Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, Penn., is known for putting on awesome productions. For this month's "How Did They Do That?" column we'll talk to Richard Foster, assistant media director for Christian Life, about a 30-foot by 70-foot star light backdrop created in-house for the church's most recent Christmas drama, "The Christmas Candle".
In planning for the production, the new Dramatic Arts Pastor Ken Beech, along with the rest of the team, saw a need for a backdrop that gave the audience a sense of being outdoors surrounded by a starry sky. After realizing the great expense of a pre-fabricated starlight backdrop, Beech, who had done something similar before, along with Technical Director, Wayne Roth, began examining what it would take to make one in-house.
The first version showed lots of promise. They took thirty 10-foot by 10-foot panels of commando cloth (a cotton material treated for fire resistance and carried by theatrical suppliers) and pinned 90 strands of 50-count Christmas lights to the front. These lights were connected to three separate circuits, which were put on a chase to make the lights flicker like stars. While the general effect was good, there were two major issues with this version. First, the interval of the lights was limited to the manufacturer's settings; they were too close together and evenly spaced to look natural. Secondly, the panels hung in such a way that they would not come together at the seams.
This is where what Foster calls the team's "MacGyver Mentality" became so valuable. They came up with a solution for each of these issues, which Roth organized and managed using a volunteer army.
First, each strand was stripped down and the lights separated and then re-soldered onto different wire, adding space between each light. This not only solved the crowding issue, but allowed the spacing of the lights which were then hot glued into small holes cut into the commando cloth for a more natural look.
The second issue was solved by using Velcro on the edges of each panel to keep them fastened together. This also makes the backdrop, when combined with electrical connections between panels, scalable for future use.
Although this was a mammoth project --- especially the soldering and hot gluing --- which took 53 volunteers over a month and a half to complete, the result easily saved twenty to thirty thousand dollars over the cost of a pre-fabricated backdrop. The materials only cost $800.
Foster emphasized how important it is to think carefully before undertaking such a project. Considerations include accessibility of the needed materials, as well as fire and safety issues. Ultimately, though, Foster reminds us: "You are only limited by your vision."
