Light It Up

As event planners, we often work with production teams, especially when planning the details of conferences with general sessions involving some type of performance. I work with a lot of faith-based organizations whose events include contemporary worship sessions. Christian artists lead attendees through various songs and different stage lights pierce the haze with colors and shapes illuminating a singer or drummer or guitar player at just the right moment. As I was sitting in a meeting with a production director about stage design, I was mesmerized listening to him talk about the different types of lights in use.

Most planners run into gobos, follow spots, and fairy lights. These are staples in any planner’s arsenal. Gobo lights are used to project an image onto a surface. It’s a simple and inexpensive way to get your client’s logo in front of the attendees. A follow spot follows a speaker or performer on stage as they move, and any decorative setup can be improved with a little strand of fairy lights.

Lesser known, but still used lights include; PAR lights, kinetic lights, and ellipsoidal lights. PAR lights are basic directional lights used in can lights or stage lights. Stage lighting is mostly on when the team is setting up equipment, not during performances. Kinetic lights are ones that move. These can enhance a stage design, add an element of fun to an after-party, or act as functional works of art. Ellipsoidal lights are used in spotlights because they can project a very specific, small sharp circle onto something or someone on the stage.

It’s not just the different kinds of lights themselves, but the variety of ways they can be mounted as well that add to the conversation. Depending on the size or design of the stage, lighting can be mounted using towers, trusses, and/or fly systems. Free-standing light towers allow lights to be placed in almost any location giving you a range of flexibility in stage design. Trusses allow lights to be hung from overhead bars using towers and other legs to hold them up. Fly systems create another option for lights from overhead, but the lighting is mounted to the ceiling so there are no visual obstructions for the attendees. Be careful which you choose as some may come with a hefty price tag since riggers are generally required to perform the work and in some states regulated by labor unions.*

In addition to which lights and how they’re mounted, determining the best use of the various lights is important. You can use up-lighting, back-lighting, accent lighting, ambient lighting, and task lighting. Some are fairly self-explanatory. Up-lighting is used to light a structure from the bottom upwards and backlighting is used to light a structure from the back. Both can create dramatic effects and be a low-cost way to decorate a space. Accent lighting draws the eye’s attention to something specific and ambient lighting subtly lights a structure such as the organization or event logo so that it has a hint of glow radiating from it.

Task lighting feels out of character with the rest of the lighting, however, is very important and can be distracting if done wrong. Task lighting is simply the lighting used to light up task areas, such as the production tables so they can see their event orders in a dark session, orchestra lights so musicians can read their music in the pit, or a flashlight so the stage assistant can guide a speaker through the backstage maze. Most often, production lighting in a dark room or a pit orchestra is red. It can be used to see by, but is less distracting to the attendees.

I attended a U2 concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas. It was one of the most incredible and mind-blowing experiences I have ever encountered as a Certified Meeting Professional, a musician, and a concert attendee combined. The amount of detail that went into creating individual experiences, with what felt like a 360-degree view including a sensory journey, took my breath away. The one thing I would have to say distracted me (and maybe this is the event planner in me…) was that I could see people moving behind the images on the screen; people with bright white flashlights going up and down stairwells, across catwalks, talking with one another, bringing Bono and friends different instruments throughout the show… task lighting that detracted from the performance.

All of this to say, trust the professionals when it comes to lighting. There are so many different types of lights, ways to hang them, and uses for them that as an event planner, we’re going to have a successful outcome if we work together with the production team. Cast the vision for the event and share its goals and objectives. Coordinate with each other to craft the experience rather than try to tell someone who knows what they’re doing what to do.

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*Riggers are those trained to properly and safely move, hang, and fasten equipment used during an event (my own definition). The level of certification and education required can vary by state and industry. Be sure you understand what is needed for your event. The risk of not having equipment securely fastened is not worth it.