WORSHIP Copyright Lighting&Sound America June 2013 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html Passion

Starts with Production

74 • June 2013 • Lighting&Sound America Multiple teams overcome time challenges to deliver the message of the

By: Brian Galante

ow did you spend your New Year’s Eve? bringing modular designs together to raise a 135' outer H Chances are, your end-of-year celebration diameter stage with a 28' walkway. That walkway paled in comparison to the race against time that ascended to a 63' diameter circle that stood 6.5' above the various production arms faced in preparation for the stage. Passion 2013. The multiday worship event brought 60,000 An additional set of stairs led to a 46' diameter circle at college students and young adults to the Georgia Dome in a height of 9' above the stage. Four 12'-by-12' lifts , representing more than 2,000 universities from 56 provided access to the staging underworld for occasional countries. Organized by the Passion Conferences, the set design changes. event delivered four days of prayer, inspirational speakers, The stage design was essentially born with the goal of and interactive musical experiences while raising more ensuring that views were as pure as possible. “The staging than $3 million to end modern-day human slavery. Musical of an in-the-round event means that every seat becomes a performers included , , and good seat,” Trussell says. “This makes it important to David Crowder. dress everything out to cover 360°, with consideration to There were, however, enormous challenges to have every aspect, from skirting to video.” everything up and running by the 5pm New Year’s Day And video was a critical element throughout. Passion start time. The echoes of nearly 72,000 college football Conferences appointed the mobile production specialist fans attending the Chick-fil-A Bowl had barely ceased as TNDV (based in Nashville) to produce all in-house video as the lighting, staging, video, and audio teams—under the well as video and audio feeds for live web streams. The direction of London- and Nashville-based production company merged its two largest trucks, Aspiration and company Black and White Live—got to work. The fact that Inspiration, into one enormous mobile production infra- this was the event’s first in-the-round presentation also structure and positioned 23 video cameras—one more added to the challenges. than was used in Super Bowl XLVII—around the venue. “This was the largest event we have done, along with TNDV owner and president Nic Dugger assigned in- the least amount of load-in time we have ever had,” says house production responsibilities to Aspiration, delivering Jonathan Sheehan, organizer of the Passion Conferences. “And we needed a fresh approach to create the best ‘dome-sized’ production, as audio, video, lighting, and staging are very different in-the-round than in an arena or end-configuration stadium setup.” That fresh approach started with Black and White Live’s direction. The London-based company, in cooperation with Sheehan, carefully selected leading suppliers and production arms to ensure that each piece of the puzzle fit.

Set the stage The event required a crew of approximately 160 people working across the various teams. This gave many involved the feeling of being on tour. “The way that the elements came together under the time constraints made it operate like a touring system with touring personnel,” says Tye Trussell, president of Nashville-based Accurate Staging. Accurate Staging was among the several production teams that entered the Georgia Dome just after midnight, following a several-hour wait across the street as the stadium was emptied and cleaned. Accurate Staging personnel immediately commenced stage construction, Photos: Courtesy of Passion Conferences

The lighting rig included gear from Philips Vari-Lite, Clay Paky, PRG, Syncrolite, i-pix, GLP, Nila, and Strong.

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Mobile production specialist TNDV projected live video content of speakers and performers on six widescreens and two ribbon LED displays, captured from various angles using 23 cameras spread throughout the venue.

content in multiple aspect ratios to meet requirements for “The transition from an end-stage configuration to in- six wide-screen displays and two ribbon LED displays that the-round forced a change in strategy, and we put much circled the venue. He nearly maxed out a Harris Broadcast thought into effectively covering multiple angles simultane- Platinum dual-router signal to deliver video and audio ously,” says Dugger, who was invited back after a signals across the venue, including the front-of-house successful 2012 event. “The lighting was of incredible mixing position and an in-venue graphics station where scope, with two gigantic PRG Nocturne V28 LED sideline lower thirds, full-screen graphics, and video playback screens covering 96' in length. This is a case of where the responsibilities were sourced. size of the event truly drove the production requirements.” The use of multiple camera flavors, including seven (In addition, Everbrighten BR-15 end zone screens were dollies, six long lenses, two jibs, and a flying wire camera, supplied by VER, as were a Linx 30mm circular screen. A helped the team capture the staging from all angles and Catalyst media server, from IMAG Video, and Christie Vista directions. This included a dolly track that allowed camera Spyder X-20 video processor, provided by Evolve Media operators to capture sweeping left-to-right movements at Group, controlled the imagery.) various speeds to match performance moods. Light it up Dugger’s nod to lighting represents the level of cooper- ation between the various production arms, which was even more profound considering that many of the teams never met each other throughout the event. This had no adverse effect on the results, as everyone carefully considered how their work would complement other production aspects. “Audio, video, and lighting were tightly integrated, and this is a particular passion of mine,” says Ed White, lighting director for Passion 2013. “We had 100,000 people watching via Internet stream, so lighting for the cameras was just as important. Inside the venue, the more dramatic items in the event had pre-produced video, played back with synchronized audio, click tracks, Passion attendees immersed in the event, which raised more than $3 million for its mission of ending human slavery.

