Todd Bentley is one of the most inspiring and controversial characters to lead a Christian revival. His unconventional style has stirred America and inspired thousands to change their lives. After hearing about the weekly pilgrimages to Todd Bentley’s home church in Florida, the leadership of Morning Star Ministries committed to bringing him to Fort Mill, S.C.
But they decided that they would be unable to house the large crowd of anticipated attendees in their sanctuary, so they moved it to an open field in front of the abandoned children’s castle on their property.
Morning Star staff had a great vision for the event and took on the project, which was huge in scale and involved many different disciplines. Andrew Ketchum, multi-media director at Morning Star, needed a cool and inexpensive solution to light the stage in order to stretch every dollar. The Cause, a neighboring ministry, donated their mobile audio, staging, and lighting system. With a small inventory of Chauvet Colorado 1s and 3s, they called on Eye Dialogue to design their production.
“We have been blessed to work with Morning Star Ministries since they purchased Heritage,” said Jack Kelly, owner of Eye Dialogue. “We have developed a mutually beneficial partnership, and have been given the opportunity to design for great men and musical artists, as well as provide solutions to video lighting dilemmas. Andrew called to ask me for ideas wanting a plan as soon as possible for budgeting.”
The dilapidated castle had been ignored for years. It was old and run down on the inside, but the potential for lighting it was enticing. “I hadn’t really looked at the Castle on the property,” said Kelly. “LEDs weren’t around when Bakker’s Heritage was operational, so I would be the first to tackle the project with LED technology. Nothing is more exhilarating than getting to be first.”
Kelly designed a lighting system that completely surrounded the castle with LEDs on all three levels. It would act as a beacon, leading the thousands of guests to the location. But with the budget in mind, Ketcham asked to scale it down. So they eliminated all cross rental gear and limited the castle lighting to what could be seen by the audience in front of the stage. Making the best use of Eye Dialogue’s inventory of 12 different types of over 150 LEDs, the idea was to create the most coverage on the castle’s façade.
“The natural characteristics of the castle’s stucco walls are beautifully displayed with uplighting,” Kelly said. “Every bump and crevice is accentuated with shadows, creating visual stimulation and interest. The first level of the castle had a large overhang, and by using linear cove lights (Color Kinetics Colorcast 14s), we created an even glow along the rim of the castle. The rocky highlights on the perpendicular wall made a nice contrast against the smoother line of the 45° overhang.”
On the second floor, giant archways spanned the flat structure. By illuminating between the arches and leaving the area above them dark, the curtain-style upwash achieved symmetry and balance while contrasting against the smooth wash of the first level. Each corner turret was accented with two medium LEDs, creating a smooth wash along the protruding rim. The stucco wall in between the two third story towers was brightly lit with a smooth wash of color bathing the towers themselves. Three lights were used for each tower, spaced in thirds. The ring of light around the top of each tower created a nice finish.
“The smoother the surface, the less light the material can capture,” Kelly noted. “The darker the color, the less light a surface can reflect. Although the light wasn’t completely fluid, the impact was obvious.”
The crew used Chauvet Colorado LEDs and Martin MAC Krypton automated fixtures to light the stage. Audience blinders provided both short throw lighting for the cameras and long throw lighting to color the crowd nearly 100 yards away. The setup was plagued by rain, and the crew could only set up the Colorados for pre-production. On the day of show, there was a mad rush to set up everything.
And then there was the focus. Because they were focusing during the day when the beams are not visible in the bright daylight, they did what Kelly calls “burning the pupil.”
“One of the crew members stood in the desired lighting position out in the field waiting for the light to burn their pupils,” Kelly said. The results, he said, were worth it. “The blinders provided an exciting visual display as well as a practical wash filling the dark audience voids for video.”
On the stage, the Colorados cross-washed every position. The musicians were positioned and confined to the back half of stage so a fixed focus was possible. Every musician was lit using three-point lighting. The back light provided a definitive break from the castle even when the stage and castle color was the same, preventing them from getting lost in the background. Downstage was a little different story.
“Todd Bentley is a traveler, so the wash across the front of stage couldn’t have gaps,” Kelly said. “If I had to do it all over again, I would have used the 30° lens instead of the 15° for lighting the speakers. With less than a 20-foot throw, the narrow lens created subtle shading between beams across the stage. Fortunately, it was unnoticed by the crowd. Without the aid of a followspot, the movers were used to spot keynote people outside of the stages boundaries.”
As the sun set, the energy on stage and in the castle increased subtly. After the sermon, Leonard Jones provided the music for the worship.
“For the solos,” Kelly said, “I had programmed each section with a suitable white override, providing each musician and singer with their own special in different shades. During worship, the band becomes a part of the décor as their natural characteristics are compromised with rich color saturation. The worship/music leader, defined by the white light, is surrounded in deep color themes. For example, cool white solo specials were used to contrast against the aquatic stage breathing of blue and aqua hues. Warm white complemented the worship leader among a fiery combination of yellows, oranges, and reds. Playing with the shade of white, the LEDs provide a vast palette of vibrant primary and secondary colors as well as the delicate variations of white. Meanwhile the movers used only as follow spots up to this point began to sweep shapes through the crowd further stimulating their vision.”
As the event came to a climax, everything exploded with effects, from the stage to the castle. Signs and Wonders, an original dance praise song by Leonard Jones, captured Todd Bentley’s message and drove it home.
“The emotional impact shook even the most apathetic listener out of their seat lifting their praise into the air,” Kelly noted. “Funny enough, I joined every one, dancing around as I ran the lights.”
Bentley’s ministry may be controversial, but the impact of the lighting on the event was undeniable. In the warm southern air, the LEDs provided a nice cool alternative to hot conventional lighting. It allowed the leaders to focus on the message and not the heat. The colorful LED technology satisfied the need to light the speakers as well as provide the drama for worship.
