Easter HoW Production Reaps Benefits of Elation Fuze and FLX Flexibility

	Photo: Samantha Krietemeyer

Lighting designer and vice president at Premier Entertainment Group, Stephen Krietemeyer, designed the lighting for a special Easter church service at Glory to Him Church in Ozark, Alabama, and turned to Elation Professional Platinum FLX hybrid moving heads and Fuze Wash Z350 LED wash light moving heads to fulfill the vision.

"After talking with Brad Jerkins, the music director at Glory to Him Church who also composed the Easter service, about what he envisioned for the service, we decided to use the FLX and Z350 for the flexibility of each fixture," Krietemeyer stated. "We also decided to use the intelligent lights because we were able to place a minimum amount of lights on the stage while still maintaining the effects we both wanted."

With today's intelligent and multi-functional luminaires, smaller rigs no longer need to translate to minimal impact and modest budgets and no longer means the need to compromise. Although only a few lighting fixtures were used on Glory to Him's Easter production -- six Platinum FLX and four Fuze Wash Z350 -- the diversity of looks was impressive and the effect stunning.

Jerkins was happy with the Easter production and its impact, not least the lighting. He commented: "I was completely blown away by the depth of feeling and emotion these lights brought to the production. At first, I was concerned with the smaller number of lights. Stephen reassured me that there would be plenty of coverage -- and sure enough, they delivered! We were more than satisfied with the outcome."

Krietemeyer placed Fuze Wash Z350 units on two 10' sections of 16" box truss towers upstage center (two lights per tower), a position that allowed him to wash the entire stage and room with ease. Part of Elation's line of single-source LED PAR wash lights, the Fuze Wash 350 houses a powerful RGBW COB LED engine to project a high-quality flat field of light, yet its lens face emulates the classic lens look of a traditional Fresnel. "Having such a strong wash light gave me the ability to wash the stage in deep, saturated colors, as well as create some unique looks with the performers' costumes," Krietemeyer said. "The amount of output from this fixture is the most impressive feature of this fixture since it is a COB driver."

Krietemeyer also used Elation's award-winning and multi-functional Platinum FLX in the production, which he spread evenly along the upstage edge (three on each side), with two per side on 6' truss towers and one fixture each side working from the floor. Krietemeyer explained that the main purpose of the 20,000 lumen hybrid fixture was to add texture to the air and stage. He added, "Since this fixture has a 20R lamp in it, I was able to create some stunning color combinations and have the ability to have gobos cut through the wash of the Z350s with ease."

Industry recognition of the FLX has focused around its independent dual optical system, which can switch between beam, spot, and wash modes quickly, making changing from a pencil thin beam to a fat beam of light a breeze. Krietemeyer comments, "The optics in this light is stunning. Either in beam mode or spot, I was able to get some incredibly crisp focuses on the gobos."

"The zoom range on this fixture is also a great feature, especially on this show. I was able to fill the entire room with either a gobo or color with these six fixtures, and then I was able to create a very intimate feeling the next second. Lastly, the speed and smoothness of the fixture's movements is something I really appreciate."

Premier Entertainment Group, based nearby Ozark in Dothan, Alabama, supplied the Elation Professional equipment for the service.