76 • June 2013 • Lighting&Sound America Lighting director Ed White used PRG Bad Boy CMY and VL3500 Wash fixtures for the functional stage wash, bathing performers in color to match the various moods.

and time code for lighting cues.” front-of-house position, standing atop a 4' riser for a clear One of many interesting aspects to this end was the use view of the stage. He and his assistant Errol Reinhart used of Elation Flex Pixel WEP LED tape, which provided 1,600' a large MA-Net network, connecting the consoles and NPU of LED edging around the stage. Freed Sales, based in and NSP racks; a PRG Series 400 system, combining North Miami, Florida, supplied the pixel tape after meeting power and data into one multicore, also integrated Madrix with the Accurate Staging team, which was keen on lighting control and Catalyst media server via Art-Net. making the stage part of the lighting element. The event’s content ranged from spoken-word “[Elation Flex Pixel WEP] allows lighting teams to talk to messages and congregational worship music to dramatic, every pixel individually, and its value doubles as a border scripted, time-coded show items for big moments. White light for safety,” says Dustin Pesnell, president and CEO of monitored an in-ear mix, giving him the ability to improvise Freed Sales. “Most importantly, it synchronizes with the as moods changed. music, changing colors and providing that wow factor— The central column of concentric hexagon and video especially for the people sitting near the top of the bowl.” screen trusses immediately above the stage served as his At Passion 2013, White drove the Elation system using a main lighting zone. PRG Bad Boy CMY and Philips MADRIX Ultimate Key solution, connected to an MA Lighting grandMA2 console for easy recall of DMX video cues. Overall, White used 77 of 80 available Art-Net universes. “In a typical show, it’s common to use three or four universes,” says Pesnell. White notes that the relationship between all of these components gave the stage a sense of drama and form, outlining the crowd pits and runways. “I was surprised with the amount of output from the tape, which actually functioned as a wash light and created a nice glow through the haze over the stage,” he says. “I was able to pixel-map the stage LED and run shapes and video over the surface while using it as traditional neon or tape light.” White’s main operating position was at the rear of the More than 60,000 college-age adults filed into the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for day one of Passion 2013.

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Vari*Lite VL3500 Wash fixtures provided most of the together given the spirit of the event. “My aim was to functional stage wash as well as the centerpiece of a break down the ‘us and them’ feeling that you get at many geometric beam that reached the edges of the dome. shows,” says White. “It was important to create an atmos- VL3500 Wash units, rigged on six trusses around the phere where the room felt inclusive.” dome, provided the functional audience light, with 32 Clay Paky Sharpys added for eye candy and to fill in the field Audio everywhere of view on cameras. The audio system, supplied by Rat Sound Systems, of Additionally, 18 Syncrolite SXB 7K units were positioned Camarillo, California, went a long way toward creating that in groups of three on platforms at the edge of the floor. inclusive feel. The company provided everything from an These, along with 24 PRG Bad Boy CMYs at the club Avid VENUE Profile front-of-house console to on-stage level, provided audience lighting. The Bad Boys provided monitoring and the house PA system. (Additional control shallow-angle stage wash and texturing to add scale to was provided by a Midas Venice console at front of house beam looks and additionally threw texture onto the and Midas XL8 and PRO9 desks in monitor world.) Rat audience from the opposite side of the dome. Also used Sound worked with Atlanta Rigging to manage the PA were 36 i-pix BB4 LED battens, 28 GLP impression 120 installation, running cables to avoid affecting sightlines. RZ LED units, six Strong Gladiator III and six Strong Super With the in-the-round configuration, “you don’t have the Trouper followspots, four Nila LED units, four MDG luxury of raising walls and hiding cables coming out of the Atmosphere hazers, and four Le Maitre G300 foggers. sky,” says Ron Kimball, audio crew chief at Rat Sound. The contrast between daytime and nighttime lighting “Everything has to go up in the air and run long lengths proved especially challenging. The Georgia Dome has a across bridges, come down nice and neat, and eventually translucent roof, which resulted in disappearing wash hit the source.” lights—making the Syncrolites, Sharpys, and Bad Boys This required a cable bridge at the center of the venue, highly important in the daytime hours. The evening raised 135' in the air. A mother grid crossed the staging performances allowed for more dramatic lighting, with area and ran parallel with the 50-yard-line position, distrib- White using more saturated colors, gobo textures, and uting power, audio, and control signals. Rat Sound silhouette effects. Laser effects were provided by connected to this grid to support power distribution for Baltimore-based Image Engineering. eight zones: three on each side and one at each end zone. Most importantly, White focused on bringing everyone L-ACOUSTICS products supported all amplification and playout, with the K1 large- format system acting as the main PA. Supporting systems included 36 L-Acoustics KARA underhangs and 24 dV-DOSC units for inner ring front fills. Outer-ring solutions included 20 KIVA units for fills, positioned atop SB28 subwoofers. Rat Sound audio engineer Dan Bowers noted that the solution allowed the team to push the rig hard without the low end veering out of control: “The K1 system with the SB28 subs made a perfect fit for achieving the low- end response and consistent coverage throughout the venue. The frequency response of the K1, running down to 35Hz, paired with the 40 SB28s located around the stage in blocks of four, allowed us to get the punch and tightness we needed.” Rat Sound added 96 L- The various production arms scrambled to construct the stage, hang lights and audio sys- tems, and raise the video displays within hours of the Chick-fil-A Bowl conclusion.

