Philadelphia's Calvary Chapel turns to ETC for HD-video quality lighting overhaul
(20 October 2009) -- As one of the largest churches in the northeastern United States, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia attracts 10,000 people each week to their four services, bringing together a diverse group of people. "We have little old ladies raising their hands next to bikers," describes Audio/Video Director Matt Friedman, "and ex-druggies worshiping next to businessmen in suits. Sometimes it reminds me of the cantina scene from the first Star Wars movie!"
Calvary had been making due with a hodgepodge of disparate lighting systems in their sanctuary, but a recent unique opportunity pushed the church to tackle a long-needed overhaul – and ETC was selected as the primary lighting supplier. "Joel Rosenberg released his documentary film Inside the Revolution at our venue this September 11th," Friedman explains. "We had a television media crew on site, as well as a live webcast to 600 churches worldwide. It was high time to rip out our Home Depot track lighting and PAR 64s and make a clean start."
Through personal recommendations and a track record of success with other Calvary Chapels, Grant Gatlin, owner of Illumination Concepts LLC in Orange County, California (www.illuminationconceptsllc.com), was selected for the design of this new system. "They needed exceptional video-quality lighting," Gatlin describes, "with bullet-proof one-touch system-wide control and a lighting console that handles theatrical fixtures, movers, and LEDs."
To meet these requirements, Gatlin turned to ETC. Source Four® ellipsoidals and PARNels handle Calvary’s basic stage plot, and two 21-inch ETC Selador® Series Vivid™ LED fixtures are utilized as backdrop color wash. Two 11-inch Vivids are on mobile stands to add special looks to the stage. Meanwhile, ETC's Paradigm® system provides architectural lighting control, with button-station panels at doorways and a touchscreen unit at front-of-house (FOH) for ease of use. For the production-lighting control during services and events, Gatlin chose ETC’s latest console – the Element™ -- with dual 19-inch touchscreens.
"Why choose ETC?" Gatlin says, "Paradigm is powerful and simple to operate. Selador Vivid LEDs provide vibrant colors and intense output. Element combines power and value."
One of the challenges the venue presented was a large skylight over the platform, with mirrors placed to spread daylight across the stage. "This gave the stage massive and unpredictable amounts of daylight," Gatlin describes, "but the cameras hated it. However, the mirrors gave the back wall some great looks as the sunlight would shatter and throw beams of light down the rock wall backdrop."
"My solution was to black out the skylight and install the two 21-inch Vivid LED fixtures and two Source Fours with shattered-ray breakups," Gatlin explains. "Now we can mimic every color in the spectrum on the upstage wall, and with the Source Fours we can simulate the sun's rays – under our control."
Friedman is thrilled with the results. "The Source Four ellipsoidals and PARNels have revolutionized my thinking of stage lighting. What used to take numerous inefficient fixtures can now be lit with four 575-watt PARNels. The Element console was easy to jump into even though I had no previous experience with ETC's console style. The ETC Selador Vivids were the biggest surprise of the install – they could instantly fill large areas with any color."
Gatlin adds, "ETC is the world standard for a very good reason. We needed exceptional quality, efficiency, longevity, and ease of use. ETC always exceeds expectations."
