ELP Offers Technical Service for BBC’s Sunday Worship
As part of this year’s season of Lent, BBC 1 commissioned
five Sunday Worship: Lent Worship programmes, all of which were filmed at
different churches across the UK. Having already worked on several BBC
broadcasts over the past twelve months, ELP, a trading division of White Light,
was called upon to supply the lighting solutions once again on this
occasion.
The first Sunday Worship: Lent Worship was broadcast on
Sunday 21st February 2021; with subsequent episodes being aired on a weekly
basis. The broadcasts all took place from different locations across the UK,
including St Martin’s Church, Maidstone; St Cuthbert’s Church, Preston; and All
Saint’s Church, Hale Barns. Each service would contain a range of performances
and readings, all of which were socially distanced and adhering to government
guidelines.
Overseeing the broadcasts was ELP’s Sales Director Darren
Fletcher, who comments: “As a company, it was our job to work on-site in the
three different locations and provide the lighting support needed for
broadcast. To achieve this, we worked closely with two different lighting
designers: Lee Allen for the Preston and Hale services as well as Bernie Davis
for the Maidstone episodes”.
Following site visits to the different locations, the
lighting designers sent across their plans to Darren and the team. He explains:
“Whilst it was important to get a uniformed feel across the series, each space
obviously differed in terms of scope and dimensions which meant that the
lighting equipment had to be modified to accommodate this. It was also
important that the equipment we used was entirely LED, in order to not require
the use of generators, which in turn, would ensure we were adhering to the
ethos of Albert; an organisation which promotes environmental sustainability in
tv and film”.
For the broadcasts in the North-West, Lee Allen’s designs
largely utilised Miltec MTC Battens, Martin MAC Auras, ETC Source Four LED
Lustr Series 2s as well as Aryton Ghiblis. In Maidstone, Bernie Davis’ design
was a mix of ColourSource Batten 12s as well as arri S30 and S60 Sky Panels.
All of this equipment had to be set up socially-distanced and in line with
government regulations. Darren explains: “Whereas the broadcasts would normally
be filmed live, this had to be pre-recorded due to the lockdown. Similarly, the
traditional congregation had to be replaced by individual musicians and
speakers. We set up a day before the actual recording to allow enough time to
ensure everything was in place prior to filming. Thankfully, we’ve worked on
enough broadcasts since the first lockdown to know what is required by us as a
company and what we have to adhere to in order to deliver a safe, yet
impressive, lighting broadcast package”.
After a month of broadcasts, the final Sunday Worship:
Lent Worship will take place this Sunday 21st March at 11:30 on BBC1. Darren
concludes: “While we are hopefully heading back to normality in the very near
future, in the meantime, we are delighted to be able to continue supporting
high-profile broadcasts such as these and ensuring that, despite the
restrictions, we still provide the very best technical service possible”.
The post ELP Offers Technical Service for BBC’s Sunday Worship appeared first on White Light.