78 • June 2013 • Lighting&Sound America The in-the-round event used 1,600' of Elation Pixel Flex WEP LED tape on the stage, custom-designed by Accurate Staging.

Acoustics V-DOSC for delay rings, specially raised into production (in-house and streaming) and recording. position for the upper section. Kimball and Bowers say Sandstrom stressed that the Waves LoAir subharmonic that the systems’ ease of flying (along with intelligibility) synthesizer plug-in helped to achieve ideal separation made L-Acoustics the best choice for the event. The delay between kick drum and bass—a major challenge in a large system, consisting of a dozen eight-box hangs, was flown venue like the Georgia Dome. off the lighting truss, while the K1 trim height was limited “The ability to dial in those low frequencies really helped to just below the video wall. add clarity and definition to the bottom of my mix,” says “Audio points were fixed to where they could go due to Sandstrom, adding that the Waves Vocal Rider helped him the video walls and lighting points,” says Bowers. “With automate fader moves for large vocal ensembles, enabling our points fixed, the system was set as a left-center-right him to concentrate on the main vocal. design all the way around.” He adds that amp racks were flown on top of the K1 hangs, eliminating the need to Looking forward place amplifiers on a platform or the ground. Next year’s Passion event may be a less stressful, given The positioning challenges, along with the tight load-in that it may move to later in the winter. This avoids setting period, made audio system testing pertinent. Bowers and up for the show on back of a BCS Bowl or NFL playoff his team tuned the system using a Smaart v7 with a game, respectively the cases for the past two years. Even PreSonus AudioBox-1818VSL preamp as the interface, as so, every party involved seems to have enjoyed the well as a Lectrosonics RF system paired with an Audix challenge of this year’s time crunch. TM-1 reference mic for roaming tests. The team time- “I am comfortable in saying that everything worked as it aligned sub zones with corresponding K1 hangs, subse- was supposed to on night one,” says Dugger. “There was quently filling in holes closer to the stage with additional nothing that we didn’t have time to address. I stood in the Kivas and dV-Dosc. Dome that first night and had goose bumps the size of “All zones were backed up in time to the inner stage baseballs, hearing the audio, experiencing the lights, and ring,” says Bowers. “Our time for tuning was compressed seeing the video content on those massive LED screens— due to ongoing venue work, but the ease of the L- all corresponding with the energy of 60,000 excited college Acoustics network for LA8 amp control made adding students. To see it pulled off so effectively was very speakers and establishing time and levels a snap.” rewarding; it shows that regardless of size and scale, The mic lineup included 32 Shure UHF-Rs with Beta 58 anything is possible with the right team.” and KSM9 capsules, 28 Shure PSM1000s (each with two belt packs), and eight Shure PSM900s. Brian Galante is president of DimensionPR, a Meanwhile, front-of-house mixers Jeff Sandstrom and technology-oriented public relations firm. He can be Stephen Bailey took advantage of Waves software for live contacted at [email protected].

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