saturated colour off faces and put it behind and around them. A camera has far less latitude than your eye, and skin under deep blue is the most common stream complaint.
Step 4
Build three states you trust and can hit in the dark: spoken word, full band, quiet moment. Run the service off those instead of inventing looks live.
Step 5
Write the states down, with which faders or buttons make them. A rig that only works when you are there is a rig the team cannot use.
Step 6
Check the room with the house lights at the level they will actually be at, not at the level they are during setup.
Drills that practise this
Build the Look
Color Match
Cue Stack Builder
The Desk
Try it before you read more
Three briefs on a real club rig, scored on the stage you made, and you keep the picture. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.
Questions
Our stage looks washed out on the livestream. Why?
Usually too much saturated colour on the front light plus not enough level to beat the house lights. Front light wants to stay close to white, colour wants to move behind people, and the level has to be set against the house lights as they will be during the service.
We cannot use haze. Does that rule out good lighting?
No. Haze makes beams visible in the air, which is a look rather than a requirement. Without it your depth comes from backlight, which is the single biggest upgrade available on a rig you already own and costs nothing.
How do we keep it consistent when volunteers rotate?
Written states, not remembered ones. Three recorded looks with names, and a note of what each one is for, will outperform a more ambitious show that only one person can run.
More lighting guides
Stage lighting setup, in the order that actually works
Work out the order to aim and level a stage so it looks right from the seats and on camera.
DMX lighting explained, without the jargon
Understand what a DMX address is, why fixtures fight each other, and how to patch a rig without overlaps.
How to program a light show
Understand how a programmed show is built and why edits to one cue leak into later ones.
Stage lighting for small venues and bars
Make a small handful of fixtures in a low room look deliberate rather than thrown at the stage.
How to light a band
Know where to put light on a band so it looks like a show rather than a lit rehearsal.