412 is the youth group of Mosaic church in Charlotte North Carolina. They meet the second Monday of every month. The youth minister wanted me to create something visually impactful without spending a ton of money. The video team from Mosaic had already decided to project directly on the white wall behind stage without a video screen. Without budgetary allowance for movers we explored designs with Lekos, Pars, and LEDs.

The meeting place is a warehouse near Cornelius North Carolina. To light the speaker, we used ungelled par can fixtures which were already in the room. On the I-Beam in front of the stage, three pairs of pars gelled Blue, Red, and Green were available to us. I added 8 LED fixtures to light the Praise and Worship Team on 2 Pipes and Bases on each side of stage. Two high powered Opti RGB fixtures washed the Praise and Worship leader. The remaining 6 American DJ P64 LED fixtures accented the rest of the band. Without moving-mirror or moving-head fixtures, the lighting for the band was modern due to LED use but not outstanding. The Square room, white walls, and structural I-Beam are not interesting. To create the dynamic impression desired, I focused on the backdrop.

When I was a kid, image and brand were inseparable. I was really into Cross Colours, and Karl Kani. The little symbol on the pocket let everyone else know how I defined myself. Today’s kids are similar but instead of brand names they want customization aka one of a kind. From spinners to indie rock fashion, customization is in. The video team had already designed a video image for 412 and I loved it. Redesigning the logo in two-tone without gradients, I ordered two custom gobos from Rosco. The impact was immediate. The room was personalized. For the moment, the room belongs to the youth of 412: a logo that no one else could claim. To finish the vision, 8 Colorcast 14’s lined the wall behind the drummer. The morphing color of the LED fixtures pulled both the video and the gobo projection into a singular dynamic visual element.

A simple and inexpensive lighting setup, the LED rig and Gobo projectors combined with the in-house par cans system and Video projections provided a vibrant visual presentation. Mosaic’s Video Team and I were able to fashion a visual explosion in a lifeless